The late tweens and early teens are a magical time when the hormones get pumping and people discover their sexual attraction (or, in some cases, lack thereof), along with learning the meaning of the word horny. Of course, this is also the time that some kids discover they're different from their peers, in that rather than being attracted to the opposite gender, they're attracted to the same gender or even multiple genders. Naturally, this makes great fodder for LGBT-focused romance stories.
Stories focusing on this area tend to be in the school setting, where there are lots of different peers, attractive and otherwise, who the protagonist of such stories can interact with. This can help them figure out who they are interested in, and often, one of these schoolmates will even be their Closet Key, helping them realize "hey, I'm not straight," and, unless the author is trying to set up heartbreak, will become their first queer romance (if not first romance, period). Of course, it's also possible for the protagonist to be the closet key for their closet key as well.
Due to the ages of the characters involved and the fact that they're going through an often-arduous period of self-discovery, when the character does end up in a relationship, expect it to be presented as more cute than sexy (even if they do have sex), with lots of cute and/or awkward blushing and hand-holding. It will also have less focus on things like gay rights or discrimination, as those aren't really things that teens, especially younger teens, would be expected to think about as much or be as knowledgeable of as adults would be. Of course, getting to the romance may be a challenge in itself, if the protagonist of such a story suffers from angst over it, is confused about their feelings, or is too nervous or fearful of rejection to admit said feelings to their crush, but, again, unless the author is setting up a tragedy, they will eventually get it out and the other character will reciprocate.
Closely related to LGBT Awakening, Coming of Age Story, and Coming-Out Story. Also, a common plot in the Yuri and Yaoi Genres. If one or both partners decide they're not gay and breaks the relationship off, then it's also an example of Gay Romantic Phase.
Examples
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Anime and Manga
- A side storyline in Asteroid in Love has 15-year-old Moe, whose obsession with "collecting the girls' info" more than implies her interest in women, finally getting over her Cannot Spit It Out over her crushing over Misa and gives the latter a Love Confession right before Misa graduates from high school. Misa is implied to have declined it by asking her to Be Yourself rather than admiring her. Moe seems to take it rather gratefully, though, outside of a Significant Haircut.
- Bloom Into You has three examples of this, two in the main story, and one in the spinoff:
- The ones in the main story are from first-year high school student Yuu Koito and her senpai, second year Touko Nanami. Neither had felt love for anyone before they met each other, but when Touko meets her new kohai on the student council, Yuu, she quickly falls for her and is quite forward about it. What makes it odd, though, is that Touko gives Yuu a series of instructions about their relationship: Don't hate her, don't fall for anyone else, and, most importantly, don't fall for her. This last one is because she hates herself for reasons unrelated to her sexuality and doesn't want Yuu to love something she hates. Thus begins a strange relationship where despite explicitly not being a couple, they kiss a lot (though always Touko kissing Yuu) and spend a lot of time together. After a few months and a few revelations about and for Touko, though, Yuu does fall for her, and they enter into a romantic relationship that it's implied continues through adulthood.
- The third one comes from the spinoff Regarding Sayaka Saeki, which is about Sayaka's first, second, and third loves. Her first love, and the relevant one here, was a female upperclassman who she started dating in middle school and helped her figure out her sexuality but dumped her shortly after starting high school because she thought that they were outgrowing that phase, which almost causes her to permanently swear off romance altogether. She does find love on her third try (her second was Touko, who was already spoken for), and gets a happy ending.
- Breath Of Flowers' protagonist Azami starts the story crushing on boys' basketball player Gwyn. After being annoyed by her friends trying to force a yaoi manga on her, she follows Gwyn into the boy's locker room, where she discovers Gwyn wearing a bra, causing her to faint. A few days later, they speak about the incident and Azami realizes that she still has feelings for Gwyn in spite of the fact that they're both girls. Since Gwyn feels the same way towards Azami, they quickly start a relationship.
