Posts tagged advice for parents of gay children

Mother Of Young Gay Son Discusses Her Unexpected New Life In The Spotlight

Almost two years ago, a mother posted a blog on Tumblr about her then 6-year-old son telling her that he had a crush on Blaine, a gay character on the hit musical TV show “Glee.”

Within hours the blog went viral with thousands of people sharing the beautiful story of a mother’s love for her More >

Gay Foster Kids’ Discrimination Battle Heats Up In States

Sixto Cancel says his ultra-religious foster family frequently talked about their disdain for his homosexuality at the dinner table, trashed his room and called him homophobic slurs. While he was still a teenager, he says, they kicked him out of their Connecticut home after he had lived there for More >

Embracing Transgender Equality, Inside and Outside Religious Communities

While I was marching in DC’s Capital Pride this year, a trans ally watching the parade tried handing me a sticker that said “God Made Me Trans.” As an atheist transgender woman, the gracious gesture simultaneously warmed my heart and stirred up a sense of outrage at the assumption that I needed a More >

Being Gay at a Catholic University

When I was a student at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 2005, a group of gay students organized with the aim of convincing the Benedictine monks who ran the school to recognize a club that would serve the needs of the college’s gay community. They met in secret, but if you More >

Gay Grandparents: The Second Coming Out

Most GLBT folks came out once, usually to parents, brothers and sisters, and friends. That was stressful enough. Let’s explore the experiences of grandparents who have gone through or are thinking about The Second Coming Out - to their grandchildren.

Thalia Verros of Mashpee has three More >

Yes, You Can Be Gay And Christian

The Pew Research Center released a study last week that examined the lives of LGBT Americans. One portion of the study, which has garnered significant media attention is the relationship between LGBT people and religion. The study found that LGBT people tended to be more religiously affiliated than More >

Ellen DeGeneres Is The Most Visible LGBT Public Figure In America

More than anyone else, Ellen DeGeneres is the face of LGBT America. Still.

That’s the verdict of two new Pew Research Center surveys, one of the general U.S. population and the other of LGBT Americans specifically.

Not only was the comedian and television host by far the most frequently cited More >

Transgender ID Cards: Are The ‘M’ And ‘F’ Outdated?

Lauren Grey didn’t think much about the gender recorded on her Illinois driver’s license until she went to test-drive a new car. Although she had been living as a woman for months and easily obtained a license with her new name and a picture reflecting her feminine appearance, Grey’s ID still More >

Two Blessings on Father’s Day

This will be a very special Father’s Day. It will be my first Father’s Day since my husband and I adopted our baby boy Lucas. It will also be the first Father’s Day in many years that I will get to celebrate in person with my own father, who’s been living in Ecuador for many years.

For the past More >

Is Being Straight a ‘Lifestyle Choice’?

If you are straight and oppose equality for gay and lesbian people, I’d like you to reflect on two specific questions. Firstly, when did you “choose” to be straight? Secondly, do you think being straight is a “lifestyle choice”?

Based on knowledge of your own sexuality, you may think these More >

LGBT Youth And Suicide Study

Each year, one out of every three gay, lesbian or bisexual students in the San Francisco Unified School District reportedly attempts suicide. For transgender students, that number jumps to nearly one in two.

These statistics were captured in a 2011 survey of nearly 5,000 SFUSD middle and high More >

LGBT Americans Feel Growing Acceptance

The vast majority of LGBT Americans feel that society has become more accepting of them in the last decade, yet many still feel stigmatized, according to a survey released Thursday from the non-partisan Pew Research Center.

In the survey, conducted online among 1,197 self-identified gay, lesbian, More >

The Dance

The wedding invitation came addressed to our entire family, a detail that made me cringe. A daughter of dear friends was getting married and the honor of our presence was requested, or so the invitation proclaimed. Deep down I knew the sentiment was sincere — that they truly did want our family of More >

To Christian Parents of Gay Children

You want to shove those words back in and put the lid on. But you can’t. Your child is gay. This goes against everything you’ve been taught. It was not what you had in mind, and you instantly wonder where you went wrong.

When you become a parent, you know to expect the unexpected. But for most More >

A Mother’s Heartbreaking Tale of Losing Her Gay Son

The Religious Right hates it when we point out that their teachings are directly related to the problems of bullying,depression, self-loathing and suicide. We don’t point this out to be mean, or as a smear. We point it out because it’s true, but we also understand that many run-of-the-mill More >

Georgia Church Welcomes Banned Boy Scouts

When the Boy Scouts of America made the decision to welcome gay scouts, some religious groups darkly warned of a mass exodus.

