Dr. Jeff Gardere made last week on CNN (where he frequents as an on-air expert) regarding a mother who allowed her son to dress up as a female character fromScooby Doo sparked an outrage. Dr. Jeff took the woman to task for “outing” her son, and said, “It is the worst nightmare of heterosexual and gay couples to have to fathom that their child might be gay.” Soon after, Dr. Jeff spoke to the gay blog After Elton, to clarify:
“What the full statement should have been and what I always say because I do work with straight and gay parents, it is a real issue for them because they are afraid, and this is the part I didn’t say and what I should have said, and you can go back and research it and you’ll see that I’ve said it in every other place. And that is my fault and I accept complete responsibility for not saying that. Those parents, even gay parents say it, as controversial as that will sound, do not want their children to have to deal with the pain and the isolation and a lot of the emotional trauma that they have to go through as far as coming to terms with their sexuality. They know that they went through it and they prefer that their kids not go through it. And that’s what the full statement should have been.”
Additionally, Dr. Jeff repeatedly emphasized the responsibility he’s taking for his words and said that he was not out to shame the mother in question: “It was never my intention to criticize this mother. I think what she did as far as supporting her child and allowing him to express himself in anyway possible is 100 percent admirable. I think at this point in our history this is what more people need to be able to do, to step up in that way.” [After Elton via Towleroad]
Via VH1.com
