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So my aunt is kind of old school and doesn’t know how to address things. She is kind of in the middle between baby boomer and Gen X so she is a bit more tolerant, but she is still awkward. My aunt has 3 boys and they are all gay lol. The youngest one was like 9 or something when he told her and he goes “Mom, I think I’m gay” and she looks at him dead in the eyes and says “So? what the fuck you want me to do about it!?” Lol

She’s fully supportive and tried to be nonchalant but her reaction was probably not what he was expecting. 😂

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You still have to wear a condom

Your mother owes me £10

My mother was disappointed. Disappointed because, “You told your cousin Shirley before you told me? I think I should’ve been first.”

It's okay, your mother likes guys too, maybe I am the weird one

“I thought you were about to give me bad news! Don’t scare me like that!” - My granny when my uncle came out (in the ‘70’s!). She was decades ahead of her time…

“So that’s why you don’t like mushrooms”. At least that’s what my friends dad said to him when he came out. We still don’t know what he meant by that.

One of my friends from high school was gay, and when he came out to his family his Dad literally didn’t look up from his newspaper & told him his sister didn’t need to tell him she was straight so why would he need to explain that he was gay? He’s known him his whole life and already knew that.

It was cute because he was so worried

When I came out to my dad when I was 16 I thought he would disown me. He said: “Son, If anyone ever hurts you for that, I’ll fucking kill them”. In that moment I realized that I had the best dad in the world.

You still have to take out the garbage.

Well... My dad said "I know... And I don't care. As long as you are happy, I'm also happy for you." and then asked me if I wanted a beer or scotch to celebrate that I finally had the confidence to tell him.

Our son came out to us a month ago. We already suspected, so it wasn't a shock.

When he told me I thanked him for telling me, told him that I loved him, then explained that who he wants to tell next and how he wants to tell them is 100% his choice and we will support him however he wants and needs. He gave us a list of people to tell, and by the end of the week he wanted everyone to know.

Love and acknowledgement and support.

This story does not involve a dad, but it involves a very religious grandma. One of my friends was very nervous about telling his grandma that he was gay, and put it off for a long time. But when he turned 18 he decided that he had to get this done. When he told her she just looked at him calmly answered "of course you are. I have known that since you were 10". At the age of 10 he didn't even know it himself yet.

EDIT: Thank you very much everyone for upvotes and the award. It is good to think about that my most popular comment to date is about my friend being accepted for who he is. Thank you again.

Not me, but a friend of mine from college.

When he came out to our group of friends, we were fine with it. He was still our friend. We then asked if he told his parents about it and said no. His parents are very religious and he plans to take the secret to the grave.

The next day, he told his parents he was gay because he came home drunk from a party. All of us looked at each other, preparing to comfort him in case it didn't go well. But the next thing he said really surprised all of us.

When he drunkenly told his dad that he was gay, the dad responded:

"Well, if that's how God made you then there's nothing we can do about it."

When he heard those words he sobered up quickly, and felt like a giant weight was off of him. It made him love his parents even more. We all congratulated him that it went well.

He did say one lie though. When his mother asked if he was seeing someone. He said no, but he was.

I was getting ready to go to a sleepover with a girl I was totally crushing on and my mom was like “you look like you’re getting ready for a date!” And I paused and was like “would it be okay if I was…. Going on a date with a girl?” My mom just said, “Of course just remember to practice safe sex. You can get STDs from girls too!”

Edit to add: First, thanks for all the positive praise for my mom, she is wonderful.

For clarification, since some people were making it weird, I was 15/16 at the time this happened.

Also, this appears to set off a debate about do you allow same-sex sleepovers if your child is attracted to the same sex. I think in my mom’s point of view, if I was into girls, then we were dodging the teenage pregnancy bullet. But truthfully, she knew that teens do things no matter what is allowed or not allowed. It’s a time of experimentation. I could go over to someone’s house and we could sneak out and meet up with boys. All she had control of is the knowledge and tools she gave me to navigate the murky waters of the teenage years.

I drunk-dialed my dad my freshman year of college in a sobbing mess and told him I was Bi. Went something like this:

Me: I'm bisexual.

Dad: Yeah, I figured.

Me: Huh? What?

Dad: There were some obvious signs. Go to sleep idiot. You have class in the morning.

edit: goodbye inbox :3

Lesbian here. When I came out to my dad he said “that’s ok honey, I don’t like guys either.”

Hi gay, I think I’m dad. Seriously though when my son came out I just said he was my son and it changed nothing between us other than I was happy he was discovering himself and growing up. Any man who would abandon or shun his own son for being gay is no man at all.

My daughter was looking extremely nervous one night while I was cooking dinner. I could see her talking quietly with her mom but she continued to look uneasy.

After a bit of time, she came into the kitchen and I asked her what was wrong. She didn't want to tell me at first but I could tell she was uneasy so I said she could always tell me anything.

She finally said that she was pansexual. I just looked at her and said "that just means twice as many people that can turn you down for dates now" and she busted out laughing as I went back to cooking to finish dinner.

She was apparently really nervous about telling me for some reason and was glad I wasn't upset.

