What to Do When Your Child Says: "I'm Gay" | Psychology Today

Contents:

• MY GRANDSON IS GAY… AND I LOVE HIM VERY MUCH
• PARENTG: 'MY GRANDSON IS GAY AND I'M STGGLG WH '
• YOUR CHILD JT TOLD YOU HE'S GAY. NOW WHAT?
• WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR CHILD SAYS: "I'M GAY"
• PARENT SPECTS THAT CHILD MIGHT BE GAY
• HOW TO ACCEPT THAT YOUR CHILD IS GAY, LBIAN OR BISEXUAL
• RPONDG TO ADULT CHILD WHO SAYS HE’S GAY
• THIS IS HOW I FELT WHEN MY SON TOLD ME HE WAS GAY
• RPONDG TO TEEN CHILD WHO SAYS HE’S GAY
• HOW TO TELL IF YOUR SON IS GAY
• HOW TO SUPPORT YOUR GAY CHILD
• SUPPORT FOR A GAY GRANDSON...
• GRANDPARENTS SEND THIS MSAGE TO GRANDSON AFTER FDG OUT HE’S GAY
• MY SON MIGHT BE GAY. WHAT SHOULD I SAY TO HIM?

MY GRANDSON IS GAY… AND I LOVE HIM VERY MUCH

Picture this: your grandson has jt told you he’s gay.

PARENTG: 'MY GRANDSON IS GAY AND I'M STGGLG WH '

When your grandchild choos to e out to you and be openly gay, may be the most urageo choice they will ever make. After the rolleraster of emotns they go through, many fai actually look back and fd that you are grateful for the experience of havg a gay or lbian child. Michael LaSala says, “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.

A great example of how to set an example for your fay when your grandson tells you he’s gay is this letter of support wrten by a grandfather that went viral worldwi a uple of years ago. She said that she already knew her son was gay, as did her 81-year-old mother, and that when he cid to e out to them, her mother wanted her her dghter to “tell him we love him too.

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

On this week's 'Parentg' segment on the Moncrieff show, one listener sought advice about how to al wh the news that her teenage grandson is gay. “My grandson is 16 and he’s jt e out as gay, and I’m ashamed to say that I’m stgglg wh .

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

“If I’m hont, I wish he wasn’t gay and I feel like he's no longer the boy I knew. Parentg: 'My grandson is gay and I'm stgglg wh '. Y voters celebrate at the Central Count Centre Dubl stle, Dubl, as the rults of the referendum is announced which showed that Ireland as the untry overwhelmgly voted favour of gay marriage.

PARENT SPECTS THAT CHILD MIGHT BE GAY

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.

HOW TO ACCEPT THAT YOUR CHILD IS GAY, LBIAN OR BISEXUAL

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;.

RPONDG TO ADULT CHILD WHO SAYS HE’S 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. 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.

THIS IS HOW I FELT WHEN MY SON TOLD ME HE WAS 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. 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.

RPONDG TO TEEN CHILD WHO SAYS HE’S GAY

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.

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR SON IS GAY

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 TO SUPPORT YOUR GAY CHILD

" How do they pict gay people?

SUPPORT FOR A GAY GRANDSON...

React kdly to gay people the news or on televisn.

GRANDPARENTS SEND THIS MSAGE TO GRANDSON AFTER FDG OUT HE’S GAY

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. Believe or not, ’s a hopeful sign that your teen son has brought up the subject of same-sex attractn and homosexualy. It will also strengthen your bond — and a good parent-child relatnship is one of the bt l of fense agast homosexualy.

Joe Dallas, an expert this field, says that there are three different ways the word “homosexualy” is ed:. The word n refer to a homosexual ndn or orientatn — when an dividual is sexually aroed primarily by members of the same sex.

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

“Homosexualy” n be ed to mean specifilly homosexual behavr — other words, sexual ntact wh a person of the same sex. The word is often ed to scribe a ame of md when a person se homosexualy as a primary intifyg characteristic (ually acpanied by acceptance of homosexualy as beg normal and moral). A “homosexual” this sense of the term is an dividual who intifi as “gay.

Feelgs aren’t proof that anyone is “born gay. Signs of pre-homosexualy. Some signs of pre-homosexualy show up early a child’s life as what might be lled “cross-genr behavr.