Across the nation, a trend is emerging: Children are coming out as gay, lesbian and bisexual at younger and younger ages.
According to a study conducted at Pennsylvania State University in 1995, the average age at which Lesbian, Gay male, and bisexual youth first become aware of their sexual orientation ranges from 10 to 12. The average age at which they first disclose their sexual orientation to other people is 16.
"Even when they are 6, 7 ... many young people know that something is different," according to Rea Carey, executive director of the National Youth Advocacy Coalition in Washington, D.C. She said this is in large part due to an increase in the "visibility" of Gays in American culture.
"Young people are finding more language" to describe their sexuality, she said. "They are seeing that language used more in a positive light."
"I knew when I was 7 or 8. I wanted to marry Madonna," said Nikki Hass, now 20, who was raised by her Gay father and identifies as Lesbian.
But Carey said American society is still largely not equipped to deal with youth sexuality - much less youth homosexuality. Many young people who come out can expect troubled relationships both at school and at home.
Hass came out as a Lesbian when she was 14 years old, a ninth grader in Milwaukee, Wis. Although she said her father was very supportive, Hass said her mother did not speak to her for five years.
As the average age of coming out decreases, the institutions of schools, counseling programs, and youth services are having to face tough new questions.
Craig Bowman, the executive director of the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL) in Washington, D.C., said his organization serves between 800 and 900 gay male, lesbian, bisexual, and questioning young people per year - by way of support groups, a telephone helpline, and drop-in services.
Bowman said the average age of SMYAL clients has gone down from 18 to about 16 just within the last few years.
"It's really pushing us to develop new programs," he said. "The questions that they have at 13 or 14 are very different than the concerns of young people who are 18 or 19."
Ella, 13, of Fairfax County, Va., said she knew she was lesbian when she was 8 or 9 years old, and she came out to her family when she was 12.
Ella said it was about that time that she found SMYAL.
"I just pulled out the phone book and decided to look up the words gay and lesbian," she said. "I never realized there were actually Gay people out there under 21."
The liberation of coming out turned her life around, Ella said.
"Up until the time I came out, I had been quite miserable. You know, quite lonely," Ella said.
Now Ella is on the Youth Council at SMYAL and has spoken at various community churches and schools about Gay issues. Ella, who is still not out at her school and was interviewed on the condition that her last name not be used, spoke earlier this year for the National Education Association on Gay issues in the public school system.
As today's youth integrate into the Gay community, Carey said, they will develop new trends and new ways of doing things.
Carey said this is already beginning to happen, as young people are taking on leadership positions and beginning to educate adults.
"I'm very excited to see what the movement will look like 10 years from now," Carey said. "Eventually they'll have my job. And they will carry with them the historical process of coming out at a time when boundaries are being pushed."