LGBT Families

Listening Parents: “Fortunate Families” Need Help

February 13, 2010 — Terence@queerchurch | Edit

We as lesbians, gay men and trans people know from our own experience the difficulties, confusions and pain that may accompany the process of facing and dealing with our identities. This is further compounded by the difficulties of dealing with the Church and its hostility.  But we are not the only ones who find the process difficult – so do our parents and families.

Once they have come around to an understanding of us, parents can be our staunchest allies. In the various debates around gay marriage, there have been many valuable and articulate voices raised by parents who have insisted that they want to see their gay sons and daughters able to access the same rights and respect, from Church and from state, that their straight children receive. The challenge to us is, how do we help them to reach that place of acceptance and understanding in the first place?

Fortunate Families is one organisation specifically addressing the needs of Catholic parents of gay or lesbian children.  Their current newsletter has a report on a listening service that strikes me as worth promoting: Read the rest of this entry »