Steps to Loving and Accepting a Gay Child

Loving and accepting a gay or lesbian child is no different than loving and accepting a heterosexual one. You may need to examine and overcome your own fears so that you are treating the child with the love and respect they innately deserve.

Step 1:

Love children unconditionally! If our love is conditional, it is mixed with fear. Avoid trying to fix the child. Instead you should focus on healing your own self. Due to religious teachings, many people fear that God will reject the child, so they reject the child for God. Please do not place yourself as a judge over a gay child. Every child is worthy of love and acceptance regardless of your feelings about their sexual orientation.

Step 2:

Empathize with the child by putting yourself in his or her shoes. This world can be harsh toward our gay citizens. In some countries, children are executed for being homosexual. A gay teenager faces extreme ridicule and judgment before having the coping skills to combat such ignorance. Sadly, many gay and lesbian teens choose suicide over living with the rejection of their own family and friends.

Step 3:

Accept that a child's sexual orientation is a natural part of this diverse world. If you have not noticed yet; this world is full of polarities. It is the natural order of things on this planet to have opposites such as black/white, up/down, hot/cold and heterosexuality/homosexuality. This is the dual nature of life on this planet. How would one know "up" if there was not a polar opposite of "down"?

Step 4:

Treat him or her with the same respect you would show to a heterosexual child. If you would not ask a straight child about his or her sexual orientation, then why pry into the preference of a gay child? It is a shame that these children feel like they need to confess their sexual orientation to the world. Maybe one day there will be no more closets to "come out of".

Step 5:

Know people beyond their sexual orientation. You may just find that gay people are some of the most open and creative beings on the planet. If you are only focused on their sexuality, you are missing the totality of their being. Try to see the child beyond his or her physical form of male or female. The physical body is a vehicle for the life that dwells within. We are all connected by the same inward thread of life; therefore we can and should love and accept each other unconditionally.