Hi all, I don't know if I should have put this in the coming out section or maybe the parents section, but anyway, I am just wondering...have any of you come out to older parents/have advice for coming out to parents when you are older? I am 30 years old, and I've been questioning my orientation seriously for the past couple of years and knew I was curious for several years before that, but I have kept it all to myself. I didn't want to tell my parents until I was certain because, although I hope they will accept me eventually, I don't think it will be a non-issue for them, and will probably be a bit difficult for them to handle. Anyway, I am pretty certain about being gay now, so I am thinking about telling my parents soon, and I was wondering how it is to tell parents who are older? I feel like it is a little different than coming out as a teen because they have a more fully formed image of me as a straight person and have seen me date men, and also they are from a different generation so they are probably less comfortable with the whole LGBT thing than younger parents today are. There is also the aspect that I have been keeping a secret from them for quite a while and by necessity lying from time to time which I think will shock them, as that is not at all consistent with my behavior in the rest of my life/relationship with them. Just wondering if anyone has had experience with this/has any advice. Thanks! :icon_bigg free
I can't say that I have any experience with that, but I think you can't help it anyway - They are older parents and yes, they might be less expecting than parents that are younger, you can't change that, but your parents are important people in your life and if you want to tell them - tell them. They love you anyway and even if it might be hard for them to cope with this, they'll accept it sooner or later. And maybe they're not even less accepting of the LGBTQ community, after all a lot has changed in the past few decades and if they're flexible people, maybe they went with it as well? Anyway, you can't change your parents like that, but they love you even if it's difficult for them, so I'd say just go for it. Good luck!
