Tegan and Sara Recall 'Pros and Cons' of Growing Up Gay in the '90s: 'It Was Easier in Some Ways'

Michelle Faye/Amazon Freevee

Although times have changed, Tegan and Sara Quin's queer adolescent experience in the 1990s feels familiar for any generation.

The twin sister music duo, 42, reflects on coming to terms with their sexuality as they open up to PEOPLE about their "complicated" teen years and their new Amazon Freevee series High School, based on their 2019 memoir of the same name.

Sara notes that it "wasn't as accepting of a time," adding: "But we also weren't talking about queerness as much at that time. So it was easier in some ways to be a teenager and be gay if you were comfortable with just not talking about it."

"I just wore Smashing Pumpkins [t-shirts] and hooked up with all my girlfriends on the weekend. It was easier to blend in with other teenagers when people weren't paying attention," she explains.

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Michelle Faye/Amazon Freevee

However, the new mom still wonders what her youth would have been like if she could have told her own mother about her girlfriend or talk to a friend when she was "brokenhearted" over a breakup.

"There certainly was a lot about that time that was difficult," she admits. "But also, I got to have sleepovers with my best friend because my mom didn't know I was gay and sleeping with her. There were pros and cons to the whole experience."

Sara adds, "I do think that it is still very challenging to come out and be queer in this time, but I do think there are more resources and there are more examples of queerness and there is certainly a more diverse spectrum for us to connect with when we need it. And it would've been an abundance of riches for us if there had been even one thing for us to connect with at 17."

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The Crybaby artists look back on that period fondly after writing their joint memoir, and making the show with fellow executive producer Clea DuVall allowed them to relive their own youth vicariously through their onscreen counterparts.

"I mean for me, when we were writing the book, that was when I did my real deep dive and just watched all the VHS footage of us in the '90s and was really submerged in that world again. And it was just exciting," Tegan recalls. "I think all of us write off our younger selves like, 'Oh, I was annoying. Oh, I'm a teenager. I don't wanna look at photos of myself.' But I spent two years in that world and just left it thinking we were pretty cool.

Michelle Faye/Amazon Freevee

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"Young people are pretty cool. They're curious and they're full of adventure and they're terrified and sexuality and sex and all friends and longing and it was so sweet. When we started shooting the show, I felt the same way," she continues.

The show was filmed at Calgary's Crescent Heights High School in Alberta, Canada, the school where Tegan and Sara lived the very same experiences more than 20 years ago.

Tegan says that during filming, she was "just wandering around and remembering what it was like to be 16 and just obsessed with your friends and just couldn't get enough of them and what a great feeling that was.

Michelle Faye/Amazon Freevee

"And it was nice to journey back to that time and kind of heal some of the harder times," she adds.

The sisters lucked out when it came time to cast their onscreen counterparts, as Tegan stumbled upon twin TikTok stars Railey and Seazynn Gilliland.

"I mean, we joked at the beginning when we got the green light for the show that we were just hoping we could find twins at all," Tegan says, adding: "We really hoped that the twins would be gay. We wanted to cast the leads as actual queer people. But the truth is, we didn't have to look very hard."

RELATED: Why Pop Duo Tegan and Sara Think Everyone Can Relate to Their New Memoir, 'High School'

Tegan stumbled upon Railey's profile first, remembering "she was so funny and clever" and being "absolutely beyond excited" upon figuring out she was a twin. She quickly sent their videos to Sara and they "badgered the crap" out of DuVall, 45, "for months" about the casting choice.

Although they received audition tapes from twins all over the world, they had their hearts set on the Gilliland sisters. To get their attention, Tegan and Sara posted a video to TikTok last September, pleading with their 250,000 followers to help them get in touch with Railey.

"And then the rest is history. And that's so funny because they were reluctant a little bit, which I think reads as more organic and real. They're still figuring their lives out," Tegan recounts. "They were 20 years old, working at a pizza joint, and all of a sudden we were like, 'Hi, we're in a band from the 90s and you're gonna play us on a show.'

"And they're just so watchable and they did such a beautiful job in the role and they both articulate so beautifully," she raves.

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High School stars Railey and Seazynn as teenage versions of the duo, discovering their passion for music while navigating life, love and sexuality in high school. The show also features Olivia Rouyre, Amanda Fix, Brianne Tju, Geena Meszaros, CJ Valleroy, Nate Corddry, Kyle Bornheimer and Cobie Smulders as Tegan and Sara's mother.

"We're still living in a world that for the most part does not welcome or accept openly, and with the same regard, LGBTQ people. And I think that this show, for them, is super significant. So it's really exciting. It's very full circle," Tegan adds.

High School premieres Friday, Oct. 14 on Amazon Freevee.