Voice Journal: Families Of LGBT Adolescents

It is no secret that when Alison Bechdel was a child, homosexuality was not exactly met with open arms. Due to the unpleasant views many heterosexuals had in regards to homosexuality, Alison Bechdel was at first quite cautious when it came to being open about her newfound sexual orientation; however, she eventually opened herself up to her family, friends, and the world about who she is and did not let the political prejudices of others stop her. This is evident when Bechdel writes, “It was in that tremulous state that I determined to tell my parents. Keeping it from them had started to seem ludicrous anyway” (76). Here, Bechdel decides to come out to her parents, deciding that it was absurd not to tell them. Evidently, the prejudices of society could not keep Alison Bechdel down, and this resulted in her personality being shaped by the courage of being oneself, which is hardly an easy thing to

At my school, we have a peer support program called Teens Activating the Language of Kindness (TALK). During a TALK event, leaders encourage students to share with their peers at an open mic. Freshman year, I walked up to that mic in front of a hundred pairs of eyes and I said, “I’ve been keeping something inside for a long time. And I don’t want to hide it or pretend to be something I’m not. I’m gay.” I couldn’t stop crying tears of both fear and joy.

Maliya Doe is a bi-racial 10 year-old female elementary student in fourth grade at John Kennedy Intermediate School. Maliya is in a 6:1:1 classroom and classified as Emotionally Disturbed. She was raised with two same-sex female parents. Her biological mother and her stepmother were the first gay couple to be married in the Batavia area. Maliya was exposed to a lot of media coverage around the event at an early age. The marriage lasted about three years; Maliya was 6 when they divorced. Maliya was conceived during her mother’s marriage and has a limited relationship with her biological father. Maliya has a positive and negative relationship with her mother and other siblings. Maliya’s mother is a stay-at-home

In the article, “Gay”, Anne Quindlen described that what she learned in the story of a man who was homosexual and died because of the AIDS, and she realized that she should understand her children more. A man died for ADIS but his parents never mentioned about he was homosexual because they felt shamed and hard to accept it. Quindlen said that a father was hard to accept his son was homosexual because he considered his son was as same as he. In addition, Quindlen thought she could accept her son was homosexual even thought it might break her heart for a while. Overall, the story reminded Quindlen to understand her son more rather than persist to argue that he should be a man like this or that.

As Tonia explains on how she process and when about telling her parents about her sexual orientation and their reaction to it, it portrait a picture of different perspectives not been quite accept it. Out of the four families shown the

Coming-out LGBTQ is a highly individual and personal process, where one concedes and affirms their sexual orientation or gender identity, and deciding if, who and when to tell (1). Studies show that the nature of the process is ‘ongoing, dynamic and social’ because of the diversity and complexity of individual humanity. It is particular to each person’s unique circumstances. Sometimes the process is within their control, other times it is far more complex. Coming-out can be as simple as revealing ones self-acceptance of sexual orientation or a terrifying journey of confronting fear and concern for safety, leaving some to remain closeted for most of their life.

This can also be seen in Season 1 when Maxxies best friend Anwar refuses to tell his parents about Maxxies sexuality due to their religious beliefs. We see that Maxxie is torn between who he is and whom Anwar wants him to be and this puts the friendship under great strain resulting in Maxxie refusing to turn up to Anwars party. “Gay adolescents who are more conventional in their gender characteristics have the option of passing as straight and many do.” (Op. cit. p. 461) This situation happens a lot in real life but can be the cause of many problems, both for the person dealing with feelings of homosexuality and hiding them and those around that person. Many people have reported having feelings of being ‘trapped within themselves’ and having pent up aggression due to being in such a situation, which isn’t hard to believe when we think that adolescence is when we discover ourselves sexually. “Adolescence involves the development of a sense of self and social identity independent of one’s parents (Erikson, 1968; Steinberg 2004). Answering questions about one’s sexuality figure centrally in this

“Just please don’t be a ‘cross-dresser’”. These were the first few words that I heard from my grandmother as I came out to her for the first time. She had no idea that I did dress in woman’s' clothes and perform as a drag performer. Her remark was crystal clear: being gay was okay; being something even less normal was not. I am still pushing the expected boundaries as I become more open and upfront about my performing – my reality. I didn’t understand how something that felt right, and was I, could be perceived as something so wrong. I didn’t understand why something so harmless should be attacked and taken away from me.

