Though two articles deal with two young men and their families accepting their homosexuality and the other is about a family dealing with their son who committed suicide, they are not being recommended to discuss growing up gay in America or living with a child with a mental illness.
Rather, the articles are about the unconditional love of three groups of parents for their children.
The children of these three families were thrust in the national spotlight because the parents have national notoriety. Hopefully the stories serve to be a helpful for both parents and children.
Homosexuality is not a choice anymore than a person choosing to be heterosexual. How a child begins to deal with his or her sexuality will likely be influenced by parental reaction.
Most parents would hope that their child is straight. Straight parents don’t understand same sex attraction, but most certainly know the world is most definitely not gay/lesbian friendly. A gay or lesbian child will have many social hurdles that his or her straight counterpart will not have to deal with.
Magic Johnson was interviewed after his son Ervin "E.J." Johnson III made headlines for being filmed walking hand in hand with another young man. Johnson and his wife Cookie just knew their son was gay when he was 12 or 13 years old. Rather than waiting for EJ to come out to them, they chose to address the issue when he was young.
By letting their son know he was still loved, some of the personal turmoil that EJ would certainly be dealing with hopefully could be lessened.
Take a moment and read the following link:
Magic Johnson Speaks About Son Coming Out
Republican Ohio Senator Bob Portman announced that he would support same sex marriage and at this time is the only Republican Senator to publicly do so. When interviewed on national television, Portman acknowledged his support was because his son Will is gay.
Rather than rehashing Portman views on the issue, recommended reading would be an article authored by his son Will about coming out.
Often time people get interested in how parents deal with a child’s coming out and little is discussed about the very real dilemma of a gay child coming out to his parents.
Take a moment and select the following link to read Will Portman's article about coming out to his very public and politically conservative parents.
Coming Out My Story As A Senator's Son
No parent should have to endure the death of a child let alone a suicide.
When the suicide act occurs, only the deceased and God knows the reason for killing himself. And the survivors ask themselves "why," or "how could have we prevented it from happening."
Nationally known Pastor Rick and Kay Warren's 27 year old son Matthew committed suicide after battling a life time of depression.
Rick Warren and his wife protected their son from public scrutiny and strove to find both medical and spiritual assistance to help him deal with his depression---unfortunately to no avail.
Though Matthew's death has to be still very raw for the family,
the following article is about how such a very public family tragedy might help others learn to deal with similar events in their own lives.
Take a moment and read: Suicide of star pastor Rick Warren’s son sparks debate about mental illness
 |
| Pastor Rick Warren and wife Kay Warren |
As for the weekend, just love your kid, nephew, or niece and let them know that you will be in their corner should they need to talk.
No comments:
Post a Comment