Home for the Holidays

For many GLBT people, the long road between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is laced with potholes to be dodged or dealt with: isolation or exclusion from your birth family, disapproval of one’s lifestyle/partner choices, or the ultimatum that attending events means downplaying or denying who you are and what you do the other 364 days of the year.

"For GLBT people, the stressors are frequently compounded by unspoken rules," he continued. "Honesty and transparency are not always welcomed with family holiday gatherings. And for GLBT people who have children, these stressors are further compounded with trying to figure out how their biological families fit into their own lives ... But with the holidays being a season of hope, PFLAG knows how truly wonderful this season can be when families welcome and support their GLBT loved ones - through what they say and what they do, that all of their family members are welcomed and encouraged to participate equally in family gatherings. This usually takes some advance planning and some very open conversations with extended family members, particularly those who are honest about their discomfort with or lack of acceptance of gay people. GLBT people should clearly communicate their expectations of how they want to be involved in their families. And family members should do the same. So when the holidays arrive, there are no surprises or unfulfilled expectations."

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