Lgbt

[Guest]

Hey. I’m a thirteen year old girl living in America. I recently met a girl online, and I asked her to be my girlfriend. She said yes! It’s perfect, because we’re the same religion, same age, and we like each other.
there are a couple problems though. Both of our parents are homophobic, and we’re not out to them. Next, she lives across the world. I’ve been wanting to run away from home for a while now, due to verbal abusif from my parents, but I never had the guts to. And I needed all my meds, which I know I couldn’t just get a refill on.
I really want to go to Israel to visit my girlfriend, but there’s no way to without my parents knowing. Plus, I want to go along. I was just wondering if anyone had suggestions?? Keep in mind I’m only 13, so it’s not like I can pay for a flight and my own things. But yeah. Thanks

[ccsmod3]

Hey there. Thanks for contacting the National Runaway Safeline. We know that it can take a lot of courage to reach out for support, and we're glad you made that decision.

It's great that you've found someone who you're really into, though we're sorry to hear that your parents are homophobic, and that you've been experiencing verbal abuse at home. While it's understandable that you'd want to meet your girlfriend in person, running away is a pretty big step. It's important to spend some time thinking through a plan before making that decision, including having an idea of where you'll go, how you'll get there, and how you'll survive once you're there. These different elements of survival can be difficult when thinking about running away to areas that you're familiar with, but doing so in another country definitely takes things up a notch, and also has the potential to be that much more of a challenge. Realistically speaking, traveling to another country at 13 without your parent's consent is unlikely to happen. When you factor in travel expenses, travel restrictions on minors traveling alone, as well as current restrictions in place due to the pandemic, there are various barriers in place that would make this sort of trip tremendously difficult, if not impossible, at least for the foreseeable future.

As you continue to think things through, it's a good idea to be aware of the risks that could come with meeting people you recently met online, especially when considering running away to be with them. Getting to really know someone takes time, and often times there are sides to people that we just don't have the ability to see and really know until we spend time with them. It's usually a good idea to take your time getting to know them--chatting online, texting, phone calls and video chats are all tools that you can utilize to do so. If you decide to meet in person, it's wise to make sure someone knows where you're going and who you're meeting, and to do so in a public setting. These are just a couple of steps that you can take to try and make yourself a little more aware, and a little safer.

If you'd like to chat in more detail about your current situation and how things are going at home, please feel free to reach out to us directly by calling 1-800-RUNAWAY or by chatting with us live at www.1800runaway.org. We're available 24/7 and are always happy to listen, and to help.

Take care.

NRS