The Awesome Parenting of Jackie Lou Blanco
Around July, we posted an article thanking Andi Eigenmann, Drew Arellanio and Iya Villania for their accepting and loving stance on having LGBT children, Last month, I saw this article, this time on Jackie Lou's thoughts on having LGBT kids. I immediately opened it and while it is sad that my initial reaction was fear because I thought I would read something sad, I am so glad that the article proved me wrong.
Jackie Lou talked about her eldest daughter being gay and what she said about her as a parent brought happy tears to my eyes. And what she said must be shared:
"My eldest daughter is gay, and I cried not because I did not accept her. As a parent, we always have dreams for our children. I already have dreams for my children since they were born. "But it is their life, not ours. Dapat isipin rin natin na kung may pangarap tayo para sa kanila, ano naman kaya ang pangarap nila para sa sarili nila? (While we have our dreams for them, we must also think about what their own dreams are for themselves.) As a parent, all I did was to love. My feelings for my daughter never changed when she came out.
"Life is hard in itself. They need love and understanding. At the end of the day, being a parent is really all about love.
"Bilang magulang, ang trabaho mo ay magbuhos ng pagmamahal, anuman sila, anuman ang gusto nila. Mas mahirap ang pinagdaraanan, mas matinding pagbuhos ng pagmamahal. Sa huli, maaayos rin ang lahat. (As a parent, your job is to love them, whatever they are, whatever they want to be. The harsher their experiences are, the more love. In the end, everything will be okay.)
Hindi puwedeng hindi mo tanggapin 'yan. Anak mo 'yan. Mahal mo ang anak mo. (You cannot NOT accept them. They are your children. Love your children.)"
I mean, c'mon. Just read that statement. Her daughter is so lucky to have such an accepting and loving mom. That's what unconditional love is. So to Ms. Jackie Lou Blanco, thank you. Thank you for accepting and loving your children for they are and thank you for sharing this to the public.
I hope that parents who have LGBT children can read what you said and help them accept and love their children unconditionally. I hope that more and more celebrities and people of influence share their stories of acceptance and love so that more minds, hearts and souls would be open to see us, LGBT people, for who we are - your children, sisters, brothers, neighbors, friends, parents, professionals, students, HUMANS.
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Do you have LGBT kids, nieces, nephews or friends? Share your story! We'd love to hear about them.
