The days, gay parents are no novelty.
Contents:
- 5 THGS I WISH I HAD KNOWN ABOUT RAISG A GAY CHILD
- PARENTG A GAY CHILD
- GAY PARENTS RAISG KIDS: HOW WILL THEY FARE?
- 10 TIPS FOR PARENTS OF GAY KIDS
5 THGS I WISH I HAD KNOWN ABOUT RAISG A GAY CHILD
What do I wish I had known about raisg a gay child? It’s a pretty short list and, had I known, I may have stunted my own growth. Bee raisg a gay child has not been much different than raisg a child who is not gay. After all, she’s a child. Well, not any more. But, Pearl once was, and I would like to thk our fay navigated her g out such a manner that she is now a flouris * raising a gay child *
What do I wish I had known about raisg a gay child?
Bee raisg a gay child has not been much different than raisg a child who is not gay. We did right by her; thank you, lnchg a kickstarter fundraisg mpaign for "Lovg Pearl, " a book I wrote about raisg my gay child, some have told me how “lucky” my dghter is that we accepted her.
I’ve met several people who have thanked me for havg the urage to wre the book, cludg parents, a few teachers, a pastor and other gay youth who weren’t so “lucky. I was blsed to have gay siblgs growg up. Sometim ’s hard to tell who’s gay and who’s straight.
PARENTG A GAY CHILD
I grew up outsi of New York Cy, the meltg pot, attend llege and worked New York, yet when I found out my son, Jam, age 13, was gay, I reverted to "not my backyard. Although he didn't particularly like ntact sports, he didn't exhib the gay stereotypil image: lisp, rabow lors.
How would he know he's gay, if he never had sex wh a girl? Acrdg to -thor of When Your Child Is Gay, Jonathan L.
D., nial is the most mon ial reactn of parents to the joltg news that their child is gay. When I terviewed straight parents for When Your Child Is Gay, they ed words such as fear, shock, helplsns, strs, and extreme sadns to scribe their experienc wh nial. Why do parents who are normally acceptg of their children go to the nial zone upon learng that their child is gay, bisexual, even transgenr?
GAY PARENTS RAISG KIDS: HOW WILL THEY FARE?
Beg gay was not part of that plan and this fact was hard to rencile. Tobk, who is private practice Manhattan, do not expect their child to be gay. However, be sure you pick a gay-iendly one om an anizatn such as the Amerin Associatn of Psychiatrists that has a divisn of gay therapists om which to choose.
They will be empathetic and unrstandg and turn will ntribute to your unrstandg of what means to be the parent of a gay child. At PFLAG, you will fd parents who have siar feelgs, thoughts, and reactns to havg a gay child. I uldn't be around people who judged me, thought beg gay was a "liftyle" that uld be changed or thought that homosexualy was wrong.
This book tak a parent through a day the life of a gay child.
10 TIPS FOR PARENTS OF GAY KIDS
As a parent wh no role mols for havg a gay child, I didn't expect to know how to parent a gay child. You may say that parentg is parentg, but the straight parent of a gay child has to al wh addnal issu such as bullyg, possible low self-teem of their child, discrimatn, to name a few. The gay child has most likely gone through the same issu that you are now experiencg: nial, fear, guilt, shame, anger, loss, to arrive at acceptance.
In future blogs, we will tackle those subjects, jt as When Your Child Is Gay (Sterlg, 2016) do. The days, gay parents are no novelty: We see them strollg through our neighborhoods, participatg our PTA meetgs, and, perhaps most notably, appearg on our TV screens: Mchell and Cam, fathers to Lily, on the ratgs smash Morn Fay; Glee’s Sue Sylvter, expectant mom to a baby nceived wh an as-yet-unrevealed sperm donor, and Rachel’s dads, played wh humor and grace by Jeff Goldblum and Brian Stok.