What if my 4-year-old son is gay like me? - Today's Parent

Contents:

• EARLY SIGNS TO TELL YOUR CHILD IS GAYTIMOFDIATHE DIFFICULT JOURNEYUNRSTANDG, ACKNOWLEDGG, AND SHARG ONE'S SEXUAL ORIENTATN WH THE WORLD, IS EASY FOR SOME, WHILE FOR OTHERS THE JOURNEY IS LONG AND DIFFICULT.GETTY-IMAGCOMG OUT ISN'T EASYGAY YOUTH OFTEN FACE THEIR SET OF CHALLENG AFTER G OUT ABOUT THEIR GENR PREFERENC.GETTY-IMAGTHE ROLE OF PARENTSAS PARENTS, ALL YOU N DO IS PROVI THEM WH LOVE AND SUPPORT. THIS N START OM AN EARLY AGE IF YOU N INTIFY THE SIGNS OF YOUR CHILD'S SEXUAL ORIENTATN.GETTY-IMAG​DRSG UPIT MAY SEEM STEREOTYPIL, BUT SOME REARCH SUGGTS THAT KIDS SHOW THEIR CLATN BY THE WAY THEY DRS UP. GETTY-IMAG​SPEECHAS PER A STUDY, THERE IS A DIFFERENCE SPEECH OF KIDS WHO ARE CLED TOWARDS THE SAME SEX. THE CHANGE THE TONE N EASILY BE TECTED EVEN WHEN THEY ARE FIVE YEARS OLD. GETTY-IMAG​TOYS PREFERENCEWHEN ROLE-PLAYG, IF A BOY OFTEN TAK THE FEME ROLE OR THE GIRL LIK TO PLAY ROUGH GAM, THEN YOU NEED TO PAY A LTLE ATTENTN. GETTY-IMAGYOU MAY ALSO LIKECOVID: WAYS TO STRENGTHEN YOUR KID'S IMM...
• WHAT IF MY 4-YEAR-OLD SON IS GAY LIKE ME?
• HOW DO I KNOW IF MY FIVE-YEAR-OLD IS GAY?
• WHEN DO GAY KIDS START “ACTG GAY”?
• HOW TO TELL IF YOUR SON IS GAY
• HOW TO TELL IF YOUR KID IS GAY
• OUR SEVEN-YEAR-OLD SON TOLD HE WAS GAY
• IS YOUR CHILD GAY?

EARLY SIGNS TO TELL YOUR CHILD IS GAYTIMOFDIATHE DIFFICULT JOURNEYUNRSTANDG, ACKNOWLEDGG, AND SHARG ONE'S SEXUAL ORIENTATN WH THE WORLD, IS EASY FOR SOME, WHILE FOR OTHERS THE JOURNEY IS LONG AND DIFFICULT.GETTY-IMAGCOMG OUT ISN'T EASYGAY YOUTH OFTEN FACE THEIR SET OF CHALLENG AFTER G OUT ABOUT THEIR GENR PREFERENC.GETTY-IMAGTHE ROLE OF PARENTSAS PARENTS, ALL YOU N DO IS PROVI THEM WH LOVE AND SUPPORT. THIS N START OM AN EARLY AGE IF YOU N INTIFY THE SIGNS OF YOUR CHILD'S SEXUAL ORIENTATN.GETTY-IMAG​DRSG UPIT MAY SEEM STEREOTYPIL, BUT SOME REARCH SUGGTS THAT KIDS SHOW THEIR CLATN BY THE WAY THEY DRS UP. GETTY-IMAG​SPEECHAS PER A STUDY, THERE IS A DIFFERENCE SPEECH OF KIDS WHO ARE CLED TOWARDS THE SAME SEX. THE CHANGE THE TONE N EASILY BE TECTED EVEN WHEN THEY ARE FIVE YEARS OLD. GETTY-IMAG​TOYS PREFERENCEWHEN ROLE-PLAYG, IF A BOY OFTEN TAK THE FEME ROLE OR THE GIRL LIK TO PLAY ROUGH GAM, THEN YOU NEED TO PAY A LTLE ATTENTN. GETTY-IMAGYOU MAY ALSO LIKECOVID: WAYS TO STRENGTHEN YOUR KID'S IMM...

The difficult journeyUnrstandg, acknowledgg, and sharg one's sexual orientatn wh the world, is easy for some, while for others the journey is long and out isn't easyGay youth often face their set of challeng after g out about their genr role of parentsAs parents, all you n do is provi them wh love and support. Getty-imag​Word of utnWhile the signs are generally nsired as an ditn, not all boys who play wh dolls are gay or not all girls who like to play rough are lbians.

I was often told that only gay boys play wh girls. ” Partly to keep my fay and my iends om spectg that I was gay, and sendly, was jt easier. This was tough on me, already stgglg wh so many qutns about my sexualy, and not always feelg good about gay the 1970’s, when I grew up, was not easy, neher were the s before , for that matter.

I grew up at the very begng of the gay rights movement, between the Stonewall Rts of 1969 and the Toronto Bathhoe Raid 1981. Not to mentn the AIDS epimic among gay men the late 80’s. This was not a great time to be gay, but was a hopeful time I remember.

