Can My Teenage Son Really Be Gay?

By Michael Kimmel, LCSW


     One of my clients, a divorced businessman, has a 16-year-old son “Evan”. Evan just told his dad that he’s gay. He said it very confidently. To Evan, there appears to be no doubt about this. But his dad wonders. The plot thickens: it seems that Evan has an Aunt “Susan” who is a lesbian…Susan is reportedly “very artistic, creative and a lot of fun”. Evan has long enjoyed visiting Susan and her partner at their home. 
Evan’s dad, trying to make sense of all of this, wonders if there was some “man-hating stuff going on in that home, because of little things that Evan would say”, but he never said anything because Evan adores his Aunt Susan.