Replies to '06/06 "I'm Gay, OK?"'

It's not a matter of pushing something on them I can tell you that for sure.  My son is also 15 and just "came out" to me about a month ago.  We have suspected this since he was about 2 or 3 also.  It's not all about the dressing up like a girl or playing with girl toys.  My 15 year old was an only child for 7 years.  It was just something about him, in his personality, part of him.  We just had some suspicions but put them in the back of our mind all through his growing up.  We thought, well, if he is he'll tell us otherwise it will just be a suspicion until proven otherwise.  NO ONE that has known my son all his life was even close to surprised when he told them that he was gay.  There are obviously some more accepting of it than others and that is where my worry comes in for him because just like any parent, we all want to protect our children from hurt and pain.  I don't want his heart broken.  I don't want him to be socially rejected by people.  I want people to love my son for who he is as a person.  Loving, caring, honest, hard working, thoughtful and  considerate.  He's wonderful!  The day my son told me he was gay the first thing I said to him was "Just make sure you know WHO you are 100%...then if you do, or when you do...then just make sure to LOVE yourself 100% for who you are!"  I think he has it hard enough trying to gain social acceptance as a gay person that the last thing his needs to worry about is whether his parents and family and true friends are going to still love him or judge him.