Just Came Out to Family and Struggling

Well, you could write a letter to your parents talking about how robbing their child of the only people in the world that really understand what they are going through is a great idea for your mental health and how you would be so much more innocent if you were straight because it's not like a large portion of the LGBT population never date until their mid twenties and 1/2 of heterosexual highschool lose their virginity by 16, at least in California.

Sarcasm Over*

You could also add that you would be happy to see a licensed therapist trained in sexuality issues if they are truly concerned about you, and your therapist would probably be helpful in swaying your parents to a more supportive stance.

 

Hey LazyHarpSeal,

Coming Out to your parents took a lot of courage. I'm very sorry that they are so unaccepting.

I can think of a couple of possible courses of action that you might consider.

One would be to just give your parents time. Clearly they are in denial about your sexuality, but if you continue to just quietly be confident with your sexuality, perhaps, over time, they will start to become more accepting.

Or you might consider trying a somewhat more aggressive approach. For example, you might want to print some literature on bisexuality and how sexual orientation is not a choice and can't be changed and give it to them to read. You could also, perhaps, continue to be insistent about your sexuality whenever the topic comes up. Yet another somewhat more aggressive move might be to do something along the lines of what Myclosetisfull said and see if you can get your parents to let you see a professional therapist (you could tell them it's for depression or something unrelated to your sexuality) and, as some point, you could probably get the therapist to bring in your parents for a group session at which point she/he could explain that much of your mental anguish stems from your parents non-acceptance of your sexuality and that they (your parents) must understand that sexual orientation is not a choice and it can't be 'changed.'

Yet another course of action would be to go back into the closet at least until such time as you move out of your parents' house, are on your own, and are no longer dependent on them. In this scenario, if the subject of your sexuality came up between now and when you are self-reliant, you might simply say that your Coming Out statement was a 'mistake' and that you were simply 'confused' at the time.

Just some thoughts. I don't know if that helps...

Stay strong!

 

Hey I'm sorry things are awkward with your parents but try not to get too down, they have to go through their own journey of processing it and sometimes it can take a while. Parents often go through the stages of grief when a child comes out to them and it can take them a while to find acceptance just as it can take us a while to accept ourselves.

I would perhaps visit the PFLAG website and look at the material there, there is information there you can give to your parents to hopefully help them find acceptance.

 

I wish my parents knew I was trans. At least you can live more openly now. I hope your parents find peace with your identity. I wish you best. Let me know how it goes. YOu can always chat w/ me on my profile ifyou need to talk.