Loving your child when they are different

This booklet looks to help these families protect their loved ones and stay connected to them, even when they are still working things out for themselves. While it is natural to feel worried, uncertain or unsure when your child lets you know they are, or might be LGBTQA, it takes courage to think about how you can support your child and your family. People with different sexualities and genders exist in every faith and every culture and can find ways to live fully as themselves while holding onto their faith and culture. They shouldn’t have to hide who they are to fit into their religious or cultural community.

The stories in this booklet are based on real conversations with people across different cultural and faith communities looking to provide support and guidance for families. Trying to make someone change or hide their sexuality or gender is called a “conversion practice”. Even when a family means well, they can harm the people they love and what they’re doing may be against the law.

Written by Dr Percy Gurtler, working with a number of multicultural and multifaith survivors of conversion practices, the content is based on true stories. This booklet is a joint product of the Australian GLBTIQ Multicultural Council (AGMC) and the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC). We worked with Knuckles Animation Studio to develop this resource.

You can read more associated material at:
www.agmc.org.au/publications-lovingyourchild

 

*‎ The letters LGBTQA stand for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or gender diverse, Queer and Asexual. (Please note, this initialism does not include the ‘I’ for intersex, as conversion practices do not include forced medical interventions on people with intersex variations.)