“Mom, I’m gay.”

“Mom, I’m a lesbian.”

“Mom, I’m bi.”

“Mom, I’m …”

When my children were very very young, I sat down alone and ran through these conversations in my mind, were I ever to have them with my children.

What would I say?

How would I react?

What would my initial response be?

Would it be one of compassion and understanding?

Or would it be a response that would forever alter my relationship with my child?

In this life, we only have one chance to do things for the first time.  Our kids only have one set of us.

That means we have one shot to say the right thing, to respond in a way that fosters continued understanding from that conversation forward.

My children tell me about friends of theirs who have been brave enough to have these conversations with their parents, and of the parents who disown, cast aside, and reject their kids based on this.

I cannot think of any sentence that my kids could say to me that would make me not love them, make me not want them as part of my life, make me not be proud of them.

June is Pride month. The month when members of the LGBTQ community step into the spotlight. To ask for and demand the same recognition that all couples receive.

Homosexuality is such an interesting topic. When a classmate of one of my children announced that he was gay in 6th grade, none of his peers were surprised, and for the most part, were accepting.

A comment from a parent that I still think about was, “I just don’t see how someone can know that young.”

I find this concept to be odd, considering that well-meaning adults have been joking with my children since preschool about who their “girlfriend” or “boyfriend” is. It strikes me as so strange that as a society we accept that children as young as 3-4 are to recognize a member of the opposite gender as appealing, but when it is their same gender, they are too young.

In our area, the Pride Fest and Parade will be held on a Saturday morning towards the end of the month. It is with this thought in mind that I plan to attend wearing a shirt offering “Free Mom Hugs” along with some friends.

Love is love.

No one should be denied the love of a mom, the feeling of a hug, the compassion of another because of who they love.