Father's Letter Disowng Gay Son Jam After Comg Out Go Viral | HuffPost Voic

Contents:

• HOW CHRISTIAN PARENTS SHOULD RPOND TO THEIR CHILD'S GAY INTY CRISIS
• "I REALIZED I WAS GAY": MEN WHO CAME OUT LATER IN LIFE ARE SHARG WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOR THEM TO REVEAL THAT TTH AND LIVE AUTHENTILLY
• FATHER'S LETTER DISOWNG GAY SON JAM AFTER COMG OUT GO VIRAL
• WOMAN OUT AS GAY 6 YEARS TO MARRIAGE BUT STAYS WH HBAND: ‘HE’S MY SOULMATE’
• 15 CELEBS YOU DIDN'T KNOW HAVE GAY KIDS
• MY GAY SON: 'THE FAY SAID WE SHOULD SEND HIM TO SYRIA FOR NVERSN THERAPY'
• NAVIGATG ONE SON'S G OUT N BE A BIG AL. FOR PARENTS WH SEVERAL GAY CHILDREN, N BE OVERWHELMG
• STEPHANIE GRISHAM: MY GAY TEEN SON WAS ‘ASHAMED’ I WORKED FOR TMP AND GOP‘RIGHTFULLY SO’THE EX-TMP FLACK REVEALED HER KID’S EMBARRASSMENT WHILE DISCSG THE FLORIDA GOP’S SO-LLED “DON’T SAY GAY” BILL ON TUDAY.JT BARAGONASENR MEDIA REPORTERUPDATED MAR. 08, 2022 1:34PM EST / PUBLISHED MAR. 08, 2022 1:24PM EST ABC NEWSFORMER TMP SPOKPERSON STEPHANIE GRISHAM SAID ON TUDAY MORNG THAT HER 14-YEAR-OLD SON RECENTLY ME OUT AS GAY—AND THAT HE TOLD HER HE WAS EPLY EMBARRASSED THAT SHE WORKED FOR FORMER PRINT DONALD TMP AND THE REPUBLIN PARTY.HAVG SPENT MONTHS PUBLICLY APOLOGIZG FOR HER TIME AS TMP’S WHE HOE PRS SECRETARY AND DISTANCG HERSELF OM THE TWICE-IMPEACHED EX-PRINT, GRISHAM’S REHAB TOUR SEEMGLY PAID OFF ON TUDAY AS SHE WAS TAPPED TO SERVE AS A GUT -HOST OF THE VIEW.AT ONE POT DURG THE ABC DAYTIME BROADST, THE PANEL TOUCHED ON FLORIDA’S NTROVERSIAL PARENTAL RIGHTS EDUTN BILL. THE LEGISLATN, WHICH OPPONENTS HAVE LABELED THE “DON’T SAY GAY” BILL AS WOULD BAN “CLASSROOM DISCSN ABOUT SEXUAL ORIENTATN OR GENR INTY” ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, PASSED THE STATE’S GOP-NTROLLED SENATE ON TUDAY AND WILL HEAD TO THE SK OF GOV. RON DESANTIS, WHO HAS CHAMPNED THE BILL.WH DESANTIS—A POSSIBLE 2024 GOP PRINTIAL NDIDATE—EXPECTED TO SIGN TO LAW AND OTHER STAT FG AHEAD WH SIAR BILLS, THE HOSTS OF THE VIEW TOOK TURNS BLASTG THE BILL AND S IMPACT ON BOTH CHILDREN AND THEIR TEACHERS. “SO IS THIS BILL SHAMG KIDS OM BEG WHO THEY ARE AND PUNISHG TEACHERS WHO ACTUALLY WANT TO HELP THEM? I MEAN, I’M NOT SURE WHAT THE POT OF THIS IS,” MORATOR WHOOPI GOLDBERG CLARED.CO-HOST SARA HA ADD THAT THIS BILL “ISN’T ACPLISHG ANYTHG” BEFORE REUNTG HER OWN SIBLG’S EXPERIENCE. “MY BROTHER IS GAY AND I REMEMBER HIM SHARG THIS STORY,” SHE SAID. “HE STARTED TO FEEL DIFFERENT AT ABOUT FIVE OR SIX. IF HE ASKED A QUTN, HE ULD HAVE BEEN A SUATN WHERE HE TURNED TO A TEACHER THAT HAD TO BETRAY HIM. I THK THIS IS GOG THE WRONG DIRECTN.”GOLDBERG ALSO WONRED ABOUT KIDS WHO HAVE SAME-SEX PARENTS, ASKG IF THIS BILL WOULD PREVENT THOSE STUNTS OM TALKG ABOUT THEIR HOEHOLD EXPERIENC THE CLASSROOM. “I DON'T UNRSTAND MAKG KIDS’ LIV HARR THAN THEY NEED TO BE,” SHE ADD.“I THK THE CELTY IS THE POT,” -HOST SUNNY HOST RPOND. “IT’S TO SHAME FAY. IT’S TO SHAME CHILDREN. WE ULD SEE THIS G, I THK, WHEN YOU START BANNG BOOKS, WHEN YOU START BANNG HISTORY THE CLASSROOM. WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP? IT’S BANNG DISCSNS ABOUT SEXUAL ORIENTATN AND GENR INTY. IT’S BANNG DISCSNS ABOUT CERTA RELIGNS.”TURNG TO GRISHAM, HOST NOTED THAT THE CULTURAL HAS BEEN ON THIS TRAJECTORY SCE TMP TOOK OFFICE AND “STARTED TO SAY THE QUIET PART OUT LOUD,” PROMPTG THE FORMER PRINT’S EX-FLACK TO BRG UP HER OWN SON.“THIS ONE IS PERSONAL TO ME,” GRISHAM PROCLAIMED. “AND YOU BRG UP A GOOD POT BEE OF MY FORMER BOSS. I HAVE A 14-YEAR-OLD SON WHO IS GAY, RECENTLY ME OUT AS GAY. I HAVE HIS PERMISSN TO TALK ABOUT THIS.” SHE NTUED: “HE DIDN’T WANT TO TELL HIS IENDS WHERE I WORKED. HE WAS ASHAMED OF WHERE I WORKED, RIGHTFULLY SO.”THE “DON’T SAY GAY” BILL, GRISHAM SAID, IS “MAKG CHILDREN FEEL DIFFERENT,” AND IS “CREATG A PROBLEM” WHERE ONE DIDN’T PREVLY EXIST. JT BARAGONA

