When you watched how different your children were from others, you kept a nonjudgmental, open mind. In the absence of role models, you managed to let me be gay without knowing what that might mean, going against a homophobic stream so ingrained in the Filipino machista system.

By hiding photos of a son dressed up as Minnie Mouse or Scooby-Doo's Daphne, a parent is sending the message that she is ashamed of her child. That's a message that gets received, quickly and with dire consequences.

The father of Jadin Bell spoke to HuffPost Live from the road after setting out on a cross-country journey in honor of his son, who committed suicide ...

Complete anonymity is getting in the way of what my blog posts are all about: reaching out to people and being damn proud of my kid. I'd like the opportunity to speak to more parents about celebrating our LGBT kids and meet more of our fabulous LGBT youth. So I've arrived at a compromise.

LOS ANGELES — The 20-year-old son of basketball great Magic Johnson is surprised by the public interest in his being gay, something that he reve...

I feel emotional reading this letter from a father to his son and hearing how Magic Johnson led the conversation in a very warm and supportive way to his son. These young gay men are lucky to have these fathers.

With politicians there is a lot talk of "acceptance" and "tolerance" when it comes to homosexuality. I accept the fact that I have to pay taxes. I tolerate the fact that I have to go to the dentist. Why should either of those words apply to how a parent feels about their child?

Actress and producer Jada Pinkett Smith dropped by Huff Post Live to chat about the new film she produced, "Free Angela And All Political Prisoners," ...

I was in fifth grade. I boarded the school bus and a sixth grade girl asked me if I was virgin. “No,” I said giving her a dirty look and findi...

As our children grow, we look around and wonder, "Is this the right place for us to be? Is this where we want our children to grow up? What is the environment we've chosen teaching them?" These questions were heightened after our oldest son started identifying as gay at a young age.

If our son realizes at a later date that he isn't gay, I won't be embarrassed. No matter who he is, we want him to know that we love him. And whom he loves and is attracted to doesn't change a thing. If anything, we are setting an example to all our kids that our love really is unconditional.

The average coming-out age has declined from 20-something in the '80s to somewhere around 16 today, and there are many who come out younger -- in some cases far younger. Both the LGBTQ community and society at large need to be thinking about how to meet these kids' needs.

My son never lived in the proverbial closet. He's never thought of himself any other way or pretended that he did. So what do I think he was coming out of? His narrative is so different from the ones that came before that I don't even have the terminology to talk about it appropriately.

Yes, at times it is different. At times it is hard, emotional and challenging. It's not something people are used to seeing, which can make them uncomfortable, so it requires extra work of me as a parent. But that doesn't mean it's bad. And he's worth it. All my kids are.

Jeanne Manford, the founder of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and an all-around pioneering straight ally in the LGBT right...

I admit that I was totally clueless until I got hit with the gay stick at age 15. I knew I was different. I knew I didn't want to wear dresses or get married, but I didn't get the memo that the way I liked boys wasn't the way that other girls my age felt.

I didn't want anybody making fun of my son dressed up as a girl. I wanted to protect myself, too. If a boy wore a girl's costume, it meant he was going to be gay. And according to some, a boy was gay because his mother was overbearing. Overbearing mother meant bad mother.

I want for my son what all mothers want. I want him to grow up into a happy, healthy adult. I want him to find a career where he can thrive. I want him to find someone awesome to love who loves him right back. But all those things will be in jeopardy if Mitt Romney becomes president.

While the stories and photos in Born This Way range from heartbreaking to hilarious and are each uniquely told by a range of voices, from the famous (like Sen. Barney Frank and singer-songwriter Sia) to "everyday" people, it's heartening to discover how much common ground we share.

Since our son announced he was gay, we have been fighting for his right to be himself. We make sure those in our life and his are on board, and he's never given the message that something is wrong with him.

Everywhere I go, I meet people who also have a lesbian daughter. I'm starting to think that my part of the planet is simply adrift with young lesbian women.

I think every parent has those discussions they don't want to have with their children. But now that my oldest son, at 7 years old, identifies as gay, I find myself facing a whole new set of things I just don't want to say to him.

Six out of 10 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teens say they feel unsafe at school. Eighty-two percent of that same group say they've be...

When my 7-year-old son announced to us that he is gay, the last thing I thought about was television. But as he has continued to hold firm to this identity, I have become aware of the lack of gay characters in the television shows and movies he likes to watch.

We don't have a script to follow, because we are the only ones we know with a gay kid in elementary school. But the fact remains: We are our child's biggest advocates, and we need to be that for him.