'Growing Up Gay' appeared as a fourteen-page special section in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on December 6, 1992. The writers of the special sought to know how gay kids lived their lives and why the schools, the churches, and their families were failing them -- a subject never before approached due to skeptical editors who either predicted young gays would not talk openly or that there was no such thing as a homosexual teen. An excerpt from the special can be read below:

From the time they realize they're gay, kids are wounded, and you don't have to spend much time with them to see it. Despised for their sexual orientation, most of them become self-imposed exiles, suffering a bitter loneliness that shakes their identity and eats away at self-esteem. The most troubled ones drop out of school, run away from home, turn to prostitution, drugs or alcohol. Many try to kill themselves, and sometimes they succeed.

Over 10 years later, I would love to know how -- and if -- things have changed.