Imagine your son or daughter comes home. They sit you down and they tell you they are gay or transgender; what is your reaction? How do you respond? Do you believe they are evil, that they are being deceived by the devil, that they are a sinner? Do you love and accept them, and tell them it doesn’t matter? According to HRT’s report, more than 100,000 kids between the ages of 13-17 identify as LGBT (http://www.hrc.org/youth-report/view-and-share-statistics) and 3.5 % of Americans. Chances are you know a family that has a teen that identifies as gay or transgender. The way you react can have profound implications for your child’s physical and mental well being. In fact, teens in this category are at high risk for suicide. So what can you do?

Before we we get too far in, I want to share a story of a teen named Kyle (names have been changed for privacy). Kyle is a child that struggles with severe depression; he is transgender. He has told me on many occasions that he feels like a freak of nature most days, mainly because his parents have told him repeatedly that he has the devil inside; all because he is different, because he is transgender.  Kyle has spoken of ending his life; he doesn’t realize how special and how worthy of love he is. How could he? He is frequently told that to be gay or transgender is evil, that God hates him for it, that he is a sinner.

He is growing up believing something is terribly wrong with him. Kyle and I speak often and I worry for him. I remind him often that God loves him and that he isn’t evil. I reiterate that he is special. There is only one Kyle and the world desperately needs his light.

So what can you do to help teens like Kyle, to help your own child? It is simple: love them and show them you love them. Love is the only thing strong enough to end ignorance. Involvement can save them. How many kids can we save from suicide by being there for them? No child should be made to believe he is a freak. Stop judging, and stop using God to do it. The only people Jesus spoke harshly to were the religious leaders.

“If anyone causes one of these little ones–those who believe in me–to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” NIV (Matthew 18:6)