Wall Street CEOs open up about their gay sons

Contents:

• I TRIED TO STOP MY SON FROM BEG GAY. I WISH I HADN'T
• MAGIC JOHNSON ON LEARNG TO ACCEPT HIS GAY SON: 'HE CHANGED ME'
• WALL STREET CEOS OPEN UP ABOUT THEIR GAY SONS
• GAY MEN AND THEIR MOTHERS: IS THERE A SPECIAL CLOSENS?
• GAY MEN AND THEIR FATHERS: HURT AND HEALG
• MOVG PORTRAS OF GAY FATHERS WH THEIR FAI ACROSS AMERI
• LIVGTOPICSALL LIVGSAVAGE LOVETRAVELASTROLOGYFROM THE VLTHEALTHSTYLELGBT+SEX & ROMANCEBT OF VANUVERTRANSPORATNCARTOONSHOMELS VANUVER SAVAGE LOVE COLUMNSAVAGE LOVE: FILM’S HOMOPHOBIC BS OKAY FOR GAY SON TO SEE
• MAGIC JOHNSON SAYS SON EJ G OUT AS GAY 'CHANGED' HIM: 'HE WAS JT SO PROUD'

I TRIED TO STOP MY SON FROM BEG GAY. I WISH I HADN'T

His sensibily as a gay artist has shaped and elevated the magaze’s athetic, but he has to keep his creativy check lt Mx be seen as a magaze for gay men. But fish strong, as the nflict over Richie’s bathhoe project grows and Mx has to nsir whether ’s too risky for the magaze to speak to gay men, or even gay moments like this, the historil fictn feels not entirely historil. By now u probably have an ia of what i am about to I am gayRyan: i n’t believe i jt told youMom: Are you jokg?

MAGIC JOHNSON ON LEARNG TO ACCEPT HIS GAY SON: 'HE CHANGED ME'

Ryan: i know i amRyan: i don’t like hannahRyan: ’s jt a ver-upMom: but that don’t make you gay…Ryan: i knowRyan: but u don’t unrstandRyan: i am gayMom: tell me moreRyan: ’s jt the way i am and ’s somethg i knowRyan: u r not a lbian and u know that. Ryan: i am jt gayRyan: i am thatMom: I love you no matter whatRyan: i am whe not blackRyan: i knowRyan: i am a boy not a girlRyan: i am attracted to boys not girlsRyan: u know that about yourself and i know thisMom: what about what God thks about actg on the sir? Not that we didn’t know and love gay people — my only brother had e out to several years before, and we adored him.

I tried to pray the gay away wh my teenage son. The feelgs you’ve had for other guys don’t make you gay.

WALL STREET CEOS OPEN UP ABOUT THEIR GAY SONS

So please don’t tell anyone that you ARE gay. Your inty is not that you are gay — is that you are a child of love you. He read all the Christian books that explaed where his gay feelgs me om and dove to unselg to further disver the orig of his unwanted attractn to other guys.

And we lost the abily to love our gay son, bee we no longer had a gay son. What we had wished, prayed and hoped for — that we would not have a gay son — me te. But not at all the way we had, when I thk back on the fear that erned all my reactns durg those first six years after Ryan told he was gay, I crge as I realize how foolish I was.

GAY MEN AND THEIR MOTHERS: IS THERE A SPECIAL CLOSENS?

Now, whenever Rob and I jo our gay iends for an eveng, I thk about how much I would love to be visg wh Ryan and his partner over dner. “Very European, ” says EJ Johnson, the son of Magic Johnson, as he rells when he me out as gay to his father. I’m gay, but I didn’t want to tell my parents.

'" John Mack said when his son, Stephen, me out as gay.

GAY MEN AND THEIR FATHERS: HURT AND HEALG

In the "boy's club" of Wall Street, some top executiv' views on gay rights changed entirely when the issue beme personal.

When he was CEO of Man Stanley (MS) and Cred Suisse First Boston (CS), John Mack was known for his progrsive views on lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr equaly. "I had strong views of beg anti-gay, " Mack said this month at a nference hosted by Out on the Street, an anizatn that helps firms rec and reta LGBT talent. Throughout high school, Stephen said he didn't know he was gay.

I'm gay, '" said Stephen. Mack said he had an "klg" his son was gay. And the views of the people at the top are often shaped by simply knowg someone who is gay.

MOVG PORTRAS OF GAY FATHERS WH THEIR FAI ACROSS AMERI

Grandfatherhood, " hedge fund billnaire Pl Sger said about his son Andrew when he first realized he was gay. One night 1998, when he and Andrew were at dner, Andrew started askg Sger about his "views on homosexualy. " The qutns were asked such a way that Sger began to wonr whether his son uld be gay.

LIVGTOPICSALL LIVGSAVAGE LOVETRAVELASTROLOGYFROM THE VLTHEALTHSTYLELGBT+SEX & ROMANCEBT OF VANUVERTRANSPORATNCARTOONSHOMELS VANUVER SAVAGE LOVE COLUMNSAVAGE LOVE: FILM’S HOMOPHOBIC BS OKAY FOR GAY SON TO SEE

The next day, "[Andrew] was walkg the door, and right there, [I said], 'Are you gay? He eventually beme a steadfast supporter of gay rights.

Perhaps is not surprisg that mothers and their gay sons often scribe their relatnships as close. However, beg gay might be a factor that mak some mothers and sons even closer.

MAGIC JOHNSON SAYS SON EJ G OUT AS GAY 'CHANGED' HIM: 'HE WAS JT SO PROUD'

This was found to be te for many of the mothers and sons I terviewed for the study scribed the book: Comg Out, Comg Home: Helpg Fai Adjt to a Gay or Lbian Child (). Neverthels, this closens uld have a downsi, at least temporarily, as many mothers ially blame themselv and the close relatnships for their sons' homosexualy.

So, perhaps is not pletely surprisg that once they learned their sons were gay, some of the mothers I terviewed felt that they had done somethg to damage them. The fact is that I am the mother and I was told growg up that men bee gay bee their mothers are too motherg. For a long time, the psychiatric profsn blamed overly close maternal relatnships for g the "disease" of male homosexualy.

Even though rearch sce the 1950's has bunked , this theory persists people's mds and rears s ugly head for mothers when they ially learn their sons are gay. Fortunately, for many mothers of gay son—wh time and tn, they learn that the ia that they had somehow ma their son gay is ad wrong This was te of the mothers my study who also me to see the benefs havg a gay son as will be scribed later this post.