Approximately 15% of adolescents identify as lesbian, gay, or bi-sexual (as cited in, Hall et al., 2014). It is imperative that school counselors are willing and able to address the complex issues associated with these LGB students (Hall et al., 2014).

The people that are allowed to speak in the story are just the narrator explaining the issue, and the LGBTQ parents that are involved in this issue. The voices that are given the most weight are the parents, because they are voicing their opinion in this issue, and are explaining their story and how they got there. The narrator is mostly just in the background transitioning, and asking questions that can help the audience understand the issue more. The voices that are treated as experts are mostly the parents who have a lot to say on this particular issue. They are explaining why it is hard to become a parent in the LGBTQ community because of the different views that people believe in. Finally, the voices that are kind of dismissive in

Within families, homophobia can appear in the forms of verbal abuse, physical threats, or physical attack. In a survey of GLBT teens in Rhode Island, 58 per cent of GLBT females reported experiencing these three types of victimization committed by their mothers, 34 per cent by their fathers, 24 per cent by their brothers, and 15 per cent by their sisters. In the same survey, GLBT males accounted 30 per cent victimization by their mothers, 23 per cent by their fathers, 43 per cent by brothers, and 15 per cent by their sisters. The most significant predictors identified as a risk factor of GLBT teen suicide is negative family interactions (Quinn, 2002).

Family rejection can lead to higher levels of depression, suicide attempts, substance abuse, and HIV/AIDS infection in LGBT+ youth. With such a group already having a heightened risk of experiencing these problems, rejection and abuse can become the tipping point for many. In the LGBT+ community, hate is not uncommon. But when it is coming from a parent or sibling, it becomes extremely personal and damaging. According to Dr. Caitlin Ryan, who lead research done by the Family Acceptance Project on the effects of rejection on LBGT+ youth, “Our research has established a predictive link between specific negative family reactions to their child’s sexual orientation and serious health problems for these adolescents in young adulthood - such as depression, illegal drug use, risk for HIV infection and suicide attempts” (“Family”). This means that when a parent rejects their child, they are putting them in danger of possibly fatal consequences. The differences in the health risks of a supported and accepted LGBT+ teen compared to those of someone who has experienced rejection are staggering. As found in the same study done by the Family Acceptance Project, youth who had faced rejection during their childhood were 8.4 times more likely than those who didn’t to attempt suicide, 5.9 times more likely to experience high levels of depression, 3.4 times more likely to utilize illegal drugs, and 3.4 times more likely to have had unprotected sex (“Family”). In simpler words, LBGT+ young

If a teen is having feelings that he might be gay and is trying to cope with those feelings, they see that they will have to deal with the society's hostile attitudes about homosexuals. (Nardo, 65) Parents often hope and pray that their child will grow up to be "normal". This does not always happen and causes frustration in the family.(Bender, 199) If a

Moving forward I can speak on me as a parent and how I influence my children. When my daughter at the age of 15 expressed her interest in girls that when discussions came up. First, that 's my daughter and I decided I will be supportive and love her whatever path of love she choices. I recommended her to join some support groups at church because I still have that little seed in me that the pastor planted on how it is wrong to be homosexual. My aunt was against her feeling and

Leelah Alcorn was born male as Joshua Alcorn, but she knew she was really a girl. When she told her parents that she felt uncomfortable in her male body, they flipped out. She was taken to religious “conversion therapists,” who told her that her gender dysphoria was “just a phase” and that she was wrong. At the age of sixteen, Leelah (still known to everyone as Joshua) came out to her friends as a gay male, hoping that it would be a step on the path to being a woman someday. Most of her friends accepted her, but her parents were not happy. They thought she was just doing it for attention and that she was an embarrassment to them. Because of all this, Leelah became severely depressed.