Welcome to our web page for families wanting help because they think or know their child is gay, lesbian or bisexual. Lots of families have found themselves in this situation.

The good news is there’s plenty of support available. Even better news is that most families, given time, manage to accept this news and carry on with family life, keeping their child where they belong - in the heart of the family.

Information and support for families

What can really help when you realise someone in the family is gay is reliable information and the chance to talk to someone who understands just how you might be feeling.

FFLAG

FFLAG stands for Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. It’s a collection of mums and dads with gay sons and daughters, so they know just what a parent can go through when a child ‘comes out’.

They run a website and support groups, as well as a national network of helplines staffed by parents themselves. You can find out more or contact them by following the FFLAG link on the right.

PACE

PACE is a counselling organisation with a lot of experience in helping all members of the family, straight or gay. They run a family helpline for anyone dealing with family issues to do with someone’s sexuality.

Find out more about their work with families here.

So now you know

It helps to hear other families’ stories and share what they’ve learned. So now you know is a booklet from Yorkshire group MESMAC that looks at things from both the parents’ and kids’ side of things.

You can download So now you know here.

The Manchester Parents Group

A group of mums and dads in Manchester have created a useful web site where they look at some of the questions parents often want answers to.

You can see their advice and a film of their stories here.

Youth Groups

When a child ‘comes out’ parents might worry about who their son or daughter is mixing with and where they’re going. Gay youth groups are useful to know about. They’re run by qualified youth workers who’ll be happy to talk to parents. 

Our YGM website lists groups across the country. 

Sex & sexual health

If you’re son is gay or bisexual you might have questions or worries about HIV and safer sex. You can talk over what’s on your mind with someone from our helpline THT Direct.

If you have questions about religion, have a look at our Family Matters factsheet; it has information and support covering Christian and non-Christian religions.

Information and support for you if you're gay, lesbian or bisexual

Although most families come to terms with having someone in the family who’s lesbian, gay or bisexual, it can take a while. So you might want some help in the mean time. Or perhaps you haven’t told your family (or anyone) and would like some tips on how to go about things.

You can find some reources to help you do that if you're lesbian, gay or bisexual here.

There's some tips on telling your parents on the YGM website and the Manchester Parents Group one too.

Finally, you can download our Family Matters factsheet. You’ll find useful information about bullying, religion, the law around sex, drink and drugs, what to do if you have to leave home and much more.

About the campaign

You can find out more about our Family Matters campaign, why we’ve done it and how anti-gay feeling has an impact on people’s health by downloading our campaign briefing paper here.