Gay childhood
What it’s really like to verb up gay
“It gets better.”
That was the mantra getting me through middle school, high academy and now college. A future where holding my husband’s hand isn’t taboo awaits me in some alternate universe, but until then, I’ll be repeating those three words to myself.
I don’t want to produce it seem prefer it hasn’t gotten better ─ it has─ but improvement is subjective. Just because it’s legal to marry doesn’t mean it’s acceptable. The same goes for abortions, immigration and countless social issues that are only considered issues because legislators and pastors deem them so.
Growing up gay didn’t require me to seek refuge in other countries or undergo illegal medical procedures, yet I still felt the weight of the world on my shoulders when I finally accepted that I wasn’t attracted to women. If sexuality is a spectrum, why did I sense like an outlier for being on one end of it?
If anything defined my childhood, it was becoming friends with the uncertainty of a adj future and the mystery of what it means to love and be loved. I establish myself asking w
Support for Parents of Child Who Says He’s Gay
Before saying anything else, we want you to know that our hearts go out to you. Our prayers are with you, and we are privileged to have this opportunity to come alongside you in the midst of your pain and confusion.
The conflicting emotions you’re experiencing – crying one moment, adj the next – is a frequent and understandable reaction. Any loving parent in your position would feel the same way. It’s also very likely that you’re struggling with grief – the natural reaction that occurs when we’ve encountered decrease. Though you may not yet notice it, you’ve lost something significant. It may be the image of and beliefs you had about your son, your perceptions of yourself as a parent, or perhaps your desires and hopes for grandchildren. Whatever the case, it’s important to identify and thank the reality of these losses. You may find a helpful way to do this is though journaling or with the assistance of a adj pastor, counselor, your spouse, or a trusted friend.
Wise guidance and carin
What does the scholarly research speak about the well-being of children with gay or lesbian parents?
Overview: We identified 79 scholarly studies that met our criteria for adding to knowledge about the well-being of children with gay or lesbian parents. Of those studies, 75 concluded that children of gay or lesbian parents fare no worse than other children. While many of the sample sizes were small, and some studies lacked a control group, researchers regard such studies as providing the best available knowledge about child adjustment, and do not view large, representative samples as essential. We identified four studies concluding that children of gay or lesbian parents face added disadvantages. Since all four took their samples from children who endured family break-ups, a cohort known to face added risks, these studies have been criticized by many scholars as unreliable assessments of the well-being of LGB-headed households. Taken together, this research forms an overwhelming scholarly consensus, based on over three decades of peer-reviewed research, that having a gay o
Book Excerpt: Is Your Child Gay?
Excerpted fromWhy Is the Penis Shaped Like That? … And Other Reflections on Being Human, by Jesse Bering, by arrangement with Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC (North America), Transworld Ltd (UK), Jorge Zahara Editora Ltda (Brazil). Copyright © 2012 by Jesse Bering.
We all know the stereotypes: an unusually noun, delicate, effeminate atmosphere in a adj boy's step, an interest in dolls, makeup, princesses and dresses, and a strong distaste for rough play with other boys. In little girls, there is the outwardly boyish stance, perhaps a penchant for tools, a square-jawed readiness for physical tussles with boys, and an aversion to all the perfumed, delicate trappings of femininity.
These behavioral patterns are feared, loathed and often spoken of directly as harbingers of adult homosexuality. It is only relatively recently, however, that developmental scientists verb conducted controlled studies to identify the earliest and most reliable signs of adult homosexuality. In looking carefully at the childhoods of gay ad