Your listening to 3 in 30 takeaways for moms episode 185 how to talk to kids about LGBTQ topics

Welcome to 3 in 30 a podcast for moms who want to create more meaning in motherhood

Each 30-minute episode will feature three doable takeaways for you to try at home with your family this week

I'm your host Rachel Nielsen. Thank you so much for being here

For some time now I have been wondering how to talk to my children about LGBTQ topics

Maybe some of you have been wondering that too

In many ways it feels like this should be a simple and straightforward conversation to have

And for some of you listening it may be

But for others it may feel complicated because of the messages you've internalized about homosexuality and gender identity

From your culture, your family of origin, or your religion

As with all important conversations this will be an ongoing discussion in my home not just a one and done thing

My first conversation with my kids was to simply define what it means to be gay

I told them that when someone is gay they're born feeling romantic love and physical attraction for people who are the same sexes them

From there we've had more conversations that build a little each time

Including the fact that sometimes people who are gay are not treated fairly and that is not okay

Everybody deserves not just tolerance but also respect inclusion and equal rights

Whenever I talk to my children about topics like these

I always try to think about how I would explain it to them if they themselves were experiencing it

Because as mothers we don't know who our children will grow up to be or what they will face or experience in their future

Realizing that I want to teach my kids about sexual identity through a lens that is shame-free and unconditionally loving

We just finished a four-week long focus on the podcast for mental health awareness month and may and in many ways today's discussion will be a continuation of that

Because as you will hear in this episode

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