- Citrus has Yuzu Aihara, who just started high school, go through this. At the start, it's established she's somewhat boy crazy but has never had a particularly long relationship with any of the guys she's dated because none of them clicked with her. However, she does find someone she clicks with at her all-girls high school, after said girl forces herself on her with a deep kiss. That someone, however, happens to be her stepsister, Mei Aihara. It takes many trials and tribulations, as well as getting Mei's mental health in order, but they do enter into a proper romantic relationship and eventually get married.
- Mari and later, Akko from Girl Friends (2006) go through a particularly interesting case of this, and the series is particularly loved and praised outside of Japan for how realistically it portrays a schoolgirl who slowly comes to the realization that she's a lesbian and is in love with her seemingly straight best friend, with all the self-denial, fear, mental anguish, and general Gayngst that comes with it. It also delves into how the Gay Romantic Phase culture of Japan affects actual lesbians, contributing to the initial confusion of Mari on what her feelings are and later obscuring Akko's attempts to communicate her reciprocal feelings. However, it also allows the two to hide their relationship in plain sight, since it leads to no one batting an eyelash at two girls being all cuddly in public.
- Hana & Hina After School deals with this in two ways. Hana is the typical yuri protagonist, a girl who had never thought much at all about romance and love until Hina-chan came into her life. So she gets to come to grips with the notion that, surprise surprise, she's in love with another girl. Hina, by contrast, has no doubts about her sexuality. She knows she's gay. But she thinks it's weird to be gay, and she routinely describes herself as "strange" because she's attracted to other girls. So her journey through the story involves learning to accept herself and her sexuality.
- Love Me For Who I Am: High schooler Tetsu starts the series thinking of himself as a straight ally to his trans sister and coworkers at the crossdressing cafe (though he doesn't start calling her "sister" until the second volume) but realizes he may not be as straight as he thought once he develops feelings for Mogumo, a nonbinary classmate.
- In Secret of the Princess first-year Miu starts a practice relationship with Fujiwara, a member of the volleyball team, and one of the most popular girls at the school, in return for her not telling anyone that Fujiwara accidentally broke the principal's very expensive vase. For a time, they manage to pretend that it is a practice relationship because Miu is looking for her prince charming and Fujiwara just wants a friend to hang out with, but eventually both of them develop feelings for each other. Fujiwara first kisses Miu and runs off in terror. Later, after Miu collapses and ends up in the nurse's office with Fujiwara, she admits her own feelings and kisses the latter as she sleeps, then, in a panic, runs off to the school's roof and climbs over the railing. Fujiwara talks Miu down from jumping and (with Miu's mom's approval, because Fujiwara is rich), they move in together as lovers.
- Yuri is My Job! plays with this. As a child, Mitsuki Yano always dreamed of finding her dashing prince, who would sweep her off her feet. However, around eight (quite young for this trope, admittedly), she finds that it wasn't a prince she was waiting for, but a princess in the form of Hime Shiraki. She develops a crush on her but after their friendship falls apart the crush is suppressed. Fast forward to the present, and they meet again working at a themed cafe. Though it takes a while, the hate Mitsuki previously felt for Hime dissipates and her feelings gradually return, capped off with a kiss when Hime was visiting her. While it's unclear if it will lead to romance, as the series is not complete, the signs are there to suggest it will.
Comic Books
- Blue Is the Warmest Color: Young high school student Clementine experiences a great deal of emotional stress as she goes through life after taking on a fake boyfriend, to kissing a friend for the first time even when the kiss the friend had initiated had been done as a joke, culminating in her having an Awkwardly Gay Dream about a woman with blue hair named Emma. The story then details her journey to accepting herself while falling for Emma that ultimately leads to the two becoming a couple.
- Fun Home: Alison Bechdel's autobiographical comic focuses in part on this, showing Alison admiring a butch lesbian as a child, questioning her sexuality as an adolescent, and finally having a relationship with a girl and coming out in college. The stage version sums this up in "Ring of Keys" and "Changing My Major".
- The Girl from the Sea: Morgan starts the story knowing she's gay but is thoroughly closeted about it. Over the course of the story she has her first real queer relationship comes out to her family and friends, while finally finding comfort in her identity.
