Magic Johnson on learng to accept his gay son: 'He changed me'

Contents:

• FOR GAY MEN, HAVG A BLOGIL CHILD N BE PLITED
• PARENTS OF GAY CHILDREN AND THE ISSU THEY FACE
• I TRIED TO STOP MY SON FROM BEG GAY. I WISH I HADN'T
• MATTHEW GONG, GAY MORMON, REFLECTS ON HIS JOURNEY OM NER WAR TO NER PEACE
• GAY MEN AND THEIR MOTHERS: IS THERE A SPECIAL CLOSENS?
• MAGIC JOHNSON ON LEARNG TO ACCEPT HIS GAY SON: 'HE CHANGED ME'
• DAD AND DAD: A JOURNEY TO GAY FATHERHOOD – PICTUR
• GAY MEN AND THEIR FATHERS: HURT AND HEALG

FOR GAY MEN, HAVG A BLOGIL CHILD N BE PLITED

One of the breakout stars of Mathis Fay Matters was Judge Mathis’ olst son, Greg Mathis Jr., who would go on to e out as a gay man the seri. Am I gog to be publicly gay on the show, or is this somethg where we don’t talk about , or I have you on the show as a iend?

Did make the cisn to be an out gay man on Mathis Fay Matters and did troduce Cooper as his boyiend.

Over the years, Magic and Cookie have been open about their rponsibili as parents — like when Magic told Ellen DeGener that he was "so happy" when their son EJ me out as gay. In 2014, EJ told PEOPLE that, although his parents "pretty much already knew" that he was gay, they were worried about the public's reactn.

PARENTS OF GAY CHILDREN AND THE ISSU THEY FACE

The procs tak about two years and sts around $200, 000 per child - and prospective gay fathers don't meet eligibily creria for most health surance plans' fertily benefs, although this is begng to change. Brent Monsr, MD, recently helped lead a study to document tails of how gay men e assisted reproductive technology to build their fai, cludg qutns such as how many children they wish to have and how often their efforts succeed. Your paper giv historil ntext for how shiftg attus toward LGBTQ fai have changed the climate for gay men who want to bee fathers.

There has been a lot of foc the scientific lerature on whether children turn out OK if they have gay parents.

Why is important for the experienc of gay men seekg fertily re to be reflected the scientific lerature?

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

Cisgenr gay men are almost never clud this rearch, so as physicians we don't know anythg about their characteristics as reproductive health patients, even basic rmatn such as their mographics, clil cisn-makg patterns or out. Our paper ed data om one of the very few fertily benef pani that do offer fertily verage to gay men. That gave a wdow to a natnal group of 119 cisgenr men, cludg five sgle men and 57 gay upl, who uniquely had fertily benefs.

It's important to keep md that our data reflect the experienc of dividuals who n afford reproductive medil re bee their employer-sponsored fertily benefs ver , and that is still an unual suatn for gay men. This data served as the foundatn for a grant applitn we've jt had approved to nduct a much larger populatn study that will give accs to rmatn on about 2, 000 embryo transfers annually gay men. A lot of people see a fertily doctor bee they have an unrlyg medil issue, whereas gay male upl ually have two possible sperm sourc, a young egg donor and a gtatnal rrier who has already had succsful pregnanci.

MATTHEW GONG, GAY MORMON, REFLECTS ON HIS JOURNEY OM NER WAR TO NER PEACE

I thk that, bee of the medil factors, birth rat for gay upl uld serve as a morn standard for evaluatg the succs of IVF labs. We regnize that this may be bee a lot of gay men requt tws or may ultimately want two children, and fertily doctors may be transferrg two embryos to try to save their patients money so they only have to go through the fertily treatment procs once. But we need to ask: Are we puttg gtatnal rriers at unnecsary risk om tw pregnanci, and puttg gay upl at unnecsary risk of havg babi the NICU?