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

For gay, bi, and queer sons, who may grow up wh the sense that somethg about their masculy is different, your reassurance means the world. “It's the words that you say that bee the thoughts their heads, ” Flor a recent study, published the Journal of Pediatric Healthre, Flor and his lleagu terviewed 30 gay, bisexual, and queer cisgenr teen boys on their munitn wh their parents about sexualy.

Aga and aga, the boys emphasized the importance of an open and ongog clive nversatn about sexualy, one that acknowledg the existence of gay sex.

No matter how awkward, the nversatns signaled that ’s okay to e to mom or dad, that they n nfi their parents, and that they n ask them qutns — even before turng to iends or the nversatns are all the more ccial the era of “Don’t Say Gay” legislatn, one terviewee noted.

"I REALIZED I WAS GAY": MEN WHO CAME OUT LATER IN LIFE ARE SHARG WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOR THEM TO REVEAL THAT TTH AND LIVE AUTHENTILLY

”Among the biggt securi a gay, bisexual, or queer boy has: that g out will dispt his relatnship wh you.

”In his Journal of Pediatric Healthre study, Flor found that was important to gay, bi, and queer youth that their parents acknowledged sex and were open to clive nversatns about — the discsns helped remove some of the stigma of gay sex and rerced the ia that home is a safe environment. ”Chanc are, you’ve msed up the past — lghed at a homophobic joke on televisn, ma a remark about a man’s feme cloth or prentatn, or reacted wh disfort to nversatns about same-sex relatnships or sex.

We were poorly rmed and relyg on societal and relig prejudic about gay people, so at tim, we end up sayg stupid and hurtful thgs. Durg one of our first nversatns about his sexual orientatn, I tried to talk “ratnally” wh him and ask him if he was “sure” that he was gay. ” He put his arm around me and said: “Mom, there are some stat where gay upl n adopt.

FATHER'S LETTER DISOWNG GAY SON JAM AFTER COMG OUT GO VIRAL

Our son knows that we love him and will not reject him, but was a ighteng procs sce we surely did not unrstand the trma that often occurs when a gay child grows up an unacceptg home.

I sometim wonr why I still attend a church that has ma some very unkd statements about gay people. I’ve e to realize that gay people don’t want special rights, they want equal rights.

Marriage equaly has e to many stat the last ten years, and I hope that this is the year my state that non-discrimatn protectn for gay, lbian and transgenr people will bee the law of the land. When a child first out to their parents as eher beg gay or havg same-sex attractn, their ial rpons are ually the wrong on, says Chris Doyle, a psychotherapist who specializ York Cy gay pri para crowd this undated photo. "Sce homosexualy is beg more wily accepted Amerin society, an creasg number of teens who experience SSA are intifyg as gay.

