For a now, Christian parents have been askg my wife and me for help parentg their gay kids. As a Christian dad of a gay son, I wish there had been someone to talk me through the issu raised by my son’s disclosure of his sexualy. But the evangelil church has until very recently said very ltle about homosexualy, except that is a s and that those who
Contents:
- MY CATHOLIC KID IS GAY! NOW WHAT??
- MOM DAD I’M GAY
- FREE GUI: , I'M GAY
- A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON PARENTG A GAY CHILD
- CATHOLIC PARENTS OF GAY KIDS FD A COMFORT ZONE
MY CATHOLIC KID IS GAY! NOW WHAT??
I'd like to share what I thk is an thentilly lovg rponse to what strik fear to the hearts of most fahful Catholic parents: your son or dghter g out as a gay man or lbian. From that perspective, I'd like to share what I thk is an thentilly lovg rponse to what strik fear to the hearts of most fahful Catholic parents: your son or dghter g out as a gay man or lbian.
That I will love him even if he emerg as an on-fire, flamg homosexual drag queen, even if I'm prayg for that NOT to happen! This msage — that he is more than "gay" — is somethg he won't be hearg the gay subculture.
There is no greater weapon the battle for chasty — for gay or straight people — than the Eucharist and Confsn. But what if my son cid to live openly as a gay man and had a partner?
MOM DAD I’M GAY
How should we treat our children's gay and lbian partners? I'm very disturbed that parents wouldn't dream of shunng one part of a straight uple that's livg s thk shunng their child's gay partner is acceptable. If my son asked me to participate events that would legimize his relatnship wh his partner, such as a gay weddg ceremony or gay pri para, the answer would be a gentle but firm, "NO.
It seems tolerance of gays and lbians isn't good enough anymoreyou mt celebrate homosexualy or risk beg vilified.
FREE GUI: , I'M GAY
If he is receptive to a relatnship based on mutual rpect, however, he ought to know me well enough not to be surprised when I cle to attend the gay pri para.
Homosexualy is a plex pathology and not somethg nscly chosen by the person. Programs that propose to "pray away the gay" do great harm to souls when the person exs wh his SSA tact, and not as the morally upright straight person he's told God wants him to be. "My Catholic Kid is Gay!
That's when their olst son, Jim, me home om llege wh the news that he was gay. "It was his way of articulatg how he felt as a young gay man, " says his mother.
A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON PARENTG A GAY CHILD
She uldn't even say the words "gay" or "homosexual" when she fally got up the urage to ll a lol Catholic prit whom Jim already had nfid. They had no klg Jim was gay and no ia how to al wh homosexualy wh the ntext of their fah. It was three years before the Lopatas told anybody else that Jim was gay, even their clost iends.
CATHOLIC PARENTS OF GAY KIDS FD A COMFORT ZONE
She and her hband first found their way to a secular group lled Parents, Fai, and Friends of Lbians and Gays (PFLAG) where they received support om other parents of homosexuals, along wh ndolenc om those who nsired the Catholic Church to be tolerant and homophobic. Last year Mary Ellen Lopata wrote a book about her experienc as a Catholic parent of a gay child.
In Fortunate Fai: Catholic Fai Wh Lbian Dghters and Gay Sons (Trafford), she scrib the lack of accurate rmatn and sound pastoral rourc for parents and fai of gay and lbian Catholics 20 years ago. Today the Lopatas are among a ntgent of Catholic parents natnwi who have tablished mistri, provid rourc, and sought to make the church more welg to gays and lbians. Catholic bishops 1996 wh the release of Always Our Children: A Pastoral Msage to the Parents of Homosexual Children and Suggtns for Pastoral Mistri.