The leisure context of adolescents who are lesbian, gay male, bisexual and questioning their sexual identities: An exploratory study

This paper explored the leisure experiences and behaviors of adolescents who are lesbian, gay male, bisexual, or questioning their sexual identities. In addition, health related variables were also examined. Data for this study came from a self-administered questionnaire collected in the spring of 1994 from 2,756 ninth through twelfth graders from four high schools in a county located in the southeastern United States. Altogether there were 111 students (4%) who were identified as lesbian, gay male, bisexual, or questioning their sexual identities. Results from this exploratory study suggest that free time and leisure experiences are not always positive or healthy for gay males in particular. Males were more bored in their leisure, used free time to rebel, and some felt their parents had too much control over what they did in their free time. Both lesbians and gay males engaged in higher levels of binge drinking when compared to their peers.