WOMAN OUT AS GAY 6 YEARS TO MARRIAGE BUT STAYS WH HBAND: ‘HE’S MY SOULMATE’

They believe that if you experience same-sex attractns, then you're gay, " Doyle told the negative rpons parents have, acrdg to Doyle, are avoidg the issue by barrg their child om talkg about SSA or their gay inty; believg that 's a passg phase; or threateng to kick their olr teen or 20-somethg child out of the hoe. He also emphasized that parents nnot talk their child out of beg gay or havg SSA.

"We know, our clil rearch over the last 25 years, that fay culture, environment and other non-blogil factors play a signifint role the velopment of same-sex attractn, " he asserted, addg that parents shouldn't seek therapy as an attempt to change their the book, Gay Children, Straight Parents: A Plan for Fay Healg, wrten by Richard Cohen, executive director of IHF, Doyle said 12 prcipl are discsed to help fai navigate through SSA and s . "Regardg sleepovers and big life events such as parents' attendg a child's same-sex weddg ceremony, Doyle suggted that parents treat their homosexual child the same as they would their heterosexual the se of sleepovers, parents should mata the same standards for every child and not allow their gay intified or SSA child to have somone they're attracted to spend the night wh them. "The same l should apply to heterosexual upl and homosexual upl, " he when down to attendg a child's gay weddg ceremony, Doyle suggted that attendg the ceremony don't necsarily reflect that the parents agree wh same-sex marriage, their prence merely shows their love for their child.

15 CELEBS YOU DIDN'T KNOW HAVE GAY KIDS

But providg support isn't always easy — pecially if you are the parent of a lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr or qutng (LGBTQ) child.

Advote for a gay-straight alliance (GSA), which has been shown to make schools safer and boost amic performance among LGBTQ stunts.

Team up wh a pediatrician, a unselor at school, close fay members and even muny anizatns — for example, Parents, Fai and Friends of Lbians and Gays (PFLAG) — if you’re havg trouble gog alone.

MY GAY SON: 'THE FAY SAID WE SHOULD SEND HIM TO SYRIA FOR NVERSN THERAPY'

When I found out earlier this month, along wh the rt of the world, that one of my favore actors, Kal Penn, is a fellow gay man and now engaged to his long-time partner, I was so happy that he was openly livg his tth. "I realized I was gay last year, after 36 years durg the lockdown.

After seeg a gay guy I uld see myself , I started to qutn myself more. I me out as bisexual at 44 after my stepson me out as gay at 11 years old. "I moved to Ireland jt before the referendum that legalized gay marriage.

NAVIGATG ONE SON'S G OUT N BE A BIG AL. FOR PARENTS WH SEVERAL GAY CHILDREN, N BE OVERWHELMG

Once the untry around me changed and I started seeg more gays the muny, felt safer, and I felt more fortable to e out. Part of me felt rponsible for her ath, as if beg bi or gay and my feelgs of regret somehow ed .

I also realized that the label of ‘gay’ ma more sense for me than ‘bi.

But when I moved to California and saw more gay people, then I really started to realize . I have a lot of stori about folks who were homophobic but me around to acceptg me and honorg me for beg a gay man, once they got to know me beyond what I do bed. In the meantime, I kept watchg gay porn but wouldn't accept and felt guilty after jerkg off to .

