Father finds out son is gay and turns to the internet for advice.

Well bugger me, maybe there is hope.

A tiny bit anyway.

Gosh, someone just ran in here and would you believe it? They poured water right into my eyes and ran out! I swear!

I'm not crying...

Good dad.

I love this.

Very sweet. Thanks for the uplifting story.

Awesome!

After reading the comments in my state's newspaper after the ban on gay marriage was tossed, this is a welcome read! I'm happy for the family!

This thread needs an onion warning.

Wow...

It needs an onion warning, for sure...

It seems as if the good man is raising his son alone. If so, I admire him even more...

The comments on the article were wonderful too. Only one person said they didn't approve.

Must be terrible, being in a minority...

A nice story, for once...

While I was at my grandma's house gay marriage was passed at my state and she said it was good, and that some of her friend's nieces or something were married "that way". Then again she keeps trying to set me up with people so she has motive to figure this stuff out.

Even I got teary, and that never happens.

Nice to see something positive on the web for once. Thanks for sharing.

That's so sweet. Why can't more parents be like this?

I braced myself when I saw your thread title, certain I'd find...well, completely the opposite of what I did find.

What a nice story. Thanks for sharing.

Very, very cool stuff. I can only hope to be as much as a hoopy frood of a father.

raburrell said:

This thread needs an onion warning.

Click to expand...

Teinz said:

Wow...

It needs an onion warning, for sure...

It seems as if the good man is raising his son alone. If so, I admire him even more...

Click to expand...

These posts aren't quite clear enough. I propose calling it a Star Trek warning:

"I was reading the article and all of a sudden I was transported into an onion-cutting factory!"

Click to expand...

Aw, that is particularly touching

I think parents should make that well-known anyway, personally. If you'd be great about having a LGBT kid, make sure that's known from really young. (If you wouldn't, definitely keep that to your damned self.)

The first parents I met who were really cool about their daughter being a lesbian was when I was 14 and a good friend's adult sister was gay. That was way back in the day, and I have to say that it was eye-opening and amazing to see just how 'normal' everything could be in a family, even back then. OTOH, most of the gay friends I had then did not have that same experience at home! Not by a long shot

Vince524 said:

I have a friend from high school who has a sister who's gay. It didn't go over well at first when she came out to the family and because of that both my friend and her sister were careful who they told. When my friend's kids were about 8 & 10 I think, something came up about their Aunt and her 'friend'. They hadn't told the kids and the sister had always said when you think their ready, let her know and they'd talk to them together.

Long story short (I know, too late) the kids kind of rolled their eyes and said why don't you ever call the friend her girlfriend. We know she's gay. Kids knew, didn't care. Still their favorite aunt.

So I believe it will get easier with each generation.

Click to expand...

This is similar to my husband's Aunt's story. For decades, she always had a "friend." When she moved, the "friend" moved, yet no one said anything.

When they finally moved in together officially and came out, my husband made some smart ass comment along the lines of, "Duh."

Unfortunately, not everyone was cool with it. Her brother (my husband's father) is still really weird about it even though everyone loves her and her partner. It's weird...he pretends to himself like they're just friends or something.

ETA: Work won't let me read the link for some reason. I'll have to read from home.

Thanks for sharing this, Vince. Like many others above, I got teary too.

I worked as a social worker for LGBT kids for about 18 years, and it was interesting to read and reflect on how attitudes and advice have evolved.

I used to get a lot of the same kinds of questions from parents: "Should I ask my son/daughter if he/she is gay?" And the conventional wisdom back when was to respect the kid's privacy and let him or her come out at his/her own pace.

Reading the article and comments makes me rethink that, and wonder if not bringing up the issue is a real disservice. On one hand, teenagers cherish their privacy, and I used to squirm up hearing about parents snooping through their kids' room, computers, etc.. But on the other hand, when a parents discovers something like this, whether by accident or by snooping, they really ought to come clean about it. Otherwise, that secret is likely to impact their relationship with the kid.

The father's update was awesome! Made me cry. That's what love is about.