It’s important to discuss sexual attraction with care and sensitivity, no matter what you believe.
Sexual attraction is a part of life (a big one!) and it’s important you talk to your kids about it. I believe kids need to know about sexual attraction and how it’s possible to be attracted to someone who is the same gender, different gender, all or none.
Tell your kids something like this:
Sexual attraction is basically who want you do sexual things with like kiss, hug, touch or have sex. You can be sexually attracted to someone who is the same gender as you or a different gender. You can be attracted to no one, too. Some people are never interested in sexual stuff.
A word of caution – because you can’t tell a persons’ sexual orientation by looking a them, it’s important to discuss this topic with care and sensitivity, no matter what you believe. If your child is LGBTQ and you believe this is wrong, the last thing your child needs is to think you will hate them because of this. Most LGBTQ people will tell you that their attraction to the same sex is not a choice.
People don’t “decide” who they are attracted to – it’s innate.
The most important thing when discussing this issue is to remain in communication with your child. LGBTQ teens have a higher rate of suicide, and open communication and support from you can make this very personal and sometimes difficult discovery easier. As you can imagine, it is still difficult to be something other than straight in our culture, and the more supportive you can be to your kid, the better off the child will be.
Here are some questions to mull over before you talk to your kids:
- What was the message growing up in your family about being LGBTQ ?
- If you are a LGBTQ parent, what are your particular parenting challenges or concerns?
- What do you remember about learning what it means to be LGBTQ ?
- How will you talk about non-straight sex? What do you want your kids to know?Parental Controls Reimagined with Bark
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