Five Qutns You Should Never Ask Your LGBTQ Child (And One That You Defely Should!) — My Kid is Gay

Contents:

• MY SON MIGHT BE GAY. WHAT SHOULD I SAY TO HIM?
• 10 TIPS FOR PARENTS OF GAY KIDS
• HOW TO TALK TO YOUR CHILD WHO IS QUTNG OR INTIFI AS LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, QUEER OR ASEXUAL (LGBTQA)
• PARENTG A GAY CHILD
• YOUR CHILD JT TOLD YOU HE'S GAY. NOW WHAT?
• HOW DO I DISCS BEG GAY WH MY 8-YEAR-OLD?

MY SON MIGHT BE GAY. WHAT SHOULD I SAY TO HIM?

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.

Parents, Fai and Friends of Lbian and Gays (PFLAG).

10 TIPS FOR PARENTS OF GAY KIDS

Dave, I have a 17-year-old son, and I am fairly sure he is gay. I psed on our lol PBS affiliate, where a huge choir was sgg, and after a few sends I realized was the Gay Men's Chos of some cy or another dog a fundraisg ncert.

At this time my life, I was 99 percent certa I was gay, though nowhere near ready to sprg on my parents.

We had no gay people our liv back then, no way to gge my fay's level of tolerance.

HOW TO TALK TO YOUR CHILD WHO IS QUTNG OR INTIFI AS LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, QUEER OR ASEXUAL (LGBTQA)

We had no gay people our liv back then, no way to gge my fay's level of watched as they livered a rendn of what I remember as "Somewhere Over the Rabow, " bee eher they or my memory are unfivably basic. Stirrg and brave and subversive, g as did a time before marriage equaly was on the map, a time when you only saw gay people on the news.

Good on you for not pot-blank askg your son whether he's gay. It means one simple, pable thg: Once you have told your dad you're gay, there is no gog back. Right now, he has to be secretive, not bee he's gay, but bee he's 17.

I'd love to say that you should do a big, showy "Hey, I sure do like those gay people" at the dner table. I wish were as simple and CBS-smy as ve the gay guy om work to fay bowlg night.

PARENTG A GAY CHILD

Dannielle Owens-Reid and Krist Rso, thors of This Is a Book for Parents of Gay Kids (released today! Don't: Ignore ItSo, your kid told you they were gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr, or a member, some way, of the LGBTQ+ muny. Ask them about other kids they know who they n talk to about their qutns, and what thgs are like at their school (is there a Gay-Straight Alliance?

) lled This Is a Book for Parents of Gay Kids! "Maybe you always had an klg that your kid was gay or transgenr, maybe you noticed your kid's affectn for a certa someone before they even regnized what those feelgs were, or you noticed certa role mols that they chose and ma some assumptns about what that meant about their inty... We've met so many kids through our work whose parents asked, "Are you gay?

DANNIELLE OWENS-REID and KRISTIN RUSSO are the founrs of the LGBTQ youth anizatn Everyone Is Gay as well as s pann se for fay members of LGBTQ people, The Parents Project. This September they released their first book, This Is a Book for Parents of Gay Kids: A Qutn & Answer Gui for Everyday Life (Chronicle, 2014). Fd them on Twter @everyoneisgay and @parentsproject.

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

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. Acrdg to my -thor, psychiatrist Jonathan Tobk, "Gay children feel credibly vulnerable when g out to their parents, and tak time to work up the urage to do this. Mol acceptance by not g gay slurs and never tellg gay jok.

Watch gay-themed shows together such as "The Fosters" and "Will and Grace. " How do they pict gay people? React kdly to gay people the news or on televisn.

HOW DO I DISCS BEG GAY WH MY 8-YEAR-OLD?

In a way, you have an advantage by not knowg; giv you more time to prepare for the day (if ever) when he do reveal he's gay. They immediately clocked as gay, while we immediately clocked them as we warmed up to another, one mom anxly said: "I have a qutn: I am pretty sure my son is gay, but I don't know what to do.

"For example, if someone the word "gay" place of "stupid, " remd them that the two are not terchangeable, and suggt they should say what they actually mean stead. "The rourc n help:PFLAG: The untry’s largt anizatn ung parents, fai, and alli wh people who are lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and Spectm: Offers groups, trag, and rourc promotg genr sensivy and cln for all youthGLBT Natnal Rource Database: LGBTQ+ digal directory of rourcNatnal Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network: Directory of therapists/unselors who are people of lorNatnal LGBTQ Task Force: The progrsive advocy arm of the LGBTQ+ movementDurg LGBTQ Pri Month, TODAY is sharg the muny’s history, pa, joy and what’s next for the movement. Often, the nversatns start after a kid has met someone who intifi as lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer or asexual (LGBTQA).

Exampl: lbian, gay, bisexual, queer, asexual, pansexual, and Inty: The genr a person feels they are si.