Abusive relationships can be really complicated. When gay teens are involved in them, they can also be hard for the outside world to identify.
Partly, that's because a lot of people assume that the typical abusive scenario involves a male abusing a female. But as any GLBT victim can tell you, this isn't always the case.
If you think you might be in an abusive relationship, it can be helpful to ask yourself some questions.
Does my partner:
- Harm me physically (slapping, hitting, pushing, grabbing, shaking, or kicking).
- Control me and tell me who I can spend time with, what I can wear, or expect to always know where I am.
- Embarrass me or put me down.
- Threaten to out me even if s/he knows this could be dangerous for me.
- Threaten to hurt me or him or herself if I end the relationship.
- Force me to have sex.
The fact that teens, like adults, can be victims of relationship abuse is still relatively new in the public's consciousness. We have even farther to go towards raising awareness about abuse within same sex teen couples.
If you, or someone you know is in an abusive situation, there are resources. You can contact the Anti-Violence Project or the National Youth Violence Prevention Project, or Love is Respect
Here is more information you might be interested in:
