| Summary: | For the very first time, young people are not waiting until they have left school to declare their sexuality to friends and family. Gay culture has crossed over to the mainstream, and in many societies homosexuals can now enjoy acceptance and equal rights. Coming Out to Class follows Q-boy, the UK's only openly gay rapper, as he goes on a journey to find out what it is like to be a gay teen in high school today. He asks experts in the field why young gay people are coming out at increasingly younger ages, and explores the challenges that they face in doing so. Recent years have seen an explosion of gay culture in films, magazines, books and TV. As much as coming out is accepted, there is a relatively new and uncharted phenomenon: the number of young people who are not waiting until they have left school to declare their sexuality. As a gay icon, a role model for many gay teens, Q-Boy not only attempts to understand the position of these teenagers but uses his position to encourage them to open up about how they feel in themselves, and as part of wider gay as well as straight communities. As someone who has daily contact with gay teens, Q-boy has been surprised to find how many are out at school - something which even during his school days was relatively uncommon. Looking into the issue further it becomes clear that little real research has been done on this area. Experts and existing research suggest that the number of gay teens who have come out at school is on the up, and the age for doing so is dropping, but surprisingly few have sought to ask why this is. By interviewing young people, searching the internet and delving into his own past experiences, Q-Boy considers what has changed since he was at school, is it a cultural shift, political acceptance or do these teens just have more confidence? Ultimately Q-Boy seeks to discover what it is really like to be a gay teen in today's society.
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