ABSTRACT

Coming out is rarely easy. With the advent of the Internet however, and more specifically, blogs, online support networks assist lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) individuals in identifying their sexual orientation and sharing their news with loved ones and friends. In May of 2005, 16-year-old Zachary Stark from Tennessee blogged about his experience in a post titled “The World Coming to an Abrupt-Stop,” which read:

Somewhat recently, as many of you know, I told my parents I was gay . . . Well today, my mother, father, and I had a very long “talk” in my room where they let me know I am to apply for a fundamentalist Christian program for gays. They tell me that there is something psychologically wrong with me, and they “raised me wrong.” I’m a big screw up to them, who isn’t on the path God wants me to be on. So I’m sitting here in tears, joining the rest of those kids who complain about their parents on blogs-and I can’t help it.1