EMPIRICAL RESEARCH Are Teens ‘‘Post-Gay’’? Contemporary Adolescents’ Sexual Identity Labels Stephen T. Russell Æ Thomas J. Clarke Æ Justin Clary Received: 16 September 2008 / Accepted: 29 December 2008 / Published online: 13 January 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009 Abstract Recent reports suggest that historically typical sexual identity labels—‘‘gay,’’ ‘‘lesbian’’ and ‘‘bisexual’’— have lost meaning and relevance for contemporary ado- lescents. Yet there is little empirical evidence that contemporary teenagers are ‘‘post-gay.’’ In this brief study we investigate youths’ sexual identity labels. The Pre- venting School Harassment survey included 2,560 California secondary school students administered over 3 years: 2003–2005. We examined adolescents’ responses to a closed-ended survey question that asked for self- reports of sexual identity, including an option to write-in a response; we content analyzed the write-in responses. Results suggest that historically typical sexual identity labels are endorsed by the majority (71%) of non-hetero- sexual youth. Some non-heterosexual youth report that they are ‘‘questioning’’ (13%) their sexual identities or that they are ‘‘queer’’ (5%); a small proportion (9%) provided alternative labels that describe ambivalence or resistance to sexual identity labels, or fluidity in sexual identities. Our results show that lesbian, gay, and bisexual identities remain relevant for contemporary adolescents. Keywords Sexual identity Á Sexual orientation Á Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Introduction Adolescence is a period of exploration and self-discovery, and is the time during which young people develop aware- ness and understanding of the self. Erikson (1968) argued that paramount in adolescence is identity exploration, the optimal end result of which an assumption of a stable and enduring identity. Over 30 years ago, developmental models were introduced to explain the development of sexual identities. These stage models were based on the assumption that the desirable outcome of sexual identity exploration is the development of a stable ‘‘gay’’ or ‘‘lesbian’’ identity (Cass 1979, 1983; Troiden 1989). These models have been critiqued on multiple grounds (see Diamond 2005), with recent attention focused on diversity and fluidity in adoles- cents’ sexual identity labels. Savin-Williams wrote: ‘‘teenagers are increasingly redefining, reinterpreting, and renegotiating their sexuality such that possessing a gay, lesbian, or bisexual identity is practically meaningless’’ (2005: 1). This sentiment is compelling, particularly in light of anecdotal evidence of the rise in non-traditional youth identities such as ‘‘queer’’ and ‘‘questioning’’ (Horner 2007), and reports that many youth simply refuse any sexual iden- tity label (Savin-Williams 2005, 2008). Yet, little research has directly examined whether historically typical sexual identity labels of ‘‘gay,’’ ‘‘lesbian’’ or ‘‘bisexual’’ remain meaningful for contemporary young people. Are lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) identities irrelevant to contemporary youth? Are contemporary teenagers ‘‘post-gay?’’ The classic models of sexuality identity development describe movement in a linear progression from S. T. Russell Á T. J. Clarke Á J. Clary Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Arizona, McClelland Park, 650 North Park Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721-0078, USA T. J. Clarke e-mail: tjclarke@email.arizona.edu J. Clary e-mail: jclaryba@gmail.com S. T. Russell (&) Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth and Families, University of Arizona, 650 North Park Avenue, P.O. Box 210078, Tucson, AZ 85721-0078, USA e-mail: strussell@arizona.edu 123 J Youth Adolescence (2009) 38:884–890 DOI 10.1007/s10964-008-9388-2