Sexuality Assumption and Troublesome Disobedience for 01/13/2017

Dear Family Coach: I want to discuss dating with my teenage son. But I am not sure whether he likes boys or girls or both. I don't want to assume, but I'm also not sure how to address this. I want him to know we support whatever he decides. How can we convey this without it getting awkward? — Loving Hetero Parents

Dear Parents: Years ago, when my son was probably 6, a doctor told us that a problem would be fixed by the time he married a nice girl. I immediately thought about how presumptuous the doctor was being. But my next thought was how damaging that innocent comment could be to a child trying to understand his sexuality. At that time, I had no knowledge of my son's persuasion, but it doesn't matter. The point is that as a society, we need to assume children could marry someone of either sex until we learn differently.

Updated: Fri Jan 13, 2017