Want to help my daughter

I will echo everybody else's congratulations to you!

As a father of a 15 y.o. girl, I know at least that there are anxieties about eventual relationships, whether gay or straight. Your daughter is so young! She really gave you a gift by telling you so early; there won't be any surprises when she starts dating; she gave you enough time to come to terms with this fact.

As for dating, there really is no rush! Don't be sad for her. Trying to anticipate possible difficulties is good, but try also to anticipate the good things that can come of this: chiefly that she is open and trusts you with this. Rejoice instead that you have such a self-aware daughter, be there for her when she wants to share with you her loves, and for the inevitable heartbreaks, take this gift of time to learn as much as you can. That day will come, hopefully not too soon, when she'll want you to meet her girlfriend...

 

Wow. You are a wonderful mother, very similar to my own I am glad that you are out there and care about your daughter so much. I don't have any advice, but that is wonderful. It is great that she trusted you enough to tell you, and speaks a great deal about how you raised her.

 

I teared up reading your post. I just. Wow. I wish my parents were that supportive.

If she feels comfortable, look into the possibility of helping her start a Gay Straight Alliance at her school. It will help her make friends (and maybe find that puppy love) as well as help other kids at her school who are not as lucky to find some support.

 

Aww... You're such a wonderful mom! You're right, kids really need the support, and it's fantastic to see that you're giving her what she needs. This may be a bit weird coming from someone who's only nearly thirteen and a half herself, but your brave girl is still young, and there's no rush for her to find someone. I hope she won't ever have to be lonely! What's important for now is that you continue to protect and support her.

 

Man, Its great that parents like you exist. My parents would basically disown me if they knew I was gay.

 

I knew at a very early as as well - younger than your daughter even since I was in the 1st grade when I knew. Well, I didn't know I wasn't heterosexual as much as I just knew that I liked girls and I wasn't a "normal" child. There was no one that I knew at all, of any age, that was supportive and/or non-heterosexual. However, I discovered through close friendships with girls that they often had the same feelings (even if they didn't identify). Of course there were those who did not have those types of feelings, but I usually didn't have them towards them either so it ended up working out I guess. The older I got, the more isolated I became, especially since I grew up in a small, rural, southern, religious town. It just became something that everyone knew but no one talked about. I moved out of state after graduating high school for awhile and that helped me find "others like me" along with going to a liberal college. It's important to have people in your life that understand, and even if you don't find anyone your daughter's age, you are doing a wonderful job already being that support network. That will help her confidence which will in turn have a positive impact on all of her relationships.

 

@katneely You are a truly amazing parent and mother.

 

You are a wonderful mother, and your daughter is lucky to have you. I also envy her for being so comfortable with herself at her age. When I was that old, part of me knew I was gay, but I kept denying it to myself until just last year. I'm 22 now and am still struggling to come out. I've never had a girlfriend or even a kiss, because I've been so afraid to come out. Your daughter won't have that problem. Sure, she will crush on some straight girls, but everyone, gay or straight, has to deal with unrequited feelings at some point, right? The most important thing is that she is comfortable with herself and that she feels supported, and it sounds like she has both of these things. You get an A+ for motherhood.

 

At that age, it's mostly just crushes anyway.
The gay support group thing sounds like a good idea and she could make a lot of friends there.

But sounds like she's happy being herself and you love and support her, so sounds all good to me!

 

You are a really great mother. The fact that she has your support will make everything so much easier for your daughter. I assure you that her teen years will be much more normal because she feels comfortable being herself.

 

You are such a good mom

Also u just being supportive is a huge support to u and she is very lucky to have such a great mom like u also she could do really well at the support groups and I think it would be good for her to take advantage of those groups she's really lucky to live in an accepting area and go u mom.

 

Youre a super duper awesome parent, first of all.
I came to the realization that I had feelings for people that were not of opposite to my gender when I was around that age too. I didn't come out to my parents until recently, who were not as accepting as you. I have to say that for you to be so supportive is something that totally helps.
I made a lot of gay friends on the internet, however. I never got to have puppy love face to face, more like computer screen to computer screen. Its very hard, and pretty much never works out. Then again, thats the same with face to face puppy love!

 

I wouldn't worry too much about the puppy love if I were you. There are lots of people who don't experience a relationship until they're much older, regardless of their sexual orientation. (Personally I've never even kissed anyone, and I think I turned out just fine ) The same goes for unrequited crushes - it's an experience that we've all been through. I understand however that it might feel a bit disheartening for her that none of her crushes like her back (at least not that she knows of), but just remind her that not all 12-year-olds have as much self-insight and bravery as she does, and that the time will come when she gets to be with other people like her.

On a different note, by now you have probably heard this a hundred billion times, but you really are an incredibly awesome mum. Your daughter is extremely lucky to have you, and I think in the long run having your love and support will be worth a lot more to her than any puppy love.