7 Ways These Parents Made Life Easier for Their LGBT Kids in 2014
The past few years have seen many political breakthroughs for LGBT people: Gay marriage is legal in more than 30 states, gay men and lesbians can serve openly in the military, and a growing number of cities have passed nondiscrimination ordinances. High-profile TV shows and movies have told honest, inspiring LGBT stories to mainstream audiences.
And in homes across the United States, more subtle but equally important changes are taking place.
Social acceptance for LGBT people is on the rise big-time. According to a 2013 Pew Research Center poll, a slight majority of Americans favor same-sex marriage. More people also say they know someone who identifies as LGBT—87 percent in 2013, compared with 61 percent a decade earlier. Of the 14 percent of Americans who say they’ve changed their minds and now approve of same-sex marriage, one-third report it’s because they know someone who identifies as gay or lesbian.
As LGBT visibility has grown, so has the number of great stories of parents embracing their gay, lesbian, and transgender children. Here are some of the coolest things families did for their LGBT kids in 2014:
1. Asked Reddit for Help
When this dad borrowed his son’s iPad, he noticed the 13-year-old had been Googling “something along the lines of ‘I’m gay, what now?’ ”
“I desperately want to tell him that I love him regardless of which sexuality he is,” the anonymous dad posted to the social news site Reddit. Suggestions and sound advice poured in. A few days later the dad posted again to report that he’d decided to ask his son if he had a crush on anyone using gender-neutral terms. When his son, with tears in his eyes, admitted he was gay at dinner later that night, the dad said, “I told him ‘[Name], you know I love you so much…right?’ ”
2. Overcame Hostile Family Members
Sabrina Jalees worried that her Pakistani Muslim dad would reject her for coming out. When she told him she was a lesbian, he not only accepted her but also called it “pathetic” that her extended family wasn’t as supportive.
“It was a sudden shock, but are you going to ignore that fact of life, be tied to your belief, and lose a relationship in the process?” he said.
3. Stood Up to the Church
After Methodist United Church officials learned that Pastor Franklyn Schaefer had officiated his son’s gay wedding, they suspended him. During a hearing over the suspension, Schaefer said that he would officiate other gay weddings and was defrocked. Schaefer called performing his son’s same-sex marriage ceremony “an act of love and faith.” The church’s decision was later overturned, and Schaefer now works in a United Methodist parish in California.
4. Took Both Sons’ Coming Out in Stride
Luke and Adam Monastero’s mom was drying dishes and their dad was eating jerk chicken when the fraternal twins filmed themselves coming out as gay in their kitchen. “Really?” their dad said, sounding genuinely surprised. Their mom was more matter-of-fact: “You are born that way, that’s what it is,” she said. “You can’t live your life for someone else.” The family talked it all out while the camera rolled. “I’m just so glad you’re not keeping it from us,” their mom said.
5. Printed a Gender-Affirming Birth Notice Retraction
The parents of a 19-year-old Australian transgender teenager had a retraction printed in the local newspaper to correct the gender on his birth announcement from female to male. “I needed to show my son I support him 100 percent and wanted to let the world know that,” Kai Bogart’s mom told The Courier-Mail.
6. Did Their Research
Ryland was born a girl in 2007, but her parents say that from the time she could talk she would scream, “I am a boy!” After doing some research the couple decided to let their child transition, and now Ryland lives as a boy and goes by the pronouns “he” and “his.”
7. Loved Unconditionally
For Texas Democratic State Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, Father’s Day this year was an opportunity to make a public statement in support of his lesbian daughter, Kris. Gay marriage is still banned in Texas, but the senator had proposed a bill that would have allowed civil unions. He published a letter of support of gay rights in the McAllen, Texas, newspaper, The Monitor:
“As your journey into adulthood revealed that you are gay, it made no difference to me. You are still my daughter. You did not change. I will always love and support you unconditionally. Fathers love their children who have physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities, or are multi-ethnic. There are all kinds of children. A father’s love is without end. Why would sexual orientation change anything?”
Related stories on TakePart:
• What It's Like to Come Out as Gay in Front of 3.6 Million People
• This App Turns Coming Out Into a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ Experience
• Gay Teen's Coming-Out Story Censored From Yearbook
Original article from TakePart
