In this day and age a huge amount of people date online. For gay teens in particular the Internet can seem like the only way to start a relationship.
Of course how you go about doing so is important.
To start, you can check out the forum section of this website. There are always lots of interesting discussions going on. Teens from around the country (and sometimes from around the world!) weigh in on everything from romance to politics.
As one teens says of his experience on the forum:
"I came out to everyone at school, and I was having a difficult time coping when I came out, and dealing with my severely conservative Christian parents. I ran off one day in a fit of tears looking for someone to talk to that had all of the answers. I had used about.com for a project at school, and I asked myself, who would be able to understand me most....a gay teenager like myself...hhhmm...I'll search it...on this website!! I found one of my dearest friends on here that first day. No matter what I am going through he can always make me laugh. Every time I get on the computer here at the library, I go to facebook, myspace, and this forum."
The forum is a safe space, moderated by an adult, where teens can be themselves and meet other kids going through similar experiences.
Unfortunately, not all teen chat sites are legitimate. If you search for things like: lesbian teen chat or gay teen chat, you might stumble across everything from people trying to sell you something to pornography. Just be careful and only use sites you can trust.
The Guide to gay life also has a great article on online dating. He offers a lot of good suggestions, like getting to know someone, by asking detailed questions and looking for weird answers, before meeting in real life, making sure someone knows where you are when you go to meet a new date and talking on the phone before meeting up. This is an important resource that all GLBT teens who are considering online dating should read!
