Discussing :: Children, coming out of closet

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Acceptance of being 'Gay', is PC. When your 'young child' confides to you that they're Gay, At what age or emotional maturity, do you believe that they're capable to come to a serious conclusion ?
Once, exposure to hetro-sexual activity was X-rated, and now it seems all activity is PC acceptable to young minds.

TV influences kids into an imaginary world, .........G & PGR is not always 100% PC policed by parents....... This may contribute to confusion over sexual behaviour

I don't know the answer to this question so all I can do is try to be tolerant and accepting providing no one is being hurt.

You are right though, the media can put all sorts of ideas into the minds of both young and old people alike by displaying generally unacceptable or out-of-the-ordinary behaviours in a way that normalises them.

I stilll vividly remember being a teenager and after having a fight with my Mum, throwing my shoe at the wall so hard that it dented the plaster. However, I was so ashamed afterwards. The sole reason for this stupid behaviour was that I had seen a teenager ina programme I had recently watched. In that moment, TV a had made this act acceptable. In my frustration, I had latched on to this as my ultimate act of defiance. I wonder if I would have felt so guilty had I seen done this on a regular basis by people of different ages?

This brings me to the inordinate amount of swearing that seems to occur in many New Zealand produced programmes. Maybe this is normal in some households and environments, but it certainly isn't in mine. I doesn't occur anywhere near as much in imported TV programmes so why do we have to present this as part of normal NZ life?

Even in this day and age children need to be respectful of other children and adults, of rules and peoples opinions but at the same time I love the confidence children and young adults now have, confidence to speak out and confidence to give anything a go !

My Ex husband told our three children one day " If you ever come home and tell me that you are gay I will show you the door and tell you never to come back!" I then said to my then husband: " No dear, if any of my children ever came home and told us that they were gay I would show you where the door was and tell you not to come back and then I would welcome my child home with open arms!"
The way I see it, you love your children unconditionally no matter what.

They generally know themselves during their teenage years. Exposure to material has no influence on their own feelings - whether or not they decide to inform their family and friends is up to them. There is nothing "PC" about it - everybody should be accepting no matter what. Those who are not are very selfish and living in the past. Being close-minded is no good to anyone.

It's hard to know, many of my gay friends said they knew they were gay from as young as 7 years old.. however if a 7 year old told you they were gay chances are you would laugh and just brush it off. The age of maturity where someone tells you they are gay obviously increases as they get older, but I feel an age were it would most likely to be accepted by parents would be in the late teen's

Ellen de Generes's mother always accepted her being gay. That is why she is so successful and genuine.

I think when you start to know yourself better as a teenager but I guess lots of people know at a younger age that they feel 'different'. I love that mum that put a new birth notice in for her transgender child saying there had been a mix up with the original birth notice 18 years prior - not a girl but a boy! so understanding. http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/life/63778827/mum-places-birth-notice-celebrating-transgender-son

Cher was great when her daughter was gay then transexual. Her mother's acceptance was inspiring to others in the same situation.