"Family Talk Wednesday" Could Your Child Be Gay?

Have you ever wondered if a child—maybe even your own—might be gay? If so, you're not the first parent who has. But a better question may be: How would you handle it if he or she came out to you? In this special report, Parenting explores what is and isn't known about kids' sexuality and how parents can show their love and support no matter what.

Behaviors that May Mean More

Besides playing dress-up, other behaviors might raise a parent's brow: children who often pretend to be the opposite sex or who prefer to play only with children of the opposite sex; a passion (for a girl) or a dislike (for a boy) of rough play; or a preference for dressing like the opposite sex in everyday situations as opposed to isolated incidents. The official psychological term for these types of behaviors is "gender nonconformity."

Northwestern's Bailey has researched this area extensively, including whether these behaviors in children are predictive of homosexuality later in life. The bottom line? He says if a boy does many of the above-mentioned things—playing dress-up, preferring social games to rougher ones, only wanting to hang out with girls, etc.—and keeps doing them over a long period of time, it may be significant.

"If they do it over and over, it's not a passing thing, and if they seek it out, then it's often predictive of homosexuality in adulthood in males,"