Qutn: TWO months ago my son Gav, 29, announced that he is gay. He me home one weekend to expla to me and my hband that he has been livg wh his partner for three months and has known he was gay sce he was 17.
Contents:
- YOUR CHILD JT TOLD YOU HE'S GAY. NOW WHAT?
- WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR CHILD SAYS: "I'M GAY"
- IS YOUR CHILD GAY?
- MY SON IS GAY
- WE MAY KNOW WHY YOUNGER BROTHERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE GAY
- HOW TO TELL IF YOUR SON IS GAY
- I NNOT AL WH FACT MY SON IS GAY
- GAY MEN AND THEIR MOTHERS: IS THERE A SPECIAL CLOSENS?
YOUR CHILD JT TOLD YOU HE'S GAY. NOW WHAT?
An immune rponse some pregnant women’s bodi may expla the “aternal birth orr effect” – that men are more likely to be gay the more olr brothers they have * my 2 sons are gay *
If you jt have a feelg that your brother is gay, that's okay.
If you thk your brother is gay bee he watch a "girly" TV show or his voice sounds a certa way, that's relyg on stereotyp. If you live a particularly homophobic or transphobic area, discs safety plans wh the fay member se of vlence om others. If your fay member has e out as gay or bisexual, accept that they will end up seeg someone of their own genr, and that's perfectly okay.
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR CHILD SAYS: "I'M GAY"
There's a new Android app out (here's the English versn) lled "Is My Son Gay?" which one n answer an easy seri of qutns ("Are you divorced?") that will tell you if, fact, your son is a gay person. * my 2 sons are gay *
Don't be aaid to rearch beg gay, bisexual, transgenr, asexual, or whatever your fay member me out as.
I thk he might be gay. If you saw your brother kissg another guy and he said he is not attracted to women, y, he is gay.
How do I tell if a child is gay? They might have a lack of tert the oppose sex if they’re homosexual or asexual.
IS YOUR CHILD GAY?
* my 2 sons are 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. 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.
MY SON IS GAY
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.
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.
WE MAY KNOW WHY YOUNGER BROTHERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE 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).
HOW TO TELL IF YOUR SON IS GAY
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.
I NNOT AL WH FACT MY SON IS GAY
Mom, Dad, I'm Gay: How Fai Negotiate Comg Out. Both lbians and gay men often have a history of cross-sex-typed behavrs: ltle boys beg fatuated wh their mother's makp k; ltle girls enamored of field hockey or profsnal wrtlg. Prehomosexual boys tend to be more attracted to solary sports such as swimmg, cyclg and tennis than they are to rougher ntact sports such as football and soccer.
Children who show pronounced sex-atypil behavrs may have more of a geic loadg to their homosexualy. The behavral patterns are feared, loathed and often spoken of directly as harbgers of adult homosexualy.
GAY MEN AND THEIR MOTHERS: IS THERE A SPECIAL CLOSENS?
It is only relatively recently, however, that velopmental scientists have nducted ntrolled studi to intify the earlit and most reliable signs of adult homosexualy.
In lookg refully at the childhoods of gay adults, rearchers are fdg an trigug set of behavral ditors that homosexuals seem to have mon.