well as somebody said, now he has come out, he will be able to be part of the gay community and go to the gay & lesbo mardi gras and participate in all those things and "rights" that normal folk have "no right" to, being normal.

like why no straight people's mardi gras with topless girls etc etc?

the point is as I said before and featured in American Beauty, why do they have to rub it in our face. like any "discrimination" as such for homos etc vanished about 30 years ago and since then it has just been more and more boo hoo for them and by them [even using the family court now], quite apart from hijacking the formerly nice word gay. IMHO get over it, and stop venting.

Apologies divorce doctor if you feel I am venting a little too much.
My reasons are due to the fact there have been comments made here on religious grounds, which to my mind are wrong and unfair.In any case I have nothing to 'get over' other than having a genuine desire to support my sister and my nephew, who actually does not get involved in public displays of his sexuality. Having said that,what is wrong with a colourful parade? If it 'happened' to a close member of your family you may feel differently,or perhaps you would just say the person was a gay political animal who deserved everything thrown their way! Read my first post.There is still lack of tollerence by some members of society towards gay people ,or my nephew would not have considered leaving this earth when he was 16 years old, due to being shunned at school and made to feel like an outcast! Yes things have come a long way and yes some of the politics and exclusive nature of some the gay community can be annoying, but again I say walk in the shoes for a day and go through what my sister and nephew went through for years and you may begin to uderstand!

I have recently had to come to terms with the fact my sister has just announced to the family her 20 year old son is gay.As with many families of gay people the thought was always there.The greatest shock has been hearing about the pain and suffering my sister hid from everyone for many years, etc

as a 20 year old in 1965, my father was totally shocked that his son's name was drawn from a barrel [1 in 9 chance] to go and fight what Pib Iron Bob called The Yellow Peril [now is that "racist" for a start?], AND that I didn't even have THE RIGHT TO VOTE for that cretin doing what Latham was to call a Congoline of Suckholes to LBJ

I had no real choice as consientious objectors were jailed and spat on just the same as we were spat on after returning from Nam

so back to your issue and all the associated "concerns" about "rights" of homos, femmos, boat people, black people.

the commonality for all these is Lawyers, who beat up all these "rights" issue for no other reason than making money and the stupid public gets on the bandwagon

who CARES about "sexuality" [once more an invented word by the lawyers, like racism, sexism, whatever].

and yes 10 years ago my 16 year old son was separated from me by the lawyers of the family court industry [called relocation] and I was told, by his sister, he was considering suicide, but the one person who could have helped was not allowed to see him, and of course it was the separation from his dad that prompted the depression but NOBODY is allowed to say that as there is money involved

But if I said boo about one of these darling Yellow Perils, now living in Oz and with every CentrLink benefit know to man/woman and a huge pile of taxpayer funded lawers at his disposal, then I would be in the clink

frankly, some 20 year old who says I'm gay, please help me everybody makes me want to puke

Divorce Doctor,

“… why do they have to rub it in our face. like any "discrimination" as such for homos etc vanished about 30 years ago”

Visible discrimination complaints appear to focus on rights not even imagined a decade ago and you might therefore have trouble adjusting to while traditional discrimination appears all but disappeared back then. However, if you look beyond adults to children and youth things are different. Indeed some research suggests that people heading toward gay identity as an adult interpret verbal discouragement by other children (who apparently want them to fit in and make an awkward attempt to assist) as a hate attack. Accordingly, such children experience actual verbal (and occasionally physical) bullying and also pressures which in their reality are suffered as bullying. By the time they are rubbing things in your face they have gone through some pretty unpleasant experiences that you missed out on.

Consider Mike Tyson. As a young child his obvious difference resulted in continual bullying and taunts of “little fairy boy”. His main ‘friends’ were pet pigeons who he spent his time with. The pigeons clearly meant so much to him and he must have loved them dearly. He was so victimised that a bully stole his pigeons and let them loose. It was predictable how upsetting that would be to young Mike knowing not only that he had lost his loved companions but that they were domestic birds at mortal risk. That is how horribly treated an up and coming gay man can be.

“… and since then it has just been more and more boo hoo for them …IMHO get over it...”

See above. Further, the hard to believe “boo hoo” that you probably mean, isn’t the typical gay person going about their life. It is a rhetorical tool used by gay activists who like to exaggerate the victim concept for political gain. We have changed from a heroes and villains culture to a perpetrator and victim culture so playing the victim gets results. Just because the “boo hoo” gay people are visible doesn’t mean they are representative.

SKOUT,

I know its easy to say when one is not the person copping it but: take no notice of those who feed you the same kinds of comments that your nephew faces.

No matter what, no-one is going to gain universal acceptance. Had you written about a nephew who had just been through a divorce, or had successfully committed suicide or had been forced onto the dole, you would still have attracted the odd negative comment. One simply can't please all of the people all of the time.

Instead of unsuccessfully trying to engage with people who do not look at things in the same light, take heart from the support that has been given from other complete strangers here. Put the negative comments out of your mind and recollect instead that your nephew has, in fact, gained the support and good wishes not only of his family but of everyone who took the time to committ their feelings to words in this thread.

Don't forget, either, that all those good wishes also attach themselves to you and far outweigh any momentary unpleasantness you may have felt from the one or two with other views.

On the contrary divorce doctor.My nephew has never cried for help,he has only cried to be left alone to get on with his life without discrimination and bullying such as he suffered at the hands of his school peers and their parents, who would not let there sons near him or his home, incase it was infectious! Also on the contrary, at 20 years old he gives loads of his free time to a worthy cause. He is a fully fledged and trained member of a voluntary organisation that serves to help others in times of trouble.As in all realms of society there will be the woe is me faction.You should not generalise and place everyone of a type into the same basket! I hear your own plight and sympathise with what you have been through, which must have been hell!It just seems a pity that you should see fit to compare situations and give marks out of 10 to personal suffering and the understanding that persons suffering deserves..Nobody is immune from pain in life and I believe everyone deserves a sypathetic ear when that pain is real to the person who is unhappy for whatever reason.To say someones plight makes you puke is very sad indeed.