Page 7 - LGBT Families

The reaction of his classmates was deeply hurtful. But his fa-
thers sat and talked to him about why his mother had left when
he was a child, how his dad and stepfather got together, and
what it was like for them as a gay couple. After this conversation,
David felt like a weight had been lifted from him; he fi nally under-
stood more about himself and his family. He eventually changed
schools. At his new school, he started out being more open about
himself and his family—and, in the process, he discovered there
were other students from LGBT families like his.

Dealing with Negativity
Young people from LGBT families have to determine how they will
respond to negative reactions from not only their peers but also
people in society who do not accept their families. They may expe-
rience negative attitudes fi rsthand from other people but also from
viewing the news and social media. Young people react in different
way to disapproval of their parents or themselves because they
are a part of LGBT families.
Some young people decide to deal
with disapproval by trying to avoid it. They
might try to keep their family makeup se- “In middle school, be-
cret. Rather than deal with questions and cause of pervasive ho-
possible bullying, they keep their parents’ mophobia and taunting,
LGBT status to themselves. Danielle Silber I didn’t tell any of my
grew up with gay mothers and encoun- new friends in school
tered discrimination, such as her mothers about my family.” 28
being referred to with gay slurs, as a child. — Danielle Silber, the daughter of
two moms
So when she started middle school, she
decided to keep her family makeup a se-
cret. “In middle school, because of perva-
sive homophobia and taunting, I didn’t tell any of my new friends
in school about my family to the point where I wouldn’t invite them
to my birthday parties,” Silber says. Silber did not tell her parents
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that she hid their status because of her fear of bullying. She did not

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