Can Christian GLBT Parents Have Pride During Pride Month

June is Pride Month across the U.S., maybe around the world. Parents who consider themselves very Christian but have a gay child think they have an impossible dilemma. It is, of course, that their faith paints gay/trans as the sin at the top of the Sin Leader Board but the child tells them, "It's who I am. There is nothing you or I can do to change me" while their faith condemns and scolds. It was interesting to read a Christian post telling other Christian parents accept their GLBT children. Parents, she writes, can accept their gay/trans child and hold on to their faith.

During the years I held a position in the national organization, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, I heard so many stories told by parents who thought their world had ended when then learned of a gay child. Later they realized a lot of their angst was about themselves, not their child. It was, "What will others think of me when they learn about him(her)?" Often there was a preacher pushing buttons about hell and damnation for their child. All of this about what? Really, nothing.

While I can't walk in the shoes of a Christian parent who is distraught over a gay child I can toss in my advice. If you believe your gay child is a sinner who is bound for hell, that has nothing to do with you. Just accept that about your child and do not bring up your religious views. There is no reason your child, or anyone else in the world for that matter, needs to hear your views.

One thing very elderly people know about is the help they need. Lucky are people who have one or more children to help them. Anyone who drives off a child over religion may have brought misery on themselves when they later need help and none is available. 

By accepting a gay child, a parent gets to enter the wonderful world of gay people and their supporters. In my experience there is not a better and more pleasant set of people anywhere.