LGBTQ Children Rejected by Their Parents

The LGBTQ community has come a long way from being discriminated in society to standing together to achieve global equality. In today's generation, the LGBTQ community has accomplished milestones that has changed the course of history across the globe. Same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states, the Pentagon lifts the ban on transgender people to serve for the U.S. military and LGBTQ celebrities such as Sam Smith have been a positive influence on the gay community.

While the world is making progress for equality within the LGBTQ community, parents are finding it difficult to make progress on accepting their transgender and gender nonconforming children. According to the Huffpost, "Studies suggest that up to 40% of homeless youth are LGBT." LGBTQ children are being kicked out of their homes by their parents for not accepting them for their sexual orientation.

There are several reasons why parents are rejecting their LGBTQ children that is causing them to be kicked out of their homes or facing abuse at home. Religion is one of the main reasons parents do not accept their children being gay since it goes against on what they believe in. Parents think their child is sinning by coming out, so they believe they need to be punished by making them leave their home. For example, when my cousin was 17 years old he told our family that he was gay and had been dating his partner for a few months. Our grandparents and his parents were in utter disbelief and angry that he chose this path since they are a Christian family. Our grandparents were against him being gay that it made his parents kick him out of their house for a few days. In the United States, 1.6 million LGBTQ children have experienced being homeless every year.

In some cases, one parent is more accepting than the other when their child has come out to them. But when the other parent is not as accepting, the other parent is still willing to kick out their child to please their spouse. Another reason parents kick out their children for coming out is it'll look bad on them for not having good parental skills. Parents have a trouble time reacting to the news that their own child is gay which usually leads to a negative response. Also, they feel as if they can't recognize their own child they raised anymore.

To stop the increasing number of homeless LGBTQ youth, education about the LGBTQ community should be taught in schools to teach children on the issues and history for them to better understand the community. As the new generation gets a greater knowledge of the LGBTQ community, the discrimination and problems could fade as people become more educated about these matters. Family members and politicians have their mind painted with negativity against the LGBTQ community since they are only receiving bad information and information that is out of context. In today's generation, the LGBTQ community should reach out to parents, family members and politicians on facts about the LGBTQ to create an atmosphere of acceptance.

References

• Seaton, J. (2017, March 29). Perspective | Homeless rates for LGBT teens are alarming, but parents can make a difference. Retrieved May 21, 2018, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2017/03/29/homeless-rates-for-lgbt-teens-are-alarming-heres-how-parents-can-change-that/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a614aa250516

• Q. (2017, March 03). Why Do Parents Reject Their LGBTQ Children? Retrieved May 21, 2018, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-do-parents-reject-their-lgbtq-children_us_58b9a3f7e4b0fa65b844b26d

• Daniels, A. (2017, June 25). Love Wins! 6 Milestones In LGBT Rights Worth Celebrating This Year. Retrieved May 21, 2018, from https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/6-milestones-in-lgbt-rights-worth-celebrating-this-year

• Petronzio, M. (2015, June 28). Milestone year: A timeline of major LGBT victories. Retrieved May 21, 2018, from https://mashable.com/2015/06/28/lgbt-pride-milestones/#_4EhePKGLOq4