Acceptance
My mom “accepts me”, but she “knows I only chose to be bisexual so I didn’t have to break up with my girlfriend when she started transition.”
My dad “accepts me” but often reminds me that “monogamy is important no matter who you’re attracted to” because bi girls are more likely to cheat.
My girlfriend’s mom “accepts her” but won’t use her chosen name and only uses the right pronouns half the time.
My pan friend’s mom “accepts her” but still calls her girlfriend her “best friend” because she “knows my friend will find the right boy someday”
A gay guy I met in class has parents that “accept him” but when he said he was being bullied for his sexuality said that “he should just be less public about it.”
None of us have been kicked out. We still talk to our parents. They give us food and clothes and help pay college tuition. They haven’t threatened to kill us. They haven’t actually killed us.
They “accept us”
But no they don’t.
Not kicking your kid out/not murdering them cannot be the standard of acceptance. It’s not accepting. It’s almost nothing.
If you want to be a wonderful accepting parent to a LGBTQ+ kid, you have to listen to what they say and trust them. You have to do your research and understand that this is who they are and it’s not up to them. You have to do anything you can to make their lives easier because the rest of the world is already going to make them go through hell.
And if you’re not ready to trust your kid and love them no matter what, don’t call yourself progressive or accepting.
You’re just a dick.
