[NuckingFutz]

Well it was a shock to find out that my mentally challenged nephew was not to know that I was a lesbian. My neice is married to her lesbian wife and yet that's never come up.

Was playing a word game the other night with my nephew and he started laughing and laughing...he couldn't stop laughing. He put the word gay down. I asked him why the word was so funny and he just said I don't know.

I thought about this for a while and figured that someday he's going to crack up at the gay word again only this time, not in front of someone who would take kindly to it. I've known straight people who would not noticed his coginative slowness and basically bashed his brains in. I spoke to my other sister and she agrees. She is an educator to gifted and not so gifted children. She's seen a lot. She agrees that my nephew could come to harm in this way. Her opinion on this was that she doesn't agree with my nephews parents and that they are just going to have to learn the hard way.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[AAAAA]

Are you sure that he was reacting the way you thought he was? My question is, are you positive where his reaction came from? My oldest would have seemingly inappropriate responses to things which turned out to be perfectly logical appropriate responses that were misjudged because we project our own feelings, fears, etc.

In any case it sounds like a missed opportunity to educate him in a non-confrontational way. Children usually learn prejudice from their parents. Where would he get this attitude? Are you even sure he understands what he was projecting?

[Omers]

UGH, I am SO sorry.
My son has many challenges but he knows that I am attracted to men and women (he does sometimes laugh if I am checking out another woman but I think it is because I check out more women than men)... Anyway... He also has an Aunt (actually a friend of mine from college but...) that was clearly male but identified as female when they met but is now mtf. So... sometimes in speech therapy my son has trouble with gender labels... which may or may not be connected but I am not big on gender labels anyway....
I guess what I am saying is that it doesn't matter if a child has challenges, they still need to know about such things and learn to be accepting of differences.

[NuckingFutz]

Talked to the boy's mother on this before discussing it with my nephew. They are very protective of him. Threre have been many a time that he's gotten hurt because of situations like this. Sis told me not to talk to him about being gay and not to use the lesbian word around him... next step,

when I move out I am going to get that shirt that says "maybe your old maid aunt is really a happy lesbian is REAL life" and where it to family function.

Um, I'm gonna go ahead and let this one go. And while I am staying here, I will let it go, but I'm not hiding who I am because they think they are protecting their son.

would you mind if I asked how old your nephew is? while i think it's very important that everyone be taught sensitivity training, there is also an age with boys where they find anything to do with sexuality funny. i think it's because they can't experience it yet and don't understand it. boys are slower to mature than girls. so, at his age, you were probably already aware. this is an awkward situation for sure since you would like him to be aware and be more sensitive.

i hope things are going well in Las Vegas for you!

[NuckingFutz]

My nephew is 20 years old. He has the mind of an 8 year old or so I am told.

He told me he knows what the gay word means. He said it means when a man dates a man. When asked by his parents, he has no idea what the gay word means. Go figure.

[Omers]

LOVE the T shirt Idea. You are a bigger person than I am...

[AAAAA]

NF - Young children often find any form of sexuality funny. If he has the mental development of an 8 year old that may be what he was laughing at? While he may be limited, there still is no excuse for not teaching him manners and acceptance to the best of his ability in my opinion.