When my son told he was gay, I wanted to protect him om the meanns of the world, but I also uldn’t image askg him to hi who he really is.
Contents:
- WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR CHILD SAYS: "I'M GAY"
- YOUR CHILD JT TOLD YOU HE'S GAY. NOW WHAT?
- COMG OUT AS GAY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- HOW TO TELL IF YOUR KID IS GAY
- OUR SEVEN-YEAR-OLD SON TOLD HE WAS GAY
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR CHILD SAYS: "I'M 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.
YOUR CHILD JT TOLD YOU HE'S GAY. NOW WHAT?
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. Mom, Dad, I'm Gay: How Fai Negotiate Comg Out.
COMG OUT AS GAY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
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.
HOW TO TELL IF YOUR KID IS GAY
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.
PFLAG, or Parents for Lbians and Gays, which now has a group for transgenr youth, and holds natnwi chapters and meetgs;. ”Dannielle Owens-Reid and Krist Rso, -founrs of Everyone Is Gay and -thors of This Is a Book for Parents of Gay Kids, attribute lower g-out ag to the power of reprentatn. The next generatn is growg up wh gay characters on their televisns, pansexual rappers on their playlists, and queer micro-muni on their Tumblr the change also means that there is a new generatn of fai scramblg to raise LGBT kids who have specific needs and challeng — kids who are growg up a society that, while creasgly LGBT-tolerant, is still plagued by hate crim, job discrimatn, and the more banal, everyday sort of homophobia borne by sual ignorance.
OUR SEVEN-YEAR-OLD SON TOLD HE WAS GAY
“Beg gay was somethg I never really qutned, ” said Chloe Charbonne, a 12-year-old om Stockbridge, Massachetts. ”Like Kate Ree, Chloe spent early childhood sred and nfed about cshg on girls, pecially after beg lled an anti-gay slur for the first time the fourth gra.
“From then on, I pretend to like boys, bee I thought that [gay] was a wrong thg to be.
They first intified as gay, then, a few months later, also began intifyg as genrls (as a rult, Chloe now prefers “they” and “them” pronouns).