STEPHANIE GRISHAM: MY GAY TEEN SON WAS ‘ASHAMED’ I WORKED FOR TMP AND GOP‘RIGHTFULLY SO’THE EX-TMP FLACK REVEALED HER KID’S EMBARRASSMENT WHILE DISCSG THE FLORIDA GOP’S SO-LLED “DON’T SAY GAY” BILL ON TUDAY.JT BARAGONASENR MEDIA REPORTERUPDATED MAR. 08, 2022 1:34PM EST / PUBLISHED MAR. 08, 2022 1:24PM EST ABC NEWSFORMER TMP SPOKPERSON STEPHANIE GRISHAM SAID ON TUDAY MORNG THAT HER 14-YEAR-OLD SON RECENTLY ME OUT AS GAY—AND THAT HE TOLD HER HE WAS EPLY EMBARRASSED THAT SHE WORKED FOR FORMER PRINT DONALD TMP AND THE REPUBLIN PARTY.HAVG SPENT MONTHS PUBLICLY APOLOGIZG FOR HER TIME AS TMP’S WHE HOE PRS SECRETARY AND DISTANCG HERSELF OM THE TWICE-IMPEACHED EX-PRINT, GRISHAM’S REHAB TOUR SEEMGLY PAID OFF ON TUDAY AS SHE WAS TAPPED TO SERVE AS A GUT -HOST OF THE VIEW.AT ONE POT DURG THE ABC DAYTIME BROADST, THE PANEL TOUCHED ON FLORIDA’S NTROVERSIAL PARENTAL RIGHTS EDUTN BILL. THE LEGISLATN, WHICH OPPONENTS HAVE LABELED THE “DON’T SAY GAY” BILL AS WOULD BAN “CLASSROOM DISCSN ABOUT SEXUAL ORIENTATN OR GENR INTY” ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, PASSED THE STATE’S GOP-NTROLLED SENATE ON TUDAY AND WILL HEAD TO THE SK OF GOV. RON DESANTIS, WHO HAS CHAMPNED THE BILL.WH DESANTIS—A POSSIBLE 2024 GOP PRINTIAL NDIDATE—EXPECTED TO SIGN TO LAW AND OTHER STAT FG AHEAD WH SIAR BILLS, THE HOSTS OF THE VIEW TOOK TURNS BLASTG THE BILL AND S IMPACT ON BOTH CHILDREN AND THEIR TEACHERS. “SO IS THIS BILL SHAMG KIDS OM BEG WHO THEY ARE AND PUNISHG TEACHERS WHO ACTUALLY WANT TO HELP THEM? I MEAN, I’M NOT SURE WHAT THE POT OF THIS IS,” MORATOR WHOOPI GOLDBERG CLARED.CO-HOST SARA HA ADD THAT THIS BILL “ISN’T ACPLISHG ANYTHG” BEFORE REUNTG HER OWN SIBLG’S EXPERIENCE. “MY BROTHER IS GAY AND I REMEMBER HIM SHARG THIS STORY,” SHE SAID. “HE STARTED TO FEEL DIFFERENT AT ABOUT FIVE OR SIX. IF HE ASKED A QUTN, HE ULD HAVE BEEN A SUATN WHERE HE TURNED TO A TEACHER THAT HAD TO BETRAY HIM. I THK THIS IS GOG THE WRONG DIRECTN.”GOLDBERG ALSO WONRED ABOUT KIDS WHO HAVE SAME-SEX PARENTS, ASKG IF THIS BILL WOULD PREVENT THOSE STUNTS OM TALKG ABOUT THEIR HOEHOLD EXPERIENC THE CLASSROOM. “I DON'T UNRSTAND MAKG KIDS’ LIV HARR THAN THEY NEED TO BE,” SHE ADD.“I THK THE CELTY IS THE POT,” -HOST SUNNY HOST RPOND. “IT’S TO SHAME FAY. IT’S TO SHAME CHILDREN. WE ULD SEE THIS G, I THK, WHEN YOU START BANNG BOOKS, WHEN YOU START BANNG HISTORY THE CLASSROOM. WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP? IT’S BANNG DISCSNS ABOUT SEXUAL ORIENTATN AND GENR INTY. IT’S BANNG DISCSNS ABOUT CERTA RELIGNS.”TURNG TO GRISHAM, HOST NOTED THAT THE CULTURAL HAS BEEN ON THIS TRAJECTORY SCE TMP TOOK OFFICE AND “STARTED TO SAY THE QUIET PART OUT LOUD,” PROMPTG THE FORMER PRINT’S EX-FLACK TO BRG UP HER OWN SON.“THIS ONE IS PERSONAL TO ME,” GRISHAM PROCLAIMED. “AND YOU BRG UP A GOOD POT BEE OF MY FORMER BOSS. I HAVE A 14-YEAR-OLD SON WHO IS GAY, RECENTLY ME OUT AS GAY. I HAVE HIS PERMISSN TO TALK ABOUT THIS.” SHE NTUED: “HE DIDN’T WANT TO TELL HIS IENDS WHERE I WORKED. HE WAS ASHAMED OF WHERE I WORKED, RIGHTFULLY SO.”THE “DON’T SAY GAY” BILL, GRISHAM SAID, IS “MAKG CHILDREN FEEL DIFFERENT,” AND IS “CREATG A PROBLEM” WHERE ONE DIDN’T PREVLY EXIST. JT BARAGONA

I me out to my wife many moons ago but took a long time to realize that prayg the gay away wasn’t workg. I’m a good place right now and share my home wh gay iends, as well as adult children. "I fally started serly qutng my early 40s and quickly realized I was gay.