Comments on: How to Accept a Gay Friend or Family Member

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:30:00 +0000

kirst. The reason there isn’t a celebration for you and what you are interested in is because that’s the majority. There are support groups if you are gay, colored, or anything else that may get judged, but if you were a male or female who doesn’t get discriminated against, then there isn’t a parade or support group for you. The way support groups get started usually is because someone who is gay feels the need to have a parade. Or if you are a recovering alcoholic; a recovering alcoholic may have created Alcoholics Anonymous. If you are feeling left out, start a group of your own, maybe it will spread like wildfire.

By: Kirst

Kirst — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 13:12:22 +0000

My cousin recently came out about being gay, although in the past she displayed a dislike for homosexuals. As I am the kind of person to just go with the flow and agree with things that we would say about gays, now I feel like I can’t say anything about gays that may upset or offend her.

I have accepted that she is a lesbian, I can accept that she will be seeing women, not men, but my issue is that I’m not sure how to tell her that I don’t want to hear about or let her share with me her stories about what her and her “girlfriends/partners” get upto behind closed doors, it grosses me out.

Being hetero myself I don’t understand why people are gay etc, there’s nothing that ANYONE can do to stop people from being gay, but I think in this day and age, homosexuals are celebrated and basically applauded for being gay. Someone tell me how it’s OK to have a “Mardi Gras” which more or less promotes the gay lifestyle but there isn’t a celebration that celebrates the rest of us…

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:45:53 +0000

This is a very refreshing post. I agree with almost all of it. My only issue with it is this phrase
“If you don’t like homosexuality it doesn’t mean you can’t like the homosexual”,
that even though I think it quite applies to homosexuality, I don’t think it applies to everything. In all the examples you used it, it was sort of understandable and okay. But for racism, I don’t think I could separate them, really. Like, I don’t think I could be real friends with someone who’s racist.

Anyway, the article was really cool. I really can’t understand why people take the Bible so seriously. Okay, so I’m not even a Christian or anything for that matter, but it still doesn’t make sense why people take some passages from the Bible so seriously and completly disregard others. If we were to take such a horrible passage seriously, then we should as well never eat burgers, any sort of bird, and a lot of other things that are completly normal now. Though, of course, I take that a bit more to an extreme, because I think that if we can disregard some quotes from the Bible, then why can’t we disregard some other quotes, and step by step, disregard it all?

By: Caroline

Caroline — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:12:09 +0000

I completely agree that one should be open and seperate the homosexuality from the person as a whole. Who are we to judge other people?
However,I also think that idea applies to people who are against homosexuality. As long as they are being kind to others (including homosexuals), I think it it reasonable that they have their own views on the topic, and that they not be put down for them.

By: Virgo Horoscope for Aug 29, 2009 - Personality of Virgo

Virgo Horoscope for Aug 29, 2009 - Personality of Virgo — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 03:22:16 +0000

[...] How to Accept a Gay Friend or Family Member [...]

By: prufock

prufock — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:35:26 +0000

I think you’re probably preaching to the choir on this one. I can’t imagine many of your readers are the gay-bashing type.

I find it hard to believe that we live in a world where anyone cares what OTHER people are doing, consensually, in the bedroom. People react strongly to interracial, interreligious, and intrasexual relationships through prejudice, ignorance, fear, or whatever.

I suspect that most of the anti-gay crowd are religiously motivated. Is it too much to hope that we’ll one day be rid of these silly supersitious beliefs?

By: The Daily Minder

The Daily Minder — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:34:32 +0000

Beth that is a really interesting point you bring up about the generations. My father and his father are both extremely conservative and racist but it did not pass on to me or my brother. Funny how the younger generations now seem to be more open minded.

TDM

By: funkright

funkright — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:19:41 +0000

Soo.. if they aint a serial killer or a rapist or pedophile or any other of similar ilk, well, they’re just fine by me.. It is not for me to judge your sexual disposition, just to extend kindness to all who need my helping hand! Cheers

By: The Daily Minder

The Daily Minder — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:04:06 +0000

Great comment JB. I think you are right about the fact that some people just don’t know how to be uncomfortable in some situations. Its alright to be awkward sometimes.

TDM

By: Beth

Beth — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:19:19 +0000

Thanks for a great post. Reading it brought back a memory of my father. My father was very prejudiced. He was prejudiced of blacks, gays, attractive men, wealthy people, etc. You get the idea. I remember hearing him making awful statements of hate. Even as a small child, I could never understand where that hate came from. As I got a little older, I found out that my grandmother and grandfather were the same. It did not pass to me though. It seemed to me that the more hateful my father was to others, the more determined I was to not have a closed mind… to strive to be accepting and caring of all people. I’m not really sure what the difference was in our upbringing. Different generation maybe? Perhaps. What I do believe is that childrens perceptions are shaped by the beliefs of their parents.
The steps you outlined are wonderful tips on acceptance. But one has to be willing to try and understand before they can walk the path that leads to acceptance.