Project S.T.E.P. (Sex Talks to Empower Parents) is a research project under Dr. Dalmacio Dennis Flores, PhD, ACRN, at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. The aim of this project is to discover the needs of parents to facilitate effective parent-child sex communication (PCSC) with their gay, bisexual, and queer (GBQ) sons. PCSC in the LGBTQ community is under-researched compared to heterosexual PCSC and indicates the need for investigation.

This poster specifically investigates what parents of gay, bisexual, or queer (GBQ) adolescent sons think are the best and worst methods and resources to use while talking about sex, sexuality, and health with their sons and identifies common issues these parents face. 14 parents of GBQ sons were interviewed for 2 hours and this information was sorted into common categories and themes. We found that parents want to be the primary sex info source for their sons and most often utilize books and media as teaching aids. The best strategy according to parents is providing support, and the worst strategy is neglecting to have PCSC with their sons.

This research contributes to an ongoing guidance resource for parents and children in the LGBTQ community to navigate sexual health discussions with each other. This data also reveals the needs of parents to have more access to resources and their preferred methods and strategies in achieving effective PCSC with their GBQ sons. These methods include pushing past discomfort, preparing for PCSC, minimizing stressful conversations, and prioritizing supporting their sons above all other practices. The information gathered can be utilized in the future in different mediums like videos or written guides for parents of GBQ sons. Future research can be done to identify the most accessible and preferred medium for this community.