About this episode

Heather Hester shares her transformative journey of supporting her LGBTQ+ son and the lessons learned about love and acceptance.

How do you navigate the unexpected when your child comes out as LGBTQ+, which completely redefines your understanding of their world? For Heather Hester , the journey began in 2017 when her 16-year-old son came out as gay. What followed was a raw, transformative period marked by intense mental health struggles and substance use issues, forcing Heather to confront and unlearn bias inherited from her conservative, evangelical background. This is more than a coming-out story—it’s an urgent call to action for every parent and ally quietly searching for a shame-free space to navigate similar experiences. In this vital conversation, we sit down with Heather Hester—author of Parenting with Pride: Unlearn Bias and Embrace, Empower and Love Your LGBTQ+ Teen —to explore her family’s evolution and how grief transformed into healing and rebirth. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL HEAR ABOUT THINGS LIKE: The essential difference between acknowledging and embracing a new reality. The profound ways grief can surface in parenting, and how to work through its non-linear layers. The four transformations (Embrace, Educate/Unlearn, Empower, and Love) that purposefully guide parents toward fully supporting and…

People in this episode

Host: Irene Weinberg

Guest: Heather Hester

Topics covered

• LGBTQ+ parenting
• unlearning bias
• mental health
• grief and healing
• supporting LGBTQ+ youth

Keywords

• LGBTQ+
• parenting
• grief
• mental health
• bias
• healing
• support

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Parenting with Pride: Unlearn Bias and Embrace, Empower and Love Your LGBTQ+ Teen

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