I, 45 M have one son, 16 M. He recently got his drivers license and a job at a small ice cream shop. His mother left almost as soon as he turned one, so we have a very open relationship. He tells me stuff most kids don’t feel comfortable telling their parents and I’m so grateful for that, so when i realized he was keeping this from me i was confused. He’s been going to the mall a lot with a boy I’m gonna call K, 17 M. I thought they were just doing regular stuff teenage boys do. Walking around, getting pretzels, buying stupid stuff, etc. I was fine with it because he’s always been responsible, kept his location on and answered all of my texts and phone calls. K is also a very respectful and overall good kid so i haven’t been too worried about him either. But i started to notice whenever my son would come home he’d dash to his room and try to cover his bags. I was suspicious but to avoid any arguments or possible embarrassment I decided to just check the trash bins in his room and in the kitchen. There was a lot of bags from stores that mainly carried feminine clothing, a couple Ulta bags and makeup packaging. I jokingly asked him about any girlfriends during dinner, he laughed and said no. He didn’t seem to be lying. This kept happening for a couple weeks until i asked for his phone. He was strangely nervous but gave it to me anyway. I first checked his snapchat, if you have teenagers you know that’s the best place to start. I didn’t find anything strange but when I found his chats between him and K, they were extremely flirty. It was adorable how overly cutesy they were with terms of endearment. My son has never came out to me as gay or bi or anything like that, so i decided to leave that alone. He’d tell me when he was ready and pushing it would only cause stress. I looked though everything else and it seemed normal, until i got to his instagram. He had a private account i didn’t know about. All of his friends were added and as i looked through the photos things made sense. He was always in some sort of overly feminine outfit, his hair and makeup all done. I didn’t care until the photos got a lot more revealing. Very suggestive poses, whale tails, mini skirts and him doing suggestive dances on reels. I also saw that his bio said he was gay, a quote “femboy” and used he/they pronouns (which i haven’t been using and will start using after we have a conversation, just in case)
I don’t wanna push him to come out but I also don’t want him keeping something like this from me. I want him to know i support him and that I’ll love him either way, that he doesn’t need to hide his makeup or skirts, that i’ll welcome K to the house, that i’ll even help redo his whole room to be pink and girly if i he wants. If anyone has the same experience, rather they were a parent in this situation or someone like my son.
Please no bigotry in the replies, thank you.
Comments
A great resource for you is http://www.Pflag.org — for parents of queer kids, on how to best support your son.
That fact that you took and went through his phone tells me you don’t have the great, trusting relationship you claim to have. I’m not really surprised he hasn’t told you, and it’s even less likely now that he’ll voluntarily tell you things. You’ve just invaded his privacy and undoubtedly caused him distress. The best thing you can do now is back off, don’t directly bring it up, be supportive and loving in other ways, and wait patiently for the time he chooses to tell you. This must be on his terms and not yours.
You also need to accept that you are his parent, not his friend. It is developmentally normal for him to separate himself from you and have close friends and confidantes.
Man, you sound like a really solid dad. I think the best thing you can do is just bring it up in a low-key, comfortable way when the moment feels right, nothing heavy, just let him know you’re cool with who he is and he doesn’t have to hide anything from you. The fact that you’re down to help him redo his room, call him by the right pronouns, and even welcome K over? That’s huge. He might get a little shy or awkward about it at first, but deep down he’s gonna feel seen and supported and that sticks with a kid.
Respect, dude.
>I don’t wanna push him to come out but I also don’t want him keeping something like this from me. I want him to know i support him and that I’ll love him either way
How about you leave his fucking phone dude!?
I think you’re right to wait for him to come to you but you can do things to make him feel safe to do so.
Be vocal about your LGBT support, get pride flags, pins etc. drop hints that you’re cool with anything, talk about things going on in the LGBT world. Obviously don’t overdo it lol but you want to make certain that when he feels comfortable to come out he will already know you’re safe. And just be patient.