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Ali Forney Center aims ad campaign at parents
Categories: Just For Moms, Just For Dads, 2Moms2Dads
I simply can't fathom how a parent could stop loving their child simply because of whom their child fell in love with. Your kid is your kid, no matter what. Sure, maybe you don't like their spouse or significant other. Maybe you don't like or approve of their lifestyle. But when you get past all the nonsense, they're still your kid. The person you raised to be the person they are. They are, whether you like it or not, a reflection of you. Period. I tell Jared and Sara that I will always love them, no matter what. I may not like the things they do, but I will always love them.So I can't understand why these posters, currently being used in New York subways, would ever be necessary. Unfortunately, however, I know all too well that they are. There are people out there so clouded by their fears, so obsessed with sex, so closed-minded that they would stop loving their own child if they turned out to be gay. Hopefully, these posters will remind some of these people that the teenager they're spurning is the same baby that they held and nurtured and cared for for so many years. The Ali Forney Center, the organization behind the posters, is offering help and support to parents and families who may have difficulty accepting their children's sexual orientation through their family outreach program.
If you're not in New York, there's bound to be a chapter of PFLAG in your area that can help. The important thing to remember is that sex isn't important. It's the person you have loved for so many years that matters. I'm glad to see posters like these that are sensitive and poignant; I wish they could be on display everywhere where someone might turn their back on a beloved child because of something so irrelevant to that love.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ann adams 8-20-2006 @ 10:32AM
I read the beginning of your post and stopped to find the link to http://www.pflag.org/support.html to include in my comment. If I'd finished reading, I could have saved myself a little time. Thanks for mentioning it. It's a great organization.
My son and I helped start the chapter here and we're growing. We meet in my church with the support of the congregation. One of the other local churches countered by starting a "you can be straight if you want to be" program.
PFLAG is Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays and is open to everyone. We're just starting to reach out to the community and the schools with an educational program. Progress by baby steps in a conservative city.
Some minds will never change and far too many families disown their GLBT kids. My home in San Francisco was an informal shelter for kids my son had met. We helped them find support. It wasn't much but sometimes a day or two off the streets and a couple of hot meals is a start. In San Francisco, we were trying to bail out the ocean with a teaspoon. There wre so many. Children shouldn't be on the streets selling themselves to survive but they are.
I can't imagine not loving my youngest child any less than his older brother. As open minded as I try to be, I will never understand it.
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thordora 8-20-2006 @ 11:09AM
I cannot fathom not loving my child because of who they ARE. I've said it many times-I don't care who or what my children do or are, so long as they are happy. I will never understand how someone could turn their back on their OWN child because of who they love or want to be with.
Sad that this is needed.
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Luna 8-24-2006 @ 11:36PM
I also cannot understand not loving my sons because they might be gay. They are still my babies no matter what I love them. A friend at work was kicked out of his house and his father no longer speaks to him because he is gay. To me my child is still a human being who needs love and understanding whether he is gay, bisexual or straight. he is my son, when he becomes of age and is able to make his own decisions reasonably his life and life choice is his own.
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jen 9-17-2006 @ 12:20PM
my best freind in the world is gay and i still love him 100%, i cant see how his parents could hate him now for coming out.
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