As teens become even more style conscious, gay youth are using fashion to announce their orientat... Wearing their labels...

The result isn’t a cookie-cutter look, like the “gay clone” phenomenon of the ‘70s, where many gay men wore their clothing, hair and beards in the same style so as to be recognizable to one another and as a show of solidarity with their gay brothers.

These days, those coming out of the closet at a young age aren’t looking to conform to anything. They often use their clothes to show the world they are not just another Abercrombie kid straight from the mall.

Cornelius Robinson, 18, who is gay, says young gays are more likely to wear bright colors and “a tight shirt with some cut-up jeans with gay shoes.” Robinson identifies brands such as Converse and Vans as having gay appeal.

The characteristics of what constitutes “gay fashion” vary, but many gay youth describe the style of their peers as eclectic and radical, with teenagers creating unusual looks by blending old with new, homemade with purchased and prints with patterns.

Raven, an 18-year-old who is gay and spoke on condition his last name not be used, says he often wears jewelry with his otherwise “sporty urban” look.

“Clearly, I can tell my youth from other youth in their fashion sense,” says Victor Price, youth services and activities manager at the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League, a local non-profit that assists gay youth.

“I think it’s radical,” Price says about the general nature of the clothing worn by many gay youth. Price says that he often sees deliberately shredded or tattered clothing and T-shirts with provocative statements written on them.

SMYAL’s youth are so interested in style that the group hosted a fashion show to express what they had learned about HIV and substance abuse prevention this past spring at Cada Vez, a nightlife venue on U Street, NW.

Robinson is also unwilling to label clothing or style as “gay” simply because gay people are more likely to wear it. Indeed, although both teens dismissed the notion of any particular “gay” style, each could identify distinctions in gay fashion.

The reluctance of gay youth to identify themselves or their styles as “gay” simply because gay people wear them is a trend, others say.

GAY AUTHOR RITCH Savin-Williams has studied gay youngsters for years and published a book last year, “The New Gay Teenager,” on how gay youth identify themselves.

So even though gay youth may not feel as though they have to dress a certain way, sometimes they choose to simply announce themselves to the world as different.

“They know people can tell that they’re gay,” Price says. “They deal with some pretty harsh treatment living in Southeast. In a lot of African-American communities in D.C., the reality is they’re not being accepted for being openly gay, so they do push the envelope.

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