Step1 Think back to your earliest memories. If you feel as though you've always been different, you might be gay - but not all gay people felt that way.
Step2 Ignore the stereotypes. If you have some mannerisms that aren't usually associated with your gender, you aren't necessarily gay. The opposite is also true: not fitting the stereotypes doesn't mean you aren't gay.
Step3 Understand that "gay" and "straight" is not all there is. Research done by Kinsey decades ago showed that some people have desires exclusively for members of the same sex and others have feelings exclusively for the opposite sex, but many people are somewhere in between.
Step4 Consider whether you really feel as though you are or should be a member of the opposite sex. If so, you may be transgendered, which is not the same as being gay.
Step5 Examine your deepest feelings closely. It's perfectly normal for people - especially teenagers - to have a crush on someone of the same sex or to notice the attractiveness of someone of the same sex, but that doesn't mean you're gay unless your desires for the same sex are stronger than your desires for the opposite sex.
Step6 Try not to let society cloud your judgment about whether you're gay. Remember that both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association said in the 1970s that nothing is wrong with being gay or lesbian.
