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NOW THAT YOU KNOW: What Every Parent Should Know about Homosexuality by Betty & Nancy Hayward Fairchild Kirkus Star

NOW THAT YOU KNOW: What Every Parent Should Know about Homosexuality

By

Pub Date: May 2nd, 1979
Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

When our children 'come out' to us, it is often their final exit from the closet. Friends, associates, possibly brothers and sisters may already know, but it usually seems hardest to tell Mom and Dad."" Written by two Parents-of-Gays activists, this temperate, well-formulated guide should prove both instructive and comforting to parents struggling with the first phases of discovery, when hopes of grandchildren die and guilt takes over. Fairchild and Hayward dispel the myths (about orientation sources, unappealing stereotypes) and deal with the realities: how locale often determines job security but professional organizations can help, or how religious community approval continues to increase. In discussing gay couples or family visits, they concentrate on the positives (stable relationships) but don't obscure the central issue--the validity of the gay life--or argue for superiority when legitimacy is what is meant. Above all, they urge the critical importance of parental acceptance, especially to the child who has felt a misfit and suffered in secret; hence, also, the significance of healthy role models (acknowledged gay teachers, doctors, news commentators, etc.) for youngsters. A closing chapter explains the work of Parents of Gays groups and extends an invitation to readers. Informed and current (right up to the recently published Homosexualities by Bell and Weinberg), this is a warmer approach than Silverstein's A Family Matter (1977), which is also addressed to confused but open-minded parents.