Straight Parent, Gay Kid
Denial: Suggestions to Combat It
Denial: Suggestions to Combat ItYour son or daughter just told you that he/she is gay. Shocked, you blurted out:It must be a phase you’re going through!You’re too young to know! How could you be? You were just dating Sally! How can you be sure?You’re too feminine/masculine to be gay. Exclamations like these are common for parents who…
10 Things Your LGBT Kid Wants To Hear From You
In my blog on 7/28/13, I suggested “10 Things Your Gay Child Does Not Want To Hear From You.” http://www.straightparentgaykid.blogspot.com. Now, I suggest what you may want to tell him/her, based on research, to encourage discussion and an ongoing dialogue. Ten Points to Cover: 1. Thank you for sharing your story with me. It must…
Hypothetical Letter to Kaitlyn Hunt
Dear Kaitlyn, I’ve been riveted to your case for months now. I don’t have a “Free Kaitlyn” T-shirt or decal for my car to prove it, but I was horrified to learn that because, you, as a eighteen year-old, had sex with a minor, 14, now 15, that you could have gone to prison for…
Blew Your Child’s Coming Out? Ways to Recover
In my last post, I shared tips on what NOT to say to your gay child after he/she has come out – you know, stuff they would NOT want to hear. But suppose, during your child’s revelation, you felt threatened and scarred, and like a frightened animal, lashed out – not with biting or violent attacks,…
10 Things Your Gay Child Does NOT Want to Hear From You
You may consider it a compliment that your gay child feels close enough to you to reveal his true self, especially if he thinks his revelation is going to disappoint you. Or you may feel proud that your child is so self-aware that he knows his sexual orientation at a tender age. Or you may…
What to Say to Your Child’s Coming Out
Prepare Yourself for the Unexpected Most parents, according to research, are broadsided by the child’s news that he or she is gay. Like many parents, you may have suspected that your child’s sexual orientation since childhood, but to actually hear the confession from your child’s lips may dredge up a host of reactions: pride that…
Bert and Ernie Snuggle on New Yorker Cover
Conservatives Act As If It’s a Punch and Judy Show Put Sesame Street’s popular and long-standing muppets “Bert and Ernie” snuggling on the cover of the erudite New Yorker ( July 8 & 15) and what do you get? Some, like me, think it’s cute and reflective of the majority of this country’s favorable views…
Skim Milk Version of Marriage Spoiled, Sort Of
End of Proposition 8 and DOMA On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States (Scotus) ruled, 5 to 4, that Section 3 of DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) that defined marriage as only for heterosexuals, was unconstitutional. “By seeking to displace this protection and treating these persons as living in marriages less…