In “How Homophobia Hurts Children,” Dr. Jean M. Baker, PhD attempts to tackle the difficult task of explaining the lives of children who are gay. Dr. Baker uses personal interviews with children and young adults as well as her own experiences raising two gay sons to help explain how society and the families of gay youth are hurting the children which they intend on protecting. She goes through the ways homophobic values are instilled in children making it close to impossible for children who do eventually realize they are gay to come out. Society shames gay children by denying their existence and using antigay rhetoric. Common misconceptions about gay children are that they do not exist unless some “perverted” gay adult had first molested, converted, or corrupted them (Baker, 1). As children grow up and gradually figure out their own sexuality they become frightened if they do have feelings for the same sex. Gay children begin to realize that their future lives as homosexuals will be very challenging due to the negative stigmas surrounding homosexuality. They may even incorporate the negative feelings associated with the label “homosexual” into their own self-image and learn to hate the gay part of themselves, a phenomenon called “internalized homophobia” (Baker, 6). There are many societal myths surrounding homosexuality that promote feelings of alienation from gay children. Gay children may feel like they are abnormal or sick and chose not to confide in even their closest friends or families. The anxiety comes to a peak during their adolescence when they most seek peer acceptance. The self-esteem of children and adolescents who think they might be gay is undermined by myths they hear about gays. They feel as if they cannot live a happy and successful life due to their homosexuality which may lead them to contemplate self-harm or even suicide (Baker, 17). A common stereotype surrounding homosexuality is that homosexuality is an illness. This theory began in 1957 when psychologist Dr. Evelyn Hooker conducted a study to test the psychological disturbance of gay men compared to straight men. She found no psychological differences between the group of straight men and gay men, however the stereotype prevailed. Several replications of Hooker’s experiment showed the same result, virtually no differences in psychological disturbance between gay and straight men. However, it was not until 1973 that homosexuality was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental Disorders (DSM) as a mental disorder. Psychologists have finally accepted that homosexuality is a common variation of sexuality and nothing to be ashamed of (Baker, 18-19). This was the beginning of society’s acceptance of homosexuals. However, it will require a change in thinking by the families, peers, coaches, and educators of gay youth rather