Your Child Jt Told You He's Gay. Now What? | Psychology Today

Contents:

• 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"
• MY SON TOLD ME HE’S GAY AND I’M STGGLG TO ACCEPT
• MY BOY IS NOT SO GLAD TO BE GAY
• HOW TO TELL IF YOUR SON IS GAY

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

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.

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

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;. “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 TO DO WHEN YOUR CHILD SAYS: "I'M GAY"

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. 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.

MY SON TOLD ME HE’S GAY AND I’M STGGLG TO ACCEPT

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. 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.

MY BOY IS NOT SO GLAD TO BE GAY

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.

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR SON IS GAY

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.

Mom, Dad, I'm Gay: How Fai Negotiate Comg Out. As I relayed When Your Child Is Gay: What You Need To Know (Sterlg, 2016), I found out that my son was gay om a note wh our son's name entwed wh another boy's, surround by a heart.

I had spected at tim that he was gay. Had I asked him if he were gay when he was 13, he probably would have fensively said "No! San Berland, the mother of a gay son who ach parents of LGBTQ kids, utn, "It's not a good ia to ask.