<p>“whether or not psychological counseling is necessary for teenage boys who come out to their parents because of the possibility that their attractions may shift later in life.”</p>
<p>I think I clearly stated why I think that counseling would be appropriate. You just happen to disagree with me. I am quite certain you are not about to change your mind in the face of any evidence I might present which is also fine. For you it is a matter of dogma and for me it is a matter of parenting.</p>
<p>I was curious about the exact level of sexual deviance that would elicit enough concern on your part that you would consider psychological counseling necessary but apparently that line is somewhere you would rather not discuss. Fair enough.</p>
<p>What in the world are you talking about? What does any of this have to do with being gay? I guess you are backtracking. Contrary to your earlier statement, apparently you DO think that being gay is pathological if you think it has any relationship whatsoever to having sex with chickens.</p>
<p>HL, all I can say is that I sincerely hope, for their sakes, that you do not have any gay children who are scared to tell you. </p>
<p>Gay children are not guilty or sick or in need of professional help. They need continuous love (and not just love despite their sexual orientation) and support to help them develop into confident, healthy citizens who can manage a world that’s not always fighting on their side. I believe that the parents in this article did what they could to support their son.</p>
<p>It’s mind-boggling how several posters used this to launch their own agendas–one who had an unpleasant experience with a therapist and distrusts therapists; another who thinks older gay men are perverts–and left the facts of the article behind.</p>
<p>One more time: Kid came out to parents when he was 13, a 7th grader. That year, he began to see a therapist, who referred him to a TEEN youth group. </p>
<p>Then next year, in 8th grade, he joined a TEEN gay/straight group at the high school across the street.</p>
<p>He jad gone to several TEEN groups before his therapist took him to a CHURCH-SPONSORED gay bingo night of mostly adults.</p>
<p>Sounds like the young man was ready to meet some mentors. </p>
<p>And it sounds like these are great parents. I’d be ashamed if they had to read the kind of harping at them that went on in this thread!</p>
<p>Actually, farawayplaces, don’t be so surprised! ANY thread on CC is fodder for all SORTS of personal baggage. Even threads about one’s son making a middle school basketball team. Everyone is entitled to a personal opinion in a public forum.</p>
<p>It’s sad that has to happen. Not something we’d like to envision happening around 13-year-olds at school.
What bothered me about the article was the early sexualization forced upon the young boy by society. The negative perceptions of homosexuals in society tore him up from a young age and left a lasting emotional scar on someone who was just 13. That bothers me because he was driven to therapy and support groups regarding his sexuality when still in middle school–sex therapy is not something you want little kids of any orientation involved in, in my opinion. Case in point: the kid having to leave the middle school after school to attend meetings of the high school gay-straight club. Growing up too fast…</p>
<p>It’s sad that sexuality has to become such a defining factor in his development. No one wants to see a young child defined by his sexuality or acting upon it at such a young age. Unfortunately, the perceived homophobia (and the hyper-heterosexuality of Valentines’ Day) that even young children are exposed to have forced early sexualization on homosexuals, especially since they are ostracized beginning from such a young age. Not a good trend for either gays or straights.</p>
<p>^
It’s not what we’d like to hear, but this story, the comments on this thread and my own experience give me hope.</p>
<p>I mentioned on some other thread that I live in one of the reddest of reds, homophobic, Brokeback Mountain-type states. Where gays have traditionally been disallowed. Well, a few years, when Will & Grace hit TV, I was a substitute teacher in high school. I made it my business to find out if attitudes were changing. I polled kids: was homosexuality okay? Mostly they grumbled, “I guess so, but I don’t want to see it!” </p>
<p>I know that’s eye-rolling to many people here, but my state that is progress! </p>
You must have me mixed up with someone else. I didn’t distort anything. I went by exactly what was reported in the story.</p>
<p>If you’re referring to me with THIS:
You have not read much of what I’ve written. In several threads I’ve referred to my beloved “personal coach” (fancy name for a therapist who is serving someone whom s/he has deemed emotionally healthy enough to not NEED one), with whom I’ve been for over six years now. Distrust therapists? <em>ROFL</em> Not. What I said was absolutely TRUE and is not indicative of any issue with therapists in general, just ONE in particular who was unprofessional and had her own agenda…exactly like the one referred to in the story.</p>
Everyone is entitled to a personal opinion in a public forum.</p>