My mother, and my (gay) self.
Contents:
- GAY MEN AND THEIR MOTHERS: IS THERE A SPECIAL CLOSENS?
- A GAY BOY’S FAL PORTRA OF HIS MOM
- HOW ONE MOTHER’S LOVE FOR HER GAY SON STARTED A REVOLUTN
- SON TELLS MOM HE'S GAY, SHE REACTS THE BT WAY.
- MY MOTHER SISTED I WAS GAY - BUT I’M NOT
- MOM, I’M GAY. CAN MY FRIENDS SLEEP OVER?
GAY MEN AND THEIR MOTHERS: IS THERE A SPECIAL CLOSENS?
* gay boy and mom *
Perhaps is not surprisg that mothers and their gay sons often scribe their relatnships as close. This was found to be te for many of the mothers and sons I terviewed for the study scribed the book: Comg Out, Comg Home: Helpg Fai Adjt to a Gay or Lbian Child ().
Neverthels, this closens uld have a downsi, at least temporarily, as many mothers ially blame themselv and the close relatnships for their sons' homosexualy. So, perhaps is not pletely surprisg that once they learned their sons were gay, some of the mothers I terviewed felt that they had done somethg to damage them.
A GAY BOY’S FAL PORTRA OF HIS MOM
Today on Christian Post, Chuck Colson posted a lumn tled Born Gay A Parent s Gui which asserted that the way parents relate to their male children n create homosexualy Colson quoted extensively om Joseph and Lda Nilosi s book, A Parent s Gui to Preventg Homosexualy as support for the view that weak or distant fathers and smotherg mothers create gay mal Acrdg to Nilosi, gay mal suffered a genr wound childhood * gay boy and mom *
The fact is that I am the mother and I was told growg up that men bee gay bee their mothers are too motherg. For a long time, the psychiatric profsn blamed overly close maternal relatnships for g the "disease" of male homosexualy.
Even though rearch sce the 1950's has bunked , this theory persists people's mds and rears s ugly head for mothers when they ially learn their sons are gay. Fortunately, for many mothers of gay son—wh time and tn, they learn that the ia that they had somehow ma their son gay is ad wrong This was te of the mothers my study who also me to see the benefs havg a gay son as will be scribed later this post.
HOW ONE MOTHER’S LOVE FOR HER GAY SON STARTED A REVOLUTN
Love is love. Drama is drama. Comedy is edy. This diverse llectn of movi and shows celebrate gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr and queer stori." name="scriptn * gay boy and mom *
My rearch, clil and personal experienc suggt that there is ed a al lk between male homosexualy and a close maternal relatnship but flows the oppose directn than what was prevly thought. In other words, havg a close relatnship wh your mother don't make you gay—beg gay mak you closer to your mother. The young gay mal this study relled sharg terts mon wh their mothers, such as fashn and okg, and were also sensive to their feelgs.
I thk personally [beg gay] ma me a more emotnal person, more sensive, more touch wh both the male and female sis of myself, but allowg me to even acknowledge that other si ma me closer to my mother.
Once mothers this study got over their feelgs of guilt and got ed to the ia that their sons were gay, they were able to regnize the benefs of havg a gay son. Closens between mothers and their gay sons is a stereotype and like all stereotyp, sometim they rg te. However, we get to hot water when we allow stereotyp to get the way of unrstandg the uniquens of dividuals and their circumstanc—so is important to remember that not all mothers and gay sons are close.
SON TELLS MOM HE'S GAY, SHE REACTS THE BT WAY.
Sadly, some mothers simply nnot adjt to their sons' homosexualy, due to their guilt, relig ncerns, or abily to "let go" and accept the ways they live their liv. For sure, gay men, their mothers and those who assist them need to explore and unrstand the val relatnships.
In part of the logy, I tried to be gentle but hont as I listed each fay member her life and their this publitn, I add a ltle more about our relatnship between her as mother and me as gay son. Our relatnship was good for the most part, only straed by the time took for her to e to unrstand and accept my homosexualy vs. I miss her but am at peace rememberg our tim say a gay boy’s mother figur greatly to her son’s life.
She was rryg a piece of orange poster board wh a msage hand-lettered black marker: “PARENTS of GAYS: UNITE SUPPORT fOR oUR CHILDREN. They asked if they uld kiss her; they asked if she would talk to their parents; they told her that they uldn’t image their own mothers and fathers supportg them so publicly, or supportg them at woman’s name was Jeanne Manford, and she was marchg alongsi her twenty-one-year-old gay son, Morty.
MY MOTHER SISTED I WAS GAY - BUT I’M NOT
The anizatn they dreamed up that day, which started as a sgle support group Manhattan, was ially lled Parents of Gays; later, was renamed Parents FLAG, for Parents and Friends of Lbians and Gays; nowadays, is known only as PFLAG. The same year Avril was born, Morty’s psychiatrist summoned Jeanne and Jul to his office and rmed them that their beloved goln boy and sole survivg son was the bt of her knowledge, Jeanne Manford had never known anyone who was gay. ”There was no mystery about what that kd of tradnal, law-abidg woman was supposed to thk about gay people 1968.
At the time, homosexual acts were crimal forty-ne stat, wh punishments rangg om f to prison time, cludg life sentenc.
MOM, I’M GAY. CAN MY FRIENDS SLEEP OVER?
Polil anizg was virtually impossible—one early gay-rights group that attempted to officially rporate New York was told that s mere existence would vlate state sodomy laws—and posive cultural reprentatn was all but nonexistent; there were no openly gay or lbian policians, punds, relig lears, actors, athlet, or micians the mastream. Newspapers ed the words “homosexual” and “pervert” terchangeably, and the handful of gay people who appeared on televisn to discs their “life style” almost always had their fac hidn shadows or otherwise obscured.