Even now, at the end of the twentieth century, many still have difficulty standing up and saying, "I am the parent of a gay child." Something to Tell You recounts the stories of families whose lives have been touched by the discovery that a child is lesbian or gay--how it affects and influences people's perceptions of their children and even changes the self-image of parents themselves.

Focusing on fifty average families--not people seen in clinics or therapy--the authors found a consistent pattern of change: first negative, then positive. Sometimes the news led parents and...