HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 

Many people are stunned when they learn that they have a homosexual son or  daughter. It takes time to recognise the person you thought you knew so well. It  takes time to come to terms with the knowledge that no longer is your family quite  as "respectable" in society's eyes as you had assumed it would be.

There will be questions to answer evasively about boyfriends and  girlfriends and weddings will never be an all-consuming topic.  However, very slowly you realise that your beloved child is exactly  the same as he or she was before. You think about a different sort  of future and try to push away the doubts and fears which  constantly nag. So it was with me. 

Then in 1988, the Government put the boot in with Clause 28 of the  Local Government Bill, which denied family status to homosexuals  and gave free rei9n to the bigots and gay bashers. It was a terrible  blow. The fragile defences which I had erected were shattered and I  hit rock bottom in this state, there was only one way to go" up. I  felt that if I could get together with other parents, we could support  each other and our combined strength could be used to help our  children. 

We had our first meeting in April1988 and since then we have gone  from strength to strength with regular monthly meetings. We have  counselled on the telephone, spoken to gay youth groups and the  voluntary sector. We have produced newsletters that have been  widely distributed and we are involved with parents groups  nationwide and in Holland.