Fan Works
- Pretty Cure Mirai ~ Spark!: Hiroko quickly develops a crush on Yasu however, she does not immediately recognize as such, initially going into denial about the subject. Over the course of the story, Hiroko slowly comes to terms with both those feelings and her own sexuality and gender identity. Mirai Academy is implied to be a common stage for these kinds of romances in general.
- Surviving Space With Your Ex-Fiancé: As per the source material, one such romance begins to blossom between Lance and his partner Keith. That said, the fic goes into greater detail about Lance's thoughts on the process, in particular grappling with the emotional upheaval that accepting oneself in that way brings about, though his love for Keith remains stable.
Film
- Booksmart: Downplayed. Nerdy high school senior Amy is already out as a lesbian at the start of the film, but has a crush on another girl and isn't sure if said girl is even gay. She agrees to Molly's plan to get in one crazy party before they graduate in hopes of kindling something with her.
Literature
- Adachi and Shimamura revolves around the titular Adachi, a first year in high school, discovering her attraction to her classmate Shimamura through an Awkwardly Gay Dream she has with the latter. The story deals with her getting closer and closer to Shimamura as a friend, while Shimamura wonders what Adachi's real feelings are. Eventually Adachi does admit her feelings to the other girl but faints immediately afterwards and doesn't remember confessing. Shimamura pretends it never happened, so she has time to think about it, and when Adachi admits that she's in love with Shimamura the second time, Shimamura agrees to start a romantic relationship.
- I Kissed Shara Wheeler: The story tells the tale of the titular stereotypical Christian girl from the Deep South meeting an openly bisexual LA native whom she finds herself kissing along with two boys the day before she goes missing, leading the LA native Chloe to begin a search for her with the help of the two boys.
- The first book of the Last Herald-Mage Trilogy has a vintage fantsy example from 1989. Young, effeminate Vanyel Ashkevron is shipped off to stay with his aunt in the city of Haven and finds that one of her students is openly gay and very striking. Van has to get over his Safety in Indifference and his own hesitation in order to reach out to Tylendel, who has to get past baggage of his own. Unfortunately, Tylendel's "baggage" catches up with him in a big way.
- The Way You Are: The entire premise of the story, along with the core of it's conflict is the tale of the main protagonist Robert being forced to try and reconcile his extremely religiously conservative parents, and his own gayness. This issue is then subsequently forced when Robert meets, befriends, and falls for another boy in his college class named Pete, with Robert finding that he simply can't keep pretending, especially when he learns Pete shares his feelings.
Live Action TV
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer: While Willow Rosenberg is a little older than the norm for this trope (still a teen, but in her first year of college), this is essentially how her character arc plays out in Season 4. Willow, who had only shown interest in boys up to that point, befriends Tara Maclay after discovering they both practice magic. As they practice together, their magic becomes more sensual, hinting at their growing relationship. When Willow's high school boyfriend Oz returns hoping to get back together with Willow (having left earlier in the season to deal with some werewolf issues), she confesses to Buffy that while she still loves Oz, she also has romantic feelings for Tara, and isn't sure who to choose. After parting with Oz on bittersweet terms, Willow chooses Tara.
- Coronation Street, a British Series, had the romance between Sophie Webster and Sian Powers from 2010 to 2012, but Sophie's major romance was with Maddie Heath (portrayed by Amy-James Kelly, in a 2012 Darkhorse Casting). This was an unusually Darker and Edgier take on this trope, bordering on a Decon-Recon Switch.
- Degrassi: Fiona and Imogen undergo this as they explore their feelings for each other. A major complication within their romance is the fact that Imogen not having been attracted to women until Fiona came into the picture, thus saddling her with the confusion that comes along with a first crush all over again.
- Ugly Betty: Justin, who for the first three and a half seasons had been in a Transparent Closet, finally realizes he's gay in the fourth season when he joins an afterschool acting class and has a romantic rivalry with a male classmate over a girl before they both realize they actually like each other.
