When a child first out as eher beg gay or havg same-sex attractn their parents' ial rpons are ually the wrong on, says Chris Doyle, a psychotherapist who specializ SSA.
Contents:
- SHOULD I LET MY GAY DGHTER HAVE A SLEEPOVER WH A SAME-SEX IEND?
- MOM, I’M GAY. CAN MY FRIENDS SLEEP OVER?
- HOW CHRISTIAN PARENTS SHOULD RPOND TO THEIR CHILD'S GAY INTY CRISIS
SHOULD I LET MY GAY DGHTER HAVE A SLEEPOVER WH A SAME-SEX IEND?
Q: How do you remend handlg same-sex sleepovers when your 13-year-old dghter intifi as gay? This isn’t a matter of “gay” or “straight” sleepovers.
I am gog to gus that you didn’t grow up wh many exampl of how to parent gay youth; I know I certaly didn’t. Your young teen, gay or straight, still needs to know what valu are important your fay, and the rponsibily is on you to munite, s down wh yourself and/or your partner or spoe and take a beat. ” This issue isn’t about your dghter beg gay, per se; ’s about her matury and the appropriatens of thstg her to emotnal and physil suatns that she may not be ready for.
“As a psychotherapist who works wh a lot of children who are gay, I have gotten this qutn multiple tim om parents, ” said Courtney Glashow, licensed clil social worker and psychotherapist at Anchor Therapy New Jersey. I'll let parents on a ltle secret: gay tweens and teens exist. As a queer adult, I n assure you that when I was intifyg as a female teenager, an all-girl sleepover ed both sweaty palms and anticipatn over the opportuny to get zy wh another girl sendg closeted gay kid vib.
MOM, I’M GAY. CAN MY FRIENDS SLEEP OVER?
So when he told his fay he was gay, his father, Jeff Frnd, a prcipal at an arts mag middle school, asked himself, “Would I let his sister at that age have a sleepover wh a boy? “If they knew for sure my son was gay, I doubt they were gog to let them e over, ” he explaed.
”“I thk parents always want to make space for the stuff of childhood to happen, ” said Stacey Karpen Dohn, who works wh the fai of transgenr and genr expansive youths as senr manager of Behavral Health at Whman-Walker Health, a muny health center focg on lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr re Washgton, D. When a child first out to their parents as eher beg gay or havg same-sex attractn, their ial rpons are ually the wrong on, says Chris Doyle, a psychotherapist who specializ York Cy gay pri para crowd this undated photo. "Sce homosexualy is beg more wily accepted Amerin society, an creasg number of teens who experience SSA are intifyg as gay.
They believe that if you experience same-sex attractns, then you're gay, " Doyle told the negative rpons parents have, acrdg to Doyle, are avoidg the issue by barrg their child om talkg about SSA or their gay inty; believg that 's a passg phase; or threateng to kick their olr teen or 20-somethg child out of the hoe.
HOW CHRISTIAN PARENTS SHOULD RPOND TO THEIR CHILD'S GAY INTY CRISIS
He also emphasized that parents nnot talk their child out of beg gay or havg SSA. "We know, our clil rearch over the last 25 years, that fay culture, environment and other non-blogil factors play a signifint role the velopment of same-sex attractn, " he asserted, addg that parents shouldn't seek therapy as an attempt to change their the book, Gay Children, Straight Parents: A Plan for Fay Healg, wrten by Richard Cohen, executive director of IHF, Doyle said 12 prcipl are discsed to help fai navigate through SSA and s . "Regardg sleepovers and big life events such as parents' attendg a child's same-sex weddg ceremony, Doyle suggted that parents treat their homosexual child the same as they would their heterosexual the se of sleepovers, parents should mata the same standards for every child and not allow their gay intified or SSA child to have somone they're attracted to spend the night wh them.
"The same l should apply to heterosexual upl and homosexual upl, " he when down to attendg a child's gay weddg ceremony, Doyle suggted that attendg the ceremony don't necsarily reflect that the parents agree wh same-sex marriage, their prence merely shows their love for their child.