Sexual Orientation: A Window on One Family

At Changeways Clinic, we see people from all walks of life with a wide variety of concerns. Among these are individuals dealing with internalized negativity arising from their past treatment as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered people.

I also offer training programs on "Sexual Orientation Issues in Healthcare" (and "in Education", "in Foster Families", "in the Workplace" and so on). During these, people sometimes wonder if this is really such a big issue anymore. With antidiscrimination legislation, same-sex marriage, and all of the other developments in Canadian society in the past 20 years, does anyone still have a problem with this?

Well, yes. Recently a gay man in the US posted an image of a letter he received after coming out to his father. You can view the online image here.

Do such things happen in Canada? Yes, they do, and I've seen the results in my office. I've also known Canadians to express the idea that if their son or daughter came out as gay, this is precisely what they would do.

My own perspective is that if a person is not prepared to accept differences in their children, then they are not ready to have them. But maybe that's just me.