In the 90's the most non-conformative kids we had were Goths who to be fair in my experience were usually some of the nicest kids you could meet. But they were usually treated as the local freak show and left to their own. It also never hurt them that some of the Goth chicks were hot.
I knew a kid who family was poor and he was forced to wear hand me downs from his siblings and there was a large age gap so these clothes were from the late 70s and early 80s and he was mocked relentlessly. It wasn't his fault but kids don't give a shit.
Forget being gay or lesbian back then you were in the closet because of gay panic and because of the idea they'd look at them no one not the boys or the girls wanted a fag or a dyke in the locker room.
Yeah, if a dude was cross dressing in the 90s at a High School I hope they had their affairs in order.
Yeah, the goth stuff could be particularly bad in shitty small northern towns. You could get like, kicked to death it happened a few times.
I don't miss those days At all. I notice kids seem to be quite a bit less violent now, and a bit more accepting of clothes and shit. Perhaps because they have a wide range of reference and melting pop of aesthetics influencing them online, or maybe the fact of being focused on the same phones..
Even before the teenage goth days, having a fake brand item, or a too old football shirt, or cheap trainers, or something handmade, you would be miserable.
Ironically the kids who would rip you for being poor, were defo poorer cos their stupid families bought their shit head kid ludicrously expensive shit on catalog payment order instead of saved anything.
Maybe the idea of trying to make kids a bit nicer to each other in schools did actually work, I see a lot less bullying when I've worked with kids, my sister still deos and says its kinda gone a bit too far the other way now, a bit too wrapped in cotton wool. But it's generally better than having brutal bastards.
It'll swing back and right just a little hopefully.
I am glad section 28 was ended too. I know we have some mega homophobes on here, who think any acknowledging sexuality in fron of kids is "grooming" but there is a fine line to tread.
Like, it would have been nice to have been taught even the notion of consent or that sex was supposed to be for pleasure, and not just getting mauled, chalking up real shit times to experience, to shake the dreaded virginity off.
And for any friends I had who were gay, that had a horrible time. The only reference for what they were, was a freak, a joke on tv shows, and no information about fucking anything.
It was confusing growing up straight, so for them it must have been baffling.
