Tegan and Sarah Remember the ‘Ups and Downs’ of Growing Up Gay in the 90s

“There must have been a lot of tough stuff back then,” Sarah Quinn admitted to news. As she and her twin brother Tegan promoted their new show High School, based on their memoir of the same name.

Although times have changed, Tegan and Sarah Quinn’s unique teenage experiences in the 1990s feel familiar to any generation.

The musical duo of twin brothers, 42, contemplate dealing with their sexuality as they open up to news about their “complicated” teenage years and their new Amazon Freevee series High School, based on their 2019 memoir of the same name.

Sarah noted that “it wasn’t acceptable back then,” adding, “But we weren’t talking about queerness either.

So it’s easier being teen and gay, if you’re comfortable you don’t have to talk about it.”

“I wore a Smashing Pumpkins [t-shirt] and I hung out with all my girlfriends over the weekend. It’s easier to hang out with other teens when people aren’t paying attention,” she explains. However, the new mom still wonders what her teenage years would be like. If she could tell her mom about her boyfriend or talk to a friend when she was “crushed” by a breakup.

“There must have been a lot of difficult things during that time,” he admits. “But I also had to sleep with my best friend because my mom didn’t know I was gay and I slept with her. The whole experience had its pros and cons.”

Sarah added, “I really think it’s still a big challenge to come out and be queer these days. But I think there are more resources and more examples of queer and of course there’s a more diverse spectrum for us to look at when we Need him. And it would be great wealth for us if at 17 there was only one thing to do with him.”

The cast of Crybaby fondly remembers that time, having written their memoir together. And doing a show with executive producer Clea DuVall allowed them to relive their youth through their on-screen co-stars.