Hi there
Thank you for writing to me. You have said that your mum has stopped you from going to an LGBT youth group and you don’t know why. It sounds like this might be upsetting and confusing for you.
I get the impression that you have tried to talk to her about it, as you have said that every time you mention it she gets all angry and moody. This could be really frustrating for you at times.
It can help someone to be more comfortable with something if they learn a bit more about it. I am wondering how much your mum knows about this LGBT group. Are there any leaflets or information about this group that you might be able to give to her, and ask her to look at it in her own time to see how she feels about it?
Another thing that might help your mum to feel happier with this group is if she spoke to one of the adults that run it. Finding out a bit about who is in charge, what kind of things you do there and how it is supervised makes a lot of parents feel better about their kids going to places.
I don’t know if you have thought about your own sexuality and what it means to you, or if you had just wanted to get to know some LGBT young people. I am not sure how you get on with your mum but what would it be like for you to speak to her about this? Perhaps it would be helpful for you to contact a ChildLine counsellor to talk about this, either by phone on 0800 1111 or using our 1-2-1 online chat (which works a bit like msn).
Talking to a family member about this sort of thing can be hard, whatever your sexuality. But, if you think it might be something that you would like to do then it might help your mum to understand why the LGBT group is so important to you.
It might take a bit of time for your mum to accept how you feel about this and sadly some people never accept that some people are LGBT. However, it is really important to remember whatever your sexuality you have the right to be free from prejudice and discrimination. It is OK to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender in the same way as it is OK to be straight.
You can find out more information on what these words means on the ChildLine Sexual orientation page.
Your mum might continue to say that you can’t go to the group, but I want you to know that I think it is really great that you went, as it can be really scary going to a new youth group. Maybe even more so if you may not have experienced anything similar to it before, so I think you have been really brave.
Perhaps it would be helpful for you to hear about the experiences and advice from other young people in similar situations so you might like to have a look on the Sexuality message board on the ChildLine website.
Take care,
Sam