In honor of National Coming Out Day, several openly gay kids will talk with Linda Ellerbee about their experiences. The special edition of Nick News with Linda Ellerbee will reportedly follow “the everyday lives of gay kids as they face fear, acceptance, bullying, isolation, encouragement and ignorance, and shows how straight and non-straight teens can come together to triumph over bullying.”
Although we hear more and more stories about young people coming out, Ellerbee knows that it still “takes bravery for a kid to come out.” She knows that being “accepted by straight people is not a given. Being young and ‘different’ is not easy. This may be tough to talk about, or hear about, but this is important stuff. Not addressing it doesn’t make it go away.”
In a press release, several kids opened up about their concerns with coming out. Lia, 16, talks about how coming out isn’t a “one-time thing”: “You’re going to meet new people every day…You’re going to always have that burning question in the back of your head: Am I going to come out today? Am I going to come out tomorrow?”
Christine, 14, knows that, no matter how difficult it might be, it’s important to let the world know who she is: “I’ll take a chance. With one heart-wrenching throwback out of this closet, I’ll say the words I’ve been meaning to say my whole life. I’m lesbian.”
This is not the first time Nick News has focused on important issues of the day. HIV, living with alcoholic parents, and the reality of having a parent return from war are just a few of the topics Nick News has covered since it started airing 23 years ago.
Will you tune in to Nick News this week? Make sure you catch the special at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) on Tuesday, October 7th.
Photo: (Nickelodeon Press)