Blogger’s son, 7, ‘comes out’
A blogger has described the moment her 7-year-old son came out to her but accepted she is not sure whether he will turn into a gay adult.
The Huffington Post blogger known as Amelia said her son has had a long-standing affection for Blaine, one of the gay characters on Glee, and refers to him as a boyfriend.
Amelia blogged this week about a succinct exchange between her and her son in which he announced his sexuality.
She detailed her surprise at the conversation and his subsequent willingness to identify as gay, writing: “Six months ago “gay” wasn’t even a word in my son’s vocabulary.”
She adds: “Before my son, I’d never met a child who came out this young – and we don’t know anyone else who has. The mere idea of children having a sexual orientation makes people uncomfortable […] But here’s the thing: straight children have nothing to announce. Straight is the assumption.”
She adds that as parents, she and her husband want him to know “we hear him, and that he’s wonderful”.
“Within a few days we had a quick talk with him about how some people don’t like it when people are gay, explaining that those people are wrong. If he hears anyone says anything about being gay like it is something bad, he is to run and get us immediately.”
The EHRC paper said: “Evidence suggests that by the age of 12 young people are dealing with emerging sexual feelings and attraction to others. Through the teenage years, some young people do begin to identify their sexual orientation, and others do not, or are just unsure.
“Young people also begin to identify the actual/perceived sexual orientation of others and this underpins homophobic bullying. Existing studies suggest that it is practically and ethically possible to capture evidence on sexual orientation in adolescence through research and monitoring, in order to better understand disadvantage.”
It was described as “invasive, sinister and threatening” by Graham Stuart, Conservative chair of the education select committee.