Before I was an OB/GYN, I thought, "This is a health accs issue, and if gay men want tws we should rpect their tonomy. What do add to have physician-scientists like you, who are gay, answerg rearch qutns about this populatn of prospective parents? I'm currently a fellow, and I have patients g specifilly to see me, not bee I'm the most amazg doctor but bee I'm gay, and they want a gay doctor.

Adam* said was dangero to e out as gay his home untry and feared beg forced to an arranged marriage wh a said he was "so lucky" to wed his soulmate, Ray, Manchter and wish everyone uld marry who they love. There are more than 60 untri wh laws that crimalise same-sex sexual acts acrdg to the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn, cludg Sdi Arabia. 'Authentilly myself'Ray said he had also stggled growg up gay the 1970s and 80s England, which was "tough" said his relig school "dmmed to you, 'you are gog to hell'" Adam returned home to Sdi Arabia, spe beg more than 3, 000 apart and later rtricted by the Covid-19 panmic, they kept touch daily and the romance years ago, Ray proposed on a vio ll and after succsfully applyg for a UK fiancé visa, Adam moved to Manchter December 2022.

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

Adam said he had been aaid to even wear lours his home untry so the first thg he did when he moved was start to "grow my mullet, got my ears pierced and booked appotments for tattoos" relled how, ntrast, one of his gay iends Sdi had been forced to marry a woman, addg: "It has ed not only his life but the life of his wife. The uple, who live London, said a "really betiful memory" was on the way home when one of their sons shouted out of the black b wdow to Trafalgar Square, "My dads jt got married" and cheered "Yay, gay marriage".

Parents of gay children may be shocked when their kids e out of the closet, but once the dt settl, most parents realize that their child is the same one they have loved and red for all their liv, they jt happen to be gay. And while parental acceptance is one hurdle for a gay child, there are many other issu facg gay kids and their parents.

Issu for parents of gay kids as intified by Parents, Fai and Friends of Lbians and Gays (PFLAG), clu:1. Relatnship regnn – workg to achieve equal rights and regnn for gay relatnships as for heterosexual relatnships. It may be that the child bucks tradnal genr stereotyp or they may not show attentn to the oppose sex; but are the signs of a gay child?

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

Acrdg to some rearch, genr atypil behavr may, fact, be an ditor that the child may grow up to be gay.

So, for example, boys that play wh dolls and have primarily girliends or girls who are tomboys and prefer to play wh guns may have an creased likelihood of growg up to be gay. Another sign your child might be gay is if he is a male that choos more solary sports such as cyclg or swimmg. There also appears to be a relatnship where the more a child shows genr-nonnformg characteristics, the greater the chance that they may grow up to be gay.

While knowg your child is gay may help you ease the transn to adulthood, 's cril to remember that a gay child is jt a child like any other and a parent of gay child is jt a parent, like any other. Parents of gay kids mt e to accept and love their children for who they are and not bee of their sexualy.

DAD AND DAD: A JOURNEY TO GAY FATHERHOOD – PICTUR

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? 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. 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. 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.

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. Ten narrative studi volvg fay histori of 262 children of gay fathers and lbian mothers were evaluated statistilly rponse to Morrison's (2007) ncerns about Cameron's (2006) rearch that had volved three narrative studi. Dpe numero attempts to bias the rults favour of the null hypothis and allowg for up to 20 (of 63, 32%) dg errors, Cameron's (2006) hypothis that gay and lbian parents would be more likely to have gay, lbian, bisexual or unsure (of sexual orientatn) sons and dghters was nfirmed.

GAY MEN AND THEIR FATHERS: HURT AND HEALG

Percentag of children of gay and lbian parents who adopted non-heterosexual inti ranged between 16% and 57%, wh odds rats of 1.

Data om ethnographic sourc and om prev studi on gay and lbian parentg were re-examed and found to support the hypothis that social and parental fluenc may fluence the exprsn of non-heterosexual inti and/or behavur.

Fay rejectn as a predictor of negative health out whe and Lato lbian, gay, and bisexual young adults.