WHAT IF MY 4-YEAR-OLD SON IS GAY LIKE ME?

There were no gay rights, gay marriage, no “gaybi” etc. There were very few “out” people back then, at least who I knew, and a gay “liftyle” was unacceptable. Could be that I was worried that this was a sign that he was gay?

But that is a sry thought for a gay man! Do I want my kid to be gay?

I spent the last 30 years fightg for gay rights, and tryg to love myself for beg gay. I also stggled wh addictn for over 10 years and had, and probably still have, some ternalized homophobia that rears s ugly head every now and aga.

HOW DO I KNOW IF MY FIVE-YEAR-OLD IS GAY?

So why do I re if Milo only has girl iends or if he is gay? Until every untry the world allows gay marriage and giv everyone equal rights, I will always be Milo do have though is his Daddy and Papa; two open-md and very supportive parents.

I want Milo to be happy no matter what, and whether he is gay or straight or somewhere between, I will always be here to love him, whether his iends are girls or boys! A "gay gene" has never been intified.

We are now enterg an age when there are creasg numbers of children raised by gay or lbian parents. When do gay kids start “actg gay”?

WHEN DO GAY KIDS START “ACTG GAY”?

A Mnota school district is facg a Department of Jtice vtigatn and a private lawsu over s alleged failure to bat antigay bullyg. When do gay children start exhibg telltale signs? A hefty pile of rearch shows that boys as young as 3 years old who break om tradnal genr rol have a high likelihood of beg gay adults.

) The relatnship isn’t one-to-one, however, and ’s certaly not the se that all boys who love Barbie dolls will later intify as gay. The rrelatn is much weaker the other directn: A disproportnate number of boys who don’t nform to genr stereotyp turn out to be gay men, but lots of gay men played wh G. Thirty of them beme gay or bisexual adults while jt one child om a 34-member genr-nformg ntrol group turned out to be gay.

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR SON IS GAY

The subjects who strayed the most om nventnally boyish behavr were the most likely to be gay. There is no magil age at which children adopt stereotypilly gay behavr and keep to adulthood. Some mothers tell psychologists that they sensed their ltle boy was gay durg fancy.

Some rearchers thk genr nonnformg children e their toys to rehearse for a gay adulthood. Gay 3-year-old boys n’t verbalize their sire to be wh a man when they grow up—although many such children exhib cshlike behavr toward adult men—but they may be tryg to learn the behavr that will later attract a male partner.

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR KID IS GAY

There's a new Android app out (here's the English versn) lled "Is My Son Gay?

OUR SEVEN-YEAR-OLD SON TOLD HE WAS GAY

") that will tell you if, fact, your son is a gay person. So below I've provid a better list of ways to tell if your son is a gay person who is you e home om work and you hear nois upstairs and you go up to vtigate and your son's door is open and you tch him "hookg up" (as kids ll today) wh his iend Michael, and you quickly turn around and walk back downstairs and later that night over dner you say "You know, honey, if there's ever anythg you need to tell me... " and he says "Mom, I'm gay, " then your son is your son has recently gone to llege and hasn't been touch much and you figure hey he's new to llege, he's by makg iends and whatnot, and then late one night he lls you on the phone soundg upset about somethg and you ask him what's wrong and he's quiet for a while and then says "Nothg's wrong, really, I'm jt...

Dad, I'm gay, " then your son is your son ever been on a long drive to one of your dghter's swim meets wh you and when stopped at a red light he's turned to you and said "Mom, I feel like I owe to you and dad to tell you that, well, Donald is my boyiend. I'm gay"? Then your son is probably gay.

IS YOUR CHILD GAY?

Chanc are that if you are on your athbed and your tranged son to vis you the middle of a ray night and he ss by your bed quietly until he begs to cry and clutch your hand and says "I wish I'd told you sooner that I'm gay" and then you both stay there silence, you pretendg to be asleep, the only noise the beepg of the mach that will only keep you alive for a ltle while longer, your son is you and your spoe are ever visg your son the big cy he now liv wh all his fancy iends and fancy rtrants and you're out to an awkward lunch before your tra home and you three get to another potls fight about years-old stuff and 's really unfortable and fally you or your spoe says "Well, if you'd jt settle down wh the right girl, I thk-" and then your son terpts you by yellg "Guys, I'm GAY. Gay gay gay, gay as gay gets. I'm gay.

I'm not gay, but my boyiend is! " and then you lgh and ms his hair and the livg room your hband shows your son's boyiend his mol ships, then your son is probably gay, though he might be bisexual, so be reful about your son ever says "Oh my goodns, " when surprised or when openg a gift, well then yeah, he probably gay. Acrdg to this ndown by (gay) psychologist Jse Berg, recent studi dite that "genr-variant behavr" (i.

Girls who play wh tcks and boys who play wh dolls) is a good predictor of whether or not a child will turn out to be a practicg homosexual. Berg, who works at Queen's Universy (serly) Belfast, says that not all children who take up the stereotypil behavr of members of the oppose sex will end up wantg to go to bed wh members of the same sex, but is a good this talk of "pre-homosexuals" and "sexed-type behavr" is way too scientific and plited, so we're gog to break down for you.