The New Gay Teenager includes a well-researched and interesting analysis of current research concerning gay adolescence. Unfortunately, this contribution is overshadowed by other problems with the book.

In this book, author Ritch Savin-Williams argues that many early studies of gay teens used flawed methods, meaning the conclusions of those studies are unreliable and not applicable to gay teens in general. Additionally, he criticizes common theories about how teens form a gay identity or realize that they are gay. Savin-Williams comments that current studies look only at "the lives of those who we might say are most gay -- those most likely to feel compelled...to categorize their sexuality."ⁱ These studies have thus ignored those who "have been freed from" a need to categorize themselves.ⁱⁱ

On one hand, Savin-Williams is making a valid point about the methodology of many studies: It is difficult to determine a measure of sexual orientation. One has to include behavior, desire and identity, each of which may not match the other measures. However, Savin-Williams is also implying that those who identify as gay do not do so for any legitimate reasons other than the need to put themselves in a category. He comments on the many categories that teens use to refer to their sexual identities, but he asserts that these labels have little meaning. By failing to provide an assessment of why some teens choose to identify their sexuality with a particular term, Savin-Williams fails to explain his stance that those who choose a label are less "free" than other teens. He seems to reject the possibility that a shared identify has any value or that teens gain anything by identifying their sexuality.

Savin-Williams further compounds this problem when assessing measures of sexual orientation. He takes a positive step by trying to study all same-sex attracted teens rather than just those who identify as bisexual or homosexual, but he fails to differentiate between levels of same-sex attraction. He emphasizes the diversity of same-sex attracted teens without examining that diversity. Consider the case of a female teen who says she would "like to date a woman" at some point but who has never actually been attracted to a woman and consistently dates men. Is this teen "gay" or bisexual in the same sense that a teen who consistently experiences same-sex crushes is gay or bisexual? It seems probable that the second teen would have more of a reason to identify as gay or bisexual than the first teen, but Savin-Williams ignores degrees of same-sex attraction in his analysis. Again, reasons behind choosing to identify one's sexual orientation are ignored.

Another particularly problematic component of the The New Gay Teenager is the quotes included in one of the final chapters. Six quotes from Yale students are included to demonstrate that "same-sex-attracted students…no longer feel that 'being gay' is a primary aspect of their identity."ⁱⁱⁱ While these students' comments are important, it does not seem justified to conclude that their experiences, which were gained at an elite university, are typical of adolescents in general. In many areas of the country, teens continue to face hate crimes, teasing and bullying at school or at home simply for identifying as gay.

Additionally, many of these quotes, such as those below, emphasize not being activist as a positive choice.^iv

"It makes it possible to just go about your daily life, rather than having to sit around reminding yourself that you're gay all the time, fighting for all these causes." ^v

"The unwritten rule is, you can do whatever you want as long as you don't act like you're part of an embittered minority."^vi

"...many gay students actually shun activism."^vii

"This is going to sound really terrible, but in order to improve their sex lives on campus, people actually try to avoid being labeled as activists. People who are out on the front lines are almost viewed as unpopular in a certain way."

All four of these quotes dismiss activism and note that doing things associated with one's sexual orientation, such as fighting for gay rights, is unpopular and not accepted by the student body as a whole. While Savin-Williams says these students are probably agreeing with the idea that "the only way to lift the stigma of homosexuality is to be matter-of-fact about it,"^viii they in fact imply that the only way to lift the stigma of homosexuality is to limit it from becoming part of one's larger identity. Should adolescents simply compartmentalize their sexuality and avoid fighting for gay rights in order to be accepted at the current moment?

Ritch Savin-Williams implies that the answer is yes and that this will lead to homosexuals becoming more accepted and normalized. However, this answer is only helpful to those who can "pass" as straight in everything but the gender of whom they date. Teens who express different gender identities based on their sexual identities are excluded. Teens who hold different values concerning sexuality than the heterosexual norm are excluded. Any teen who is not willing to limit her or his expression of sexuality to the mainstream heterosexual norm is excluded.

In The New Gay Teenager, Ritch Savin-Williams focuses on debunking the myths of who is gay and the characteristics of these individuals, demonstrating the many flaws in earlier studies and showing an optimistic picture of gay teens. However, his vision of an adolescence in which teens no longer "need" to identify as gay ignores the many teens who do not conform to heterosexual norms in their gender identities, their values or how they express sexuality. The diversity that Savin-Williams says other researchers have missed is thus missed by Savin-Williams himself; his vision only works in areas that are tolerant for particular teens. Overall, the amount of time he spends pushing this vision undermines the accurate and thoughtful analysis contained in the rest of the work.

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ⁱPreface, x
ⁱⁱPreface, x
ⁱⁱⁱChapter 10, “Refusing and Resisting Sexual Identity Labels” 200
^ivChapter 10, “Refusing and Resisting Sexual Identity Labels” 200
^vChapter 10, “Refusing and Resisting Sexual Identity Labels” 201
^viChapter 10, “Refusing and Resisting Sexual Identity Labels” 201
^viiChapter 10, “Refusing and Resisting Sexual Identity Labels” 201
^viiiMaupin, Armistead, quoted in Chapter 10, “Refusing and Resisting Sexual Identity Labels” 201