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maxanderson350 t1_iujnhdv wrote

Reply to comment by EarthExile in Outrageous ideologues running for Board of Education in your town? by Throwaway103122CT

The harms I see off the top of my head are:

- breaking the trust and bonds between parents and child;

- preventing the parents from providing often crucial guidance to their child, including access to medical care (e.g. Prep or MP vax);

- having the parents teach their child completely useless sex ed instead of things that the child actually needs to know given their orientation.

I see these harms as more salient in 2022 Connecticut than a risk of a teenage losing her job because of being a lesbian or facing discrimination.

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EarthExile t1_iujpd1j wrote

Maybe this is the difference between us, you're speaking from the perspective of a parent who is open and welcoming of their kid, and wants to do right by them. But I doubt you're the kind of parent whose kid would feel the need to conceal themselves from you.

I'm thinking about the parents I had, the kinds of people who will take a kid's door off the hinges if they suspect there's masturbation taking place, or beat them savagely for 'seeming queer.' People like that don't have a trusting bond in the first place, just authority and wants.

If I told my parents I was gay, they wouldn't customize my sex education and get me on prep, they'd kick my ass and keep me from my friends.

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maxanderson350 t1_iujqrwz wrote

That's part of the difference, but another aspect of my opinion I think arises from what I think young gay men need - access to medications that keep them safe and that is where parental knowledge is crucial. Too many young gay kids unreasonably fear their parents' reaction and thus don't come out to them, while at the same time engaging in unsafe practices that they can't get protection for because their parents don't know about it. I see that as the bigger risk to young gay men that rejection or ostracism - maybe in the 1990s, but not today.

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