How would you explain to a child what gay is?

Question

A family friend of mine came out during a get together. Now my niece who is five wants to know what gay is? Where would you begin?

Answer 1

Straight answer,
He likes guys
Don't ever lie to children!

Answer 2

First of all, do NOT pay more than one second of attention to "Dr Lulu" up there. She's a nut case, obviously. Anyway, your niece is going to learn about gays and lesbians in one way or another. Either from classmates who probably wont 100% know what they're talkin about, from television which will still leave her with questions, or from someone who genuinely cares about her and will give her the PROPER information in a way that she can understand. And the average age that someone learns about homosexuality is around 7. So i think you should explain the truth to her. No need to be sexually explicit at all. To inform someone about homosexuality doesn't call for talking about sex. Just explain to her that there are some people who are more comfortable having feelings for someone of their own gender. (of course u wouldnt use the word gender.) Tell her that there are many different ways to love and that this is just one of the many varieties. Children are smarter than alot of people give them credit for. She'll understand.

Answer 3

Yes, I think it's fair to answer the question if you are intelligent enough to explain it properly. You tell the child that some times people become couples - some are boy-girl, some other couples are boy-boy or girl-girl. A child should see that it exists and there's nothing wrong with it. No sense in raising more hateful kids who become hateful adults who don't know how to accept everyone. Those of you who think kids shouldn't know about gay people - YOU were not raised properly and now you are passing your bigotry on to your kids.

Answer 4

She is five so there is no need to go into any of the sexual details. Explain it as your friend having decided that they want to spend their life with another man/woman whichever is appropriate. I wouldn't compare it to a marriage because marriage in same sex couples isn't allowed unless you are from Massachusetts. The best advice is to provide no more detail than your niece needs to be satisfied at the moment. In time she may have more questions and you or her parents can explain things to her as needed.

Answer 5

Just tell her being gay is when you love someone of the same gender. Such as, a girl loving a girl, or a boy loving a boy. It is not wrong, nor a sin, it is simply an act of love.

You can't go wrong with that, can you? ^_^

Answer 6

I would put off answering the question until your niece mentions "Johnny has Two Daddies" and "Heather has Two Mommies." At that point, mention that the Two Mommies and Two Daddies are gay and use whatever convictions you have to define gay.

Answer 7

Well, my little brother is five, and he hasn't started asking too many questions yet. My ex used to come over and stay the night with me, (my brother lives with me), and he considers her a part of the family. (She still comes and hangs out with him, even though we broke up, we were together for a year, they are both really attached to each other). He asks questions and says things like, "boys don't like boys, boys like girls". When he does that we just tell him that sometimes boys like boys and girls like girls, and we don't make a big deal out of it. He usually just says oh, and goes back to whatever game or toy he was concentrating on.

If you don't make a big deal out of it, neither will the child.

Answer 8

Don't tell, soon the child will forget. Five is too young to comprehend the complexity of sexual behavior.

Answer 9

You can do what I did when trying to explain to my 7 year old son. "I'll tell you when you're older. At your age, you just can't understand yet. It's okay though. I still love you"

Answer 10

I wouldn't go into any details, just that they like each other like really special friends. You might rent "Little Miss Sunshine"...