In the Philippine
setting, a country known to be the center of Roman Catholicism in Asia,
most of the populace believe that being gay is a sin, unacceptable and
immoral. In a country this conservative, coming out is very difficult,
rejection, prejudice and condemnation is rampant and discrimination is
inevitable.
Filipino gays had been survivors of this very narrow-minded land, gays learned how to treat these unjust acts as a part of their daily gay life, but like ordinary people, gays can also be hurt, like normal people, gays can also feel insults and like everyone, when we we’re still small children, when we are bullied, discriminated and rejected, we run crying to our protectors, our parents, but what if the very persons you believe to comfort you also rejects, hates and don’t accept you, what will you do?
This had been the very first reason why most of Filipino gays don’t come out, the reason why they do not enjoy their life, especially their childhood. We see gays becoming the source of fun in group discussions or in different events but the real scenario when they return home is like a play where you pretend to be someone you’re not, a very unfunny thing.
In some worse cases, parents even hurt their gay child physically, their had been so many reports about abuse on gays,some put their gay sons in drums full of water, some tie them inside a sack and hang them and beat them and some fathers even hit their sons until they bleed; these physical abuses by their parents on gays is so prevalent in the Philippines and so is psychological abuse which most of the psychologists believe to be more harmful.
According to new research, parents who reject their gay or lesbian teen are setting the teen up for an increased risk of poorer health in their early adulthood.
Specifically, gay young adults who reported higher levels of family rejection during adolescence were more than 8 times more likely to report having attempted suicide, nearly 6 times more likely to report high levels of depression, and 3.4 times more likely to use illegal drugs or having engaged in unprotected sexual intercourse, compared with peers from families that reported no or low levels of family rejection.
The study, led by Caitlin Ryan, PhD, Director of the Family Acceptance Project and her team at the César E. Chávez Institute at San Francisco State University, shows that negative parental behaviors toward lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) children dramatically compromises their health.
“For the first time, research has established a predictive link between specific, negative family reactions to their child’s sexual orientation and serious health problems for these adolescents in young adulthood such as depression, illegal drug use, risk for HIV infection, and suicide attempts,” said Ryan.
Finding out that your son or daughter is gay, lesbian or bisexual can come as a shock, but it is important that you can learn to understand and accept your child for who they are. This is very important because it can knock your child's confidence if you don't support their views.
I hope, as a gay, that the day will come when gays would no longer need to wait for their fathers and mothers to die before they come out.
-Ronnie John Barrientos
Filipino gays had been survivors of this very narrow-minded land, gays learned how to treat these unjust acts as a part of their daily gay life, but like ordinary people, gays can also be hurt, like normal people, gays can also feel insults and like everyone, when we we’re still small children, when we are bullied, discriminated and rejected, we run crying to our protectors, our parents, but what if the very persons you believe to comfort you also rejects, hates and don’t accept you, what will you do?
This had been the very first reason why most of Filipino gays don’t come out, the reason why they do not enjoy their life, especially their childhood. We see gays becoming the source of fun in group discussions or in different events but the real scenario when they return home is like a play where you pretend to be someone you’re not, a very unfunny thing.
In some worse cases, parents even hurt their gay child physically, their had been so many reports about abuse on gays,some put their gay sons in drums full of water, some tie them inside a sack and hang them and beat them and some fathers even hit their sons until they bleed; these physical abuses by their parents on gays is so prevalent in the Philippines and so is psychological abuse which most of the psychologists believe to be more harmful.
According to new research, parents who reject their gay or lesbian teen are setting the teen up for an increased risk of poorer health in their early adulthood.
Specifically, gay young adults who reported higher levels of family rejection during adolescence were more than 8 times more likely to report having attempted suicide, nearly 6 times more likely to report high levels of depression, and 3.4 times more likely to use illegal drugs or having engaged in unprotected sexual intercourse, compared with peers from families that reported no or low levels of family rejection.
The study, led by Caitlin Ryan, PhD, Director of the Family Acceptance Project and her team at the César E. Chávez Institute at San Francisco State University, shows that negative parental behaviors toward lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) children dramatically compromises their health.
“For the first time, research has established a predictive link between specific, negative family reactions to their child’s sexual orientation and serious health problems for these adolescents in young adulthood such as depression, illegal drug use, risk for HIV infection, and suicide attempts,” said Ryan.
Finding out that your son or daughter is gay, lesbian or bisexual can come as a shock, but it is important that you can learn to understand and accept your child for who they are. This is very important because it can knock your child's confidence if you don't support their views.
I hope, as a gay, that the day will come when gays would no longer need to wait for their fathers and mothers to die before they come out.
-Ronnie John Barrientos
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