Books for Parents of Children in Transition

 By Marietta Miles

Coming Out, Coming Home: Helping Families Adjust to a Gay 

Award winning Michael C. LaSala, PhD, LCSW is Professor and Director of the Doctorate of Social Work Program at Rutgers University. During his tenure at Rutgers, Professor LaSala has been a practicing family therapist and teacher for over 35 years, and his research and clinical specialties are the couple and family relationships of gay men and lesbians and the role of family influences on the sexual behaviors of gay and bisexual youth. His book, Coming Out, Coming Home provides the findings of a National Institute of Mental Health funded study of sixty-five gay and lesbian youth and their families. Other examples of Professor LaSala’s work can be found in over thirty journal articles and his blog for Psychology Today. He is also a recipient of the American Family Therapy Academy’s 2017 Distinguished Contribution to Social Justice Award.

Coming Out, Coming Home features sixty-five gay and lesbian youth and their parents. Their words and experiences are emotional and honest, helping to solidify the importance of family in a time that may be very lonely for a child. Coming Out shows the social realities of the ostracism, shame, and rejection our children face in this chaotic world. With true examples, the reader will identify the emotional gravity of accepting their LGBTQ+ child and, in turn, the tragedy of prejudice. This book and the innovative study is an outline and provides steps and processes to help families traverse this challenging time in their lives. 

Professor LaSala has worked with families and their gay and lesbian children for years and uses his experience to write a caring and kind-hearted book born of a desire to help and guide. His study and the easy presentation offers readers real and sincere stories of how gay and lesbian people cope with the acceptance or rejection from their families. The book illustrates how parents and siblings work to love and protect their offspring. 

It takes compassion and patience for families to manage their way through this rite of passage, but they will emerge stronger and more honest than ever.

This Is a Book for Parents of Gay Kids: A Question & Answer Guide to Everyday Life (Book for Parents of Queer Children, Coming Out to Parents and Family)

This is a Book for Parents of Gay Kids is an easy to digest manual for accepting parents of gay children who may have questions about the process. Authors Danielle Owens-Reid and Kristin Russo are uniquely experienced to answer parents' questions and share insight and guidance on both emotional and day-to-day topics. 

Owens-Reid created the blog "Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Bieber,” which led to their running social media for Virgin Mobile’s on Tour with Lady Gaga and co-founding the LGBTQ+ youth organization, Everyone is Gay. This is a Book for Parents of Gay Kids was released by Chronicle Books in 2015. Dan has spoken at universities throughout the US and Canada, led training and consulting seminars and collaborated with artists and large companies to further their social media presence. Dan Owens MGMT is a talent company focused on managing creatives who are working toward active change in queer, trans and racial justice.

Kristin Russo first arrived on the scene as a Tumblr presence when they began providing advice for LGBTQ+ youth's questions. In 2013, Russo and Owens-Reid began My Kid Is Gay, a revolutionary online resource for families and educators of LGBTQ+ people. They went on to co-author My Kid Is Gay, which provides advice from parents, youth, and experts about topics related to gender identity and sexuality. 

This is a wonderful book for parents looking to learn more about the LGBTQ+ experience and discover more ways to support and raise their gay child.