How to have the "gay" talk?

[Anonymous]

I do not understand why people make this more difficult than it has to be. My DD asked what it meant to be gay at a much younger age than 10. We had not yet had the sex talk, but she was aware of the custom of dating. I simply told her that a gay guy likes to date and fall in love with other guys and that gay women date and fall in love with other women.

She got it and that was that.

BTW - I am also a Christian, but I believe that marriage is for any two people who want to commit to one. another.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the various PPs who say it is helpful to talk about the existence of gay people and non-gender conforming people in matter of fact ways, early on.

Another good reason to do so, in addition to communicating values of acceptance of others, is that you never know if your own kid , or kids close to them, will grow up to be gay. I remember being quite impressed with a colleague's comments about his pre-pubescent boy, talking about his future, and saying matter of factly something along the lines of, "if he is heterosexual and gets married". Something to think about.

[Anonymous]

Don't jump all over OP. Use this as a chance to educate someone.

OP, I go to a Universalist Unitarian church where one of the principles is accepting all people. This explicitly includes LGTB. We have gay people and gay "looking" people in our congregation - no idea if they are gay or trans or that's just their fashion statement, and don't care. But I am glad my child is being exposed to all these folks as a normal thing.

Also in religious education class, in 1st grade they teach about families, how babies are made or adopted into families, and a family can consist of any make up of people/genders/biologically related/not bio related people etc.

My six year old understands this. It's really not complicated. When she was three she asked me, "what if a girl wanted to marry a girl" and the advice on this forum that I got was just to say, "well that would be OK". If they press the issue, "some people love boys and some people love girls. Everyone is different. But love is always a good thing, don't you think?"

Just be loving OP, toward your child as you explain and toward the people you are talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our neighbors are gay, so we just explained to DD that they were in a relationship and love each other, and that DD may hear kids make fun of people who are gay, but our family believes that it is not something to make fun of, its part of life and who they are.

IMO its not a talk to have once, its an ongoing conversation to have with your kids. Treating respect of others starts at home.

If your son is 10, I would start it by asking him what he knows about the subject and starting from there. I guarantee he's heard stuff at school already.

FYI- gay people do not necessarily want to be of the opposite sex. While there are probably some gay people who do, I'm guessing its a very very small percentage of gay people.

i like your response. Not the OP, but I will have to keep your points in mind when my 4 yo asks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My DS is almost 10 and yesterday while we were in the bank he "noticed" a young gay female who was also in the line in front of us.When we were entering the car,he asked me if she was a boy or a girl.
I got lost on that question!
Me and my husband are liberals but Christians.We also believe in marriage between a man and a women,but does not like to judge ANYONE.
Is it time to tell my son about gays?
I told him that it is a girl who wants to be a boy.And I also told him that there are boys who asks to be girls...
What do you guys tell your kids about that?

Marriage is "between a man and a women"? Crazy Mormons.