While most major denominations have indicated their intent to stay with the scouts, Roswell Street Baptist in Marietta, Ga publicly severed ties with the Boy Scouts because More >

8 Year-Old Meets His “Boyfriend” Darren Criss

Back in December I asked my oldest son what he wanted for Christmas. He only had one request:

“I want to meet Blaine and sing and play the guitar with him.”

My son has had a huge crush on Blaine, a popular character on Glee played by Darren Criss, for two years now. Despite the passage of time, his More >

The Fashion of Acceptance In Sports

The world’s foremost name in sporting apparel isn’t just dipping its toe in the waters of expression and acceptance. It’s diving in headfirst.

After signing the WNBA’s Brittney Griner to a contract that has her market and wear men’s clothing as well as women’s apparel, and makes her the company’s More >

“The Out List” from Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

On Thursday, June 27, HBO is premiering The OUT List, a film of intimate docu-portraits from photographer and director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders that follows in the vein of his well known projects About Face: Supermodels Then and Now, The Latino List and The Black List.

The film is a storytelling More >

Grandparents and Gay Children

Adam was 13 when he told his mother that he is gay. She tried to be supportive, but was unprepared to deal with the idea of her only child making such a profoundly bold declaration. She eventually decided that it was easier to assume Adam was going through some sort of “phase” which would More >

Helping a Child to Come Out

Parents aren’t blind, and the clues are often there. Some research suggests that sexual orientation can show itself even at 3 years old. In our family, by the time our youngest son came out at 13, my wife and I had long progressed from inkling to conviction. A toddler who wore a feather boa around More >

Delaware Senate Approves Transgender Rights Bill

The Delaware Senate on Thursday approved a bill that would add gender identity and expression to the state’s anti-discrimination and hate crimes laws.

The 11-7 vote came after lawmakers debated the measure that Senate Majority Whip Margaret Rose Henry (D-Wilmington) introduced late last month. More >

Report: LGBT Support And Acceptance Growing In U.S.

Reactions to Learning Your Child Is Gay or Lesbian

In 1985, a Los Angeles Times survey found that 64% of the public said they would be “very upset” if their child told them he or she was gay or lesbian. By 2004, that number had fallen by almost half (33%). Since then, it has declined another 14 More >

‘I’m having a lesbian’ billboard launched for gay marriage campaign

Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays spokeswoman Shelley Argent said the campaign was designed to garner support from mainstream families for gay marriage, on the grounds that gay children were “born that way”.

“Being lesbian or gay is not a choice,” she said. “It’s got nothing to do with More >

Education Policy Overhaul Aims to Protect Gay Students

A bill to alter America’s education system was introduced in the Senate Tuesday, and it includes ways to protect LGBT students from harassment, bullying, and discrimination.

A proposal to overhaul current education policy was introduced Tuesday, and the 1,150-page document includes language to bar More >

When Teachers Tell Students “I’m Gay”

It began as a classroom discussion about families. First-graders at the Burr Elementary School in Newton, Massachusetts, asked teacher David Gaita whom he lives with. According to press accounts of the exchange, Gaita told the children that he is gay, and that he lives with a partner, “someone you More >

NYC Seeks More Gay And Lesbian Foster Parents

New York City’s child welfare agency wants more gay and lesbian foster parents.

The Administration for Children’s Services is launching a campaign to expand the kinds of families who consider fostering and also to find welcoming homes for children who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or More >

Immigration Reform Should Include Our Parents Too

Gay DREAMer Jorge Gutierrez’s mother fought for him to thrive, and now he’s fighting for her to remain in the U.S.

My mother is a lioness, a woman with a second-grade education but with plenty of compassion, intelligence and wisdom. She inspired me to have the courage to say proudly and More >

Why Bias Puts Young Gays’ Health At Risk

(CNN) — When I was 8, I joined the Boy Scouts. I lasted three weeks-couldn’t get the hang of all that knot tying, and no one was interested in singing show tunes around the campfire. I was gay and I knew it. At that time, revealing my sexual identity would have resulted in my exclusion from More >

Gay teens find Internet fame, acceptance

CARMEL, N.Y. — High school students designated the “cutest couple” in their yearbook’s senior superlatives, sparking international attention for the gay teens, are basking in the whirlwind of publicity they have received.

Hours away from their senior prom Monday, Carmel High School students Bradley More >

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