Friday, September 17, 2010

Should Being Gay Be a Family Secret? - by Dr. Ana Nogales – July 14, 2010 – Psychology Today

Why is it hard for some parents to accept their child's true identity?

An Italian film currently in theaters, entitled "I Am Love", features the shocking upheavals in a family, one of which involves the college-aged daughter who reveals to her mother that she has fallen in love with a woman. The daughter keeps her relationship a secret from her father, whom she believes won't understand. But her mother, although stunned at first, is lovingly accepting - and shares in her daughter's joy at having found someone to love. How common is this mother's reaction?

While much progress has been made in the last several decades with regard to accepting homosexuality as part of the human fabric, homophobia still exists within families and society at large. Sadly, too many children and young adults still don't feel comfortable revealing their sexual identity to their parents. Keeping this part of themselves a secret from their family is an emotional burden no one should have to bear. After all, if we cannot reveal ourselves to those we're closest to, what does family mean?

The reality is that there are no clear cut demarcations defining heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual. While some may not want to acknowledge the fluidity of human sexual identity, the truth is that each person's sexuality falls somewhere on a broad continuum. Even those of us who define ourselves as heterosexual may have same-sex sexual fantasies or occasional sexual feelings toward persons of our own gender. And those who define themselves as gay may occasionally have sexual feelings for the opposite sex. Sexuality stems from our fluctuating emotions, which don't necessarily fall into neat sexual categories. So how can we rigidly define what is "normal"? And how can we fail to accept our child's true nature, even if others label homosexuality as abnormal?
Read more:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/family-secrets/201007/should-being-gay-be-family-secret

Dr. Ana Nogales is a clinical psychologist and well-known media personality, columnist, and speaker…
Dr. Nogales is also the Clinical Director of the nonprofit organization that she founded, Casa de la Familia, established for victims of rape, sexual assault, child sexual and physical abuse, human trafficking, and domestic violence.
Read more:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/bloggers/dr-ana-nogales


Single, Angry, Straight Male... Seeks Same?
By Jesse Bering – January 30, 2009 – Scientific America
http://fathermartykurylowicz.blogspot.com/2010/09/single-angry-straight-male-seeks-same.html

SEXUAL CONVERSION THERAPIES
Jack Drescher, M.D.
http://fathermartykurylowicz.blogspot.com/2010/08/sexual-conversion-therapies-jack.html

Gay Marriage -> Restores “Hope of Love” To Children In Early Childhood – Marriage Equality – March 23, 2010 – By Fr. Marty Kurylowicz
http://fathermartykurylowicz.blogspot.com/2010/09/gay-marriage-restores-hope-of-love-to.html

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