Annie Fox for Teens... Hey, Terra!

Annie (AKA Hey Terra!) has been around long enough to have experienced a lot of what Life can dish out. But, it hasn’t been so long that she's forgotten what it's like to be your age. Check out some of the thousands of email questions teens from around the world have sent to Terra. You may learn something useful from her answers:

Sexual orientation:
“'I'm freaking out that I might be gay!”

Hey Terra,

This morning something weird happened. I was kinda still sleeping when my mom came to wake me up and I said "I'm not allowed in the House of Congress until 1883 because they banned homosexuals."

Now I don't think I'm gay, I like girls. I've never had sex but I've had crushes and a desire to do stuff. When I masturbate I think about girls. But what I said when I was waking up is freaking me out. What does this mean?

Not Gay

Dear Not Gay,

You had a dream. Maybe it was triggered by something you read in the newspaper or heard on TV or discussed in school about same sex marriage. Maybe you just "dreamed it up" without any present time source that you can easily pinpoint.

It's a mistake to assume that all dreams "mean something."

If you are attracted to girls and you've never been sexually/romantically attracted to guys, then I'd say you're a heterosexual. If you know that to be true, what's freaking you out so much about your mumblings in a dream?

Perhaps you have been thinking (in real life) that laws that ban homosexuals from getting married are unfair. If so, I agree with you. I believe those laws are discriminatory. Perhaps your mumblings before waking up had to do with your feelings of justice and equality and NOT that you are gay.

My advice is to relax and stop worrying.

In friendship,

Terra


Need some advice? Write to Terra. She'll give you a straight answer you can trust without any lectures.


What's New?
''The Girls Q&A Book on Friendship: 50 Ways to Fix a Friendship Without the DRAMA'' by Annie Fox, M.Ed., illustrated by Erica De Chavez Books & Apps for Teens
''Middle School Confidential 3: What's Up With My Family?'' iOS app ''Middle School Confidential 2: Real Friends vs. the Other Kind'' iOS app ''Middle School Confidential 1: Be Confident in Who You Are'' iOS app ''The Teen Survival Guide to Dating & Relating: Real-World Advice on Guys, Girls, Growing Up, and Getting Along'' by Annie Fox M.Ed.
''Middle School Confidential, Book 3: What's Up with My Family?'' by Annie Fox, Illustrated by Matt Kindt
''Middle School Confidential, Book 2: Real Friends vs. The Other Kind'' by Annie Fox M.Ed., Illustrated by Matt Kindt
''Middle School Confidential, Book 1: Be Confident in Who You Are'' by Annie Fox, Illustrated by Matt Kindt
''Too Stressed to Think? A Teen Guide to Staying Sane When Life Makes You CRAZY'' by Annie Fox, M.Ed. and Ruth Kirschner