Social News
Written by: Golden Chess
2021-03-24 19:46
Last update date: 2021-03-24 19:46
The rights and interests of homosexuals in Hong Kong are getting more and more attention, but gay youths still need a lot of courage to disclose their sexual orientation to their parents.
The Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs Association of Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong conducted a study on the mental health of gay youth and their parents. It was found that nearly half of the parents interviewed said that when their children “come out” to them, their first reaction was not to accept or not at all. Accepted; 55.2% of the interviewed parents once felt hopeless because of their children's sexual orientation, and 64.4% blamed themselves.
Regarding the interviewed gay youth, one-third of the interviewees experienced moderate to severe depression in the past two weeks; and nearly 20% of the interviewees had thought about suicide.
Some parents said that when their son "come out" to them, he did not know how to react. In the first month he was emotionally excited. The mother kept reproaching herself that "I did not do a good job, so I don't like women."
During this period, with the help of the Children's Clubs Association, the two shared with people who had almost experienced them. Finally, they accepted their son's sexual orientation and became parents' volunteers.
The Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong’s "Sexuality Unlimited Project" invited the CUHK-Sex Minority Research Project to collaborate on a study on the mental health of gay youth and their parents.
The study conducted an online questionnaire to interview gay young people aged 18 to 35 in Hong Kong from March 2019 to February last year; and an online questionnaire interviewed parents of gay young people from January 2018 to June 2020. The final result was 551 Effective replies from the interviewed gay youths and the parents of 146 interviewed gay youths.
The results of the youth survey showed that 33.9% of the youths experienced moderate to severe depression in the past two weeks during the interview; nearly half of the youth expressed dissatisfaction with their lives; 19.5% of the youth interviewed had even thought of committing suicide.
The rights and interests of homosexuals in Hong Kong are getting more and more attention, but gay youths still need a lot of courage to disclose their sexual orientation to their parents.
(Profile picture / Photo by Liang Pengwei)
As for parents, most of the interviewed parents, 82.1%, want their children to disclose their sexual orientation to them.
However, nearly half of the parents interviewed said that when their children "come out" to them, their first reaction was not to accept or not at all, and only 21.2% of the parents interviewed were to accept or completely accept it.
And 35.2% of the parents interviewed have moderate to high levels of worry about their children's sexual orientation, such as worrying that they will encounter negative treatment because of their children's sexual orientation.
In addition, more than half of the interviewed parents have felt despair and self-blame because of their children's sexual orientation; 16.6% have had suicidal thoughts because of their children's sexual orientation, and 4.2% have even attempted suicide.
The group also found that parents have become more accepting of their children’s sexual orientation over time. 49.6% of the parents surveyed said that their attitudes towards their children’s female orientation have become more acceptable.
Mr. Liu (right) shared that his son "come out" to his family 7 to 8 years ago. He described that he had never thought about the issue before and was "understanding".
(Provided by The Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong)
Parent representative Mr. Liu shared that his son "come out" to his family 7 to 8 years ago. He described that he had never thought about the issue before and was "understandable". He and his wife did not know how to face it. More often self-blame: "I did not do a good job, so I don't like women", so my son thinks that they don't accept their sexual orientation.
Later, they met with a psychiatrist and were referred to the Children's and Girls' Clubs Association to share with a group of parents who had similar experiences.
After half a year, Mr. Liu and his wife accepted their son's sexual orientation and became parents' volunteers to answer the hotline, sharing their stories with others.
The team recommends that gay parents accept their current emotional reactions when they encounter their children "coming out", so that they have time to digest.
If necessary, you can seek assistance from a social worker.
The team also urged government agencies such as the Social Welfare Department to provide subsidies to support the mental health of gay youth and parents, as well as to promote public awareness and acceptance of people with different sexual orientations and gender identities.
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