Teenage and young adult years often serve as a time of discovery for young people. It's usually during this time period that a person may find themselves identifying as a different sexuality or gender identity.
We have compiled a number of resources on sexuality and gender identity in the related links section.
Sex, sexual orientation and gender reassignment are all protected characteristics in the UK. This means it is against the law to discriminate against someone based on these. Read more about protected characteristics here.
In addition, the law recognises five types of hate crime, including race, religion, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity. This means it may be a crime if someone is hostile towards you based on these things. Learn more about hate crimes here.