- We Are Who We Are: Fraser is attracted to Caitlin from the moment he first sees her, but also boys. He kisses one guy at a party whom he's attracted to. It turns out Caitlin's not cisgender though, saying she may be a trans boy, and at least probably nonbinary. They share a kiss near the end, before running off together. Both are 14 year olds still figuring out themselves.
Video Games
- Life Is Strange franchise:
- Life Is Strange: The Player Character, Max Caulfield, re-establishes her bond with her childhood best friend, Chloe Price when she moves back to their hometown, Arcadia Bay, for a special high school program. The two grow very close regardless of the player's choices, and one of the endings involves Max sacrificing Arcadia Bay to let Chloe live, while the other involves kissing her goodbye if enough pro-Chloe choices have been made. Max has not openly shown attraction to any other women during the game, so it's very likely that Chloe was the first woman she was ever attracted to.
- Life Is Strange: Before the Storm: It's implied that Rachel Amber was the woman who helped Chloe realize she's attracted to women. Their relationship is very complicated and ambiguous in nature, especially when you factor in player's choice, but it's clear that Chloe was in love with Rachel; it's just unclear if it was true the other way around.
- Life Is Strange 2: Sean Diaz can romance either a girl named Cassidy or a guy named Finn. It's implied that Finn is the first guy Sean was ever attracted to.
- The Walking Dead: Season Four: Clementine is around 16-17 and can romance Violet, a girl she meets in the abandoned boarding school that serves as this season's setting. Violet is the first girl Clementine has ever shown romantic feelings for in the series, and she's noticeably shyer when confessing to her than she is if the player chooses to romance Louis, implying that Violet is her Closet Key. The developers have confirmed that Clem is canonically bisexual.
Webcomics
- Gunnerkrigg Court: Kat and Paz fit into this. When a rumor starts going around that the tomboyish Kat is a lesbian, she is initially very alarmed and denies it — then when Paz confesses to having a crush on her, Kat realizes that she is actually bisexual and they end up going out. The relationship is very cute and despite Kat's initial nervousness, everyone is perfectly fine with it.
- Homestuck: A variation not in a school setting (due to the destruction of the planet) — Dave and Karkat are good friends, both around 15, and have had previous crushes but no real relationships. Karkat acts as a Closet Key causing Dave to realize he is bisexual, which at first, he is upset about, but then comes around to realizing that there is no more human society to judge him anyway, and they end up becoming a couple.
- Tripping Over You is a classic Slice of Life school romance about Milo and Liam, two boys at a British boarding school, and their various friends and acquaintances. They start out as friends until Milo confesses to having a crush, and get together after a short bit of awkward angst. Later on, after graduation, the story does tackle some more serious issues of gay rights, however.
Western Animation
- The Loud House: In the episode "L is for Love", several of the Loud Siblings experience crushes for the first time. One of them in particular, Luna, shows particular nervousness when her mutual crush, Sam, starts sending hints that Luna's feelings are in fact reciprocated. At the end of the episode, it's revealed that Sam is actually a girl, implying that at least a part of Luna's nervousness was some degree of Gayngst. Fortunately, the two end up getting together.
- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power depicts a very... Messy example of this between the members of it's main couple, Adora and Catra. The two initially grew up together in The Horde under the iron grip of Shadow Weaver. The abuse that she suffered would ultimately drive Adora away from the Horde with Catra choosing to remain with them. Throughout the series the two come to blows as opposing sides in a war despite their massive romantic tension with each other. The breaking point is when Catra finally undergoes a Heel Realization and mentally matures to the point that she also breaks from the Horde after having ironically become it's leader briefly. Only afterwards do the two properly become lovers.
- The Owl House: Amity starts out hostile to Luz, perceiving her as a threat, but slowly begins to develop a crush on her over the first season, to the point she gets flustered every time they're in the same room. Luz remains oblivious through season 1, but as season 2 begins it becomes clear she is developing feelings of her own for Amity. When Amity impulsively kisses Luz in "Through the Looking Glass Ruins", Luz is finally clued in to Amity's own feelings; in "Knock, Knock, Knockin' on Hooty's Door", the two become an Official Couple.
