9781422275276

persuasion who wants to understand the uniqueness of LGBTQ families and the perspective of LGBTQ teens will benefit from reading this book. If you are an LGBTQ teen, and you want to learn more about dating, falling in love, getting married, and raising children, this guide will help you understand all the wonderful possibilities. It warns against some of the pitfalls, so you can avoid them if possible. Each chapter has practical tips about ways to try to have a better life. The first thing you will learn is how to be happy being single. You will get tips about how to build up your self-esteem and how to deal with the feelings of loneliness, separateness, and being different. The first chapter explores some powerful antidotes to these negative feelings with practical advice that empowers individuals in spite of challenging experiences. Chapter 2 is an exploration of ways to deal with abusive relationships and how to avoid codependency. It explains how to recognize positive role models, follow good examples, and find supportive friends. It gives some real-life examples of positive role models for inspiration. In Chapter 3, we explore dating for LGBTQ teens. Dating can be fun, and it can be dangerous when you are not practicing safe sex. This chapter gives tips to help young people navigate LGBTQ dating in ways that recognize the easy access to virtually everything about sex that can be found on the Internet. It tells how to find friends and hook- ups for casual sex. Chapter 4 is about falling in love. It describes how to know whether you are in love and whether the one you love loves you back. It explores the value of emotional honesty and how to deal with rejection and disappointment on the pathway to finding true love. Everyone has the right to love whomever they want. Getting married and having kids is a life-path choice available to LGBTQ people who want to formalize their loving relationship legally with a significant other and also, perhaps, raise some children together. In the final chapter, we talk about marriage, kids, and how to create a loving family.

9

Introduction