How to Cope When Your Spoe Is Gay

Contents:

• YOUR CHILD JT TOLD YOU HE'S GAY. NOW WHAT?
• WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR CHILD SAYS: "I'M GAY"
• “MOM, DAD… I’M GAY.” A CHRISTIAN PARENT’S RPONSE
• HOW TO COPE WHEN YOUR SPOE COM OUT AS GAY
• IS MY SON GAY OR IS A PHASE?

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.

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

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. 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;. When parents learn that their child is gay, lbian, bisexual, or transgenr, they n experience a range of emotns.

“MOM, DAD… I’M GAY.” A CHRISTIAN PARENT’S RPONSE

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.

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. Contact Parents, Fay, and Friends of Lbians and Gays (PFLAG).

HOW TO COPE WHEN YOUR SPOE COM OUT AS GAY

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

IS MY SON GAY OR IS A PHASE?

So your child jt me out as lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr.