Our seven-year-old son told he was gay - Today's Parent

Contents:

• THIS IS HOW I FELT WHEN MY SON TOLD ME HE WAS GAY
• MY SON THKS HE’S GAY
• YOUR CHILD JT TOLD YOU HE'S GAY. NOW WHAT?
• THIS IS HOW I REALLY REACTED WHEN MY SON TOLD ME HE WAS GAY
• WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR CHILD SAYS: "I'M GAY"
• HOW CHRISTIAN PARENTS SHOULD RPOND TO THEIR CHILD'S GAY INTY CRISIS
• OUR SEVEN-YEAR-OLD SON TOLD HE WAS GAY
• IS MY SON GAY OR IS A PHASE?
• MY TEEN SON SAYS HE'S GAY

THIS IS HOW I FELT WHEN MY SON TOLD ME HE WAS GAY

If you’d like to jo the Fom, drop a le at do feel like to fd out that your son is gay? So my 19-year-old son told me he is gay last night. He don’t “act gay, ” but ’s not a huge leap to image him beg still put me to shock.

”“Don’t get stuck on thkg about the mechanics of gay sex. Bee I’m obvly the person who is gog to have trouble unrstandg that he’s gay.

Rather than emphasizg whether or not to try to cut off his terchange — there is, after all, nothg wrong wh beg gay — a more important, longer-term qutn would be, “How n I help him improve his social skills?

MY SON THKS HE’S GAY

This strategy would hopefully provi a long-term solutn, whether or not he ntu to intify as gay. For straight parents, havg a child reveal that he is gay n be a jolt. You might ask how long he or she has known, and why he feels he is gay, bi, or trans, suggts Jonathan Tobk, M.

D., a psychiatrist private practice New York Cy and the -thor of When Your Child Is Gay: What You Need to Know. You n fd one through the Associatn of Gay and Lbian Psychiatrists. Take the extra step and show your child that you are terted beg the parent of a gay child.

YOUR CHILD JT TOLD YOU HE'S GAY. NOW WHAT?

Edute yourself on what means to be gay, lbian, bisexual or transgenr. PFLAG, or Parents for Lbians and Gays, which now has a group for transgenr youth, and holds natnwi chapters and meetgs;.

THIS IS HOW I REALLY REACTED WHEN MY SON TOLD ME HE WAS GAY

“I’m gay.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR CHILD SAYS: "I'M GAY"

I have had gay iends (and been eply hurt and disappoted when beme obv.

He never wanted to be gay. To iends of me who may have gay children, or be gay themselv, please five me for my ignorance.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be “okay” wh the gay liftyle, but right now, I am okay wh my son beg gay, and right now, that is all that matters. What would you do if your child told you they were gay? When parents learn that their child is gay, lbian, bisexual, or transgenr, they n experience a range of emotns.

HOW CHRISTIAN PARENTS SHOULD RPOND TO THEIR CHILD'S GAY INTY CRISIS

As a matter of fact, you might someday look back and fd that you are grateful for the experience of havg a gay or lbian child. Well, my study of 65 fai of gay and lbian youth for the book, Comg Out, Comg Home: Helpg Fai Adjt to a Gay or Lbian Child, I found that some parents get to the pot where they believe that the experience of havg a gay child actually ma them a better person—more open-md and sensive to the needs of others, particularly those other mory groups.

OUR SEVEN-YEAR-OLD SON TOLD HE WAS GAY

If you jt found out your child is gay, lbian, bisexual, or transgenr, you may be thkg that such ias are prepostero. The tstworthy nfidants let them vent but also rrected some of the misperceptns they absorbed om society, such as that gay people are lonely, unhappy, promiscuo, not fay-oriented, unable to have children, or sted for an unhappy life.

IS MY SON GAY OR IS A PHASE?

Contact Parents, Fay, and Friends of Lbians and Gays (PFLAG). List of Helpful Books for Parents of Gay and Lbian Children. Straight Parents Gay Children: Keepg Fai Together (revised edn).

Beyond Acceptance: Parents of Lbians, and Gays Talk About Their Experienc. Somethg to Tell You: The Road Fai Travel when a Child is Gay.

Comg Out, Comg Home: Helpg Fai Adjt to a Gay or Lbian Child. Fortunate Fai: Catholic fai wh lbian dghters and gay sons.

MY TEEN SON SAYS HE'S GAY

Mom, Dad, I'm Gay: How Fai Negotiate Comg Out.