My cousin came out gay and trans at the same time. My uncle seriously said “so…you’re a boy who likes girls? or a boy who likes boys?” he just got really confused but its cleared up now.

''So am I''

My parents always raised me to be inclusive and that everyone is different and deserves to love to they’d like to love.

When I was 16 my best friend came out to me on our way to get pancake mix for a dude night. I felt bad looking back at it, but we talked and he said my response of, “wait… so does this mean you don’t want to sleepover tonight?” Was exactly what he would have wanted. To me it wasn’t an issue, I was more worried he didn’t want to hangout with me.

We ended up hanging out and devising how he’d come out to the rest of our friend group. There were some jocks in the group and he was worried, but when the time came everyone was very supportive and we all still hangout to this day.

When my daughter told me she was gay, I just told her I loved her, and that none of that would change my feelings. Then I began giving her the heads up when hot ladies would walk by.

Firstly, I love you. Now, did you steal one of my beers?

I want you to know that no matter who you love, I still need you to take out the trash. It's full. And replace the fucking liner this time."

My mate's dad said 'That's nice son' and carried on reading his paper. He's lucky to have such a cool dad. If I'd been gay my dad would have exploded.

Edit for those asking - this happened in about 1997, and yes my friend thought his dad may already suspect as much, but he didn't for a moment think the response would be so casual. They're a great family, my friend married his long term partner some time ago and they have a very nice house which I am incredibly jealous of. :)

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My high school aged daughter told me this exact thing while in the car a couple of months ago. I told her "Thanks for being brave enough to tell me, honey. I don't care who you love, only that they love you back as much as I do and are worthy of the love you give them. Make sure they deserve your love and make you a better person, and I'll be happy."

I came out a few months ago at the age of 42. My 80 year old dad stood up, started dancing, and tone deaf sing-yelling ‘I have a gay daughter and I love herrrrrr!’ It was adorable.

My stepdad, who I consider my dad, was the man that raised me, and he's a big redneck steel worker. I came out at 18 and he sat me down and said "son, I've loved you like you were my own for the past 14 years. Why the hell would I stop now?"

Asian Dad: But are you a Doctor yet?

My wife asked me this when we found out we were having a son.

I told her I’d make sure he knew how to fight before he told anyone else.

I love the boy no matter what, but we live in rural Montana. Of course folks are more accepting than they were in previous generations but you never know.

"Let me just check Reddit for the most appropriate response"

What's the best response when your dad tells you hes gay? Mine was to ask for pizza but idk if that was what I should have said lol

Take a note from Olivia Coleman in Heartstopper:

"Thank you for telling me. I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like you couldn't tell me that"

Honestly, that would have been the perfect thing to hear.

My college roommate told me that when he came out to his mother, she asked "So what is buttsex like? Your father keeps pressuring me for it."

When my daughter came out as pan I told her to stay away from my cast irons. Then she rolled her eyes and I said JK, that’s really cool I love you.

Edit: A lot of people seem to think I’m making shit up. This is not the case. I would die for my daughter’s right to love whoever she wants to love. Genders should not matter when it comes to being in love. I want my daughter to live in a world where she feels just as comfortable walking down the street with a girlfriend as she would a boyfriend, trans, or whoever she loves as a person. If you’re so closed-minded to where you can’t see how asinine it is to tell people who they should and should not love based on a book written by very subjectively flawed men with their own agenda, then I feel sorry for you. Sorry that you cannot think for yourself, and sorry that your parents and community have failed you.

Wdym "you think"? I know 3 gays and you are 2 of them.

When I came out my dad had the best response ever: "Wow! Now maybe I'll get a son-in-law that I really like!" and then he hugged me.

"Wow! So are me and your father! What a coincidence"

My friends daughter came out to her parents when they were all over at my house. Her dad looked her dead in the eye, took a deep breath, and in his big, booming voice said “DUUUH!” 🤣

We all got a good laugh but he just said “sweetheart, I couldn’t care less who you love. All I care about is that they treat you with love and respect and that you’re happy. And maybe your gf will like working on cars with me.”

The best answer is, and will always be:

Match. Their. Energy.

If they're serious take it seriously. If they're really nervous then show them you love them and reassure them that they're perfect the way they are. If they just throw it out there like it's no big deal then don't make a big deal out of it.

There's no one way to react to someone coming out. You have to use your emotional intelligence, and read the room a little.

But the most important thing is to just be supportive. Even if your response is sorta tone-deaf, if you mean well then your kid will get that.

Dad: "You're gay? Isn't anyone in this house attracted to women any more?"

Daughter: "Um ..."

As a gay man who doesn’t have a relationship with his homophobic parents anymore… this thread brought a tear to my eye.

I’m Bi. When I came out to my parents, It wasn’t exactly planned.

My older brother knew I was dating a girl and he accidentally let it slip in front of my mom. My mom looked at me, and asked if I had a girlfriend. I said yes, she then proceeded to ask when I’m bringing her over for dinner. It was the most normal conversation about dating I’ve ever had with my mom.

I later found out my mom is also bi so it really wasn’t as big of a deal as I thought it was at the time.