Washington Post advice columnist "Ask Amy" recently penned a spot-on response to a homophobic parent who can't understand why their gay son "chooses" his lifestyle.
"I feel as if he is doing this just to get back at me for forgetting his birthday for the past three years -- I have a busy work schedule," the parent writes in their letter, signed as "feeling betrayed."
Amy Dickson's response is both heart-warming and thought-provoking. The famous columnist starts off with stunning satire:
"You could teach your son an important lesson by changing your own sexuality to show him how easy it is. Try it for the next year or so: Stop being a heterosexual to demonstrate to your son that a person's sexuality is a matter of choice — to be dictated by one's parents, the parents' church and social pressure."
Dickinson rips into the parent for "forgetting" the child's birthday, writing "How very sad for him." She further suggests that if the parents can't learn to accept their son for who he is that he live elsewhere for his own safety.
The column ends with her suggestion that the parent seek help from Pflag.org, an organization that helps parents accept their gay children. The column comes at a time when the popularity of "gay conversion" therapy is making international headlines. It is a highly-controversial form of "therapy" which proponents argue can turn a homosexual person into a heterosexual person, and sometimes uses physical punishment.
In Canada, a "gay conversion" group called "Pray Away the Gay" was recently protested in Saskatoon after a member planned to give a lecture for a local Christian counselling centre.
In the U.K., government officials debated this week on how to best handle anti-gay physicians who refer gay patients to conversion therapy. And some U.S. states are currently trying to follow California and New Jersey's lead by making "gay conversion" therapy illegal.
I think Amy's response was great and very appropriate. Couldn't have answered better myself.....MAXY
"I feel as if he is doing this just to get back at me for forgetting his birthday for the past three years -- I have a busy work schedule," the parent writes in their letter, signed as "feeling betrayed."
"You could teach your son an important lesson by changing your own sexuality to show him how easy it is. Try it for the next year or so: Stop being a heterosexual to demonstrate to your son that a person's sexuality is a matter of choice — to be dictated by one's parents, the parents' church and social pressure."
Dickinson rips into the parent for "forgetting" the child's birthday, writing "How very sad for him." She further suggests that if the parents can't learn to accept their son for who he is that he live elsewhere for his own safety.
The column ends with her suggestion that the parent seek help from Pflag.org, an organization that helps parents accept their gay children. The column comes at a time when the popularity of "gay conversion" therapy is making international headlines. It is a highly-controversial form of "therapy" which proponents argue can turn a homosexual person into a heterosexual person, and sometimes uses physical punishment.
In Canada, a "gay conversion" group called "Pray Away the Gay" was recently protested in Saskatoon after a member planned to give a lecture for a local Christian counselling centre.
In the U.K., government officials debated this week on how to best handle anti-gay physicians who refer gay patients to conversion therapy. And some U.S. states are currently trying to follow California and New Jersey's lead by making "gay conversion" therapy illegal.
I think Amy's response was great and very appropriate. Couldn't have answered better myself.....MAXY
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