Straight Parents, Gay Children: Keeping Families Together - Paperback

by Robert A. Bernstein (Author), Betty DeGeneres (Foreword by), Robert MacNeil (Introduction by)

Straight Parents, Gay Children is Robert Bernstein's moving account of how he came to terms with his daughter's homosexuality and how the experience has enriched his life. Bernstein -- winner of the 1996 Award for Best Scholarship on the Subject of Intolerance, awarded by the Gustaves Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in North America -- discusses the myths surrounding homosexuality, accepting the news, parents who speak out, public figures who have gay children, and more. Straight Parents, Gay Children is a survival guide for all parents who wish to help their gay children cope with the inevitable cruelty from which they cannot hide. This revised and updated edition includes an introduction by Robert MacNeil of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions and a foreword by Candace Gingrich, author of The Accidental Activist "Bob Bernstein has done a wonderful job. I wish his book could be required reading for the world."--Betty DeGeneres, spokesperson, Human Rights Campaign, National Coming Out Project "Bernstein's tone is personal, his advice is sound ... a valuable addition to the psychological self-help collections."--Charles Harmon, Booklist "A succinct, moving book about parents who have defied the social stigma of homosexuality to publicly support their gay children."--Washington Blade

Back Jacket

This is a personal account by a father who came to terms with his daughter's homosexuality and discovered that his life was not diminished, as he had originally thought, but enriched by it. In Straight Parents / Gay Children, Robert Bernstein tells about his own and others' experiences with P FLAG, an organization that helps parents to achieve a fuller understanding and appreciation of human diversity. Bernstein's inspiring account serves as a call to action to all parents of gays not just to love and accept their children, but to speak out on their behalf. It includes sketches of a number of courageous P FLAG members who have taken the lead in seeking social equality and justice for their gay loved ones.

Author Biography

Walter Bernstein, long a contributor to the New Yorker, wrote the screenplays for The Molly Maguires, Fail Safe, Semi-Tough, and Yanks. His script for Woody Allen's comedy about the blacklist, The Front, received an Oscar nomination. He is an adjunct professor at Columbia University and lives in New York.