This paper addresses parent-child relations when faced with the social situation of the disclusure of homosexuality. Twenty 18-to-24 year old young middle-class male college students who self-identify as gay were heard, privileging their coming out experiences at home. The recognition of their homosexuality by their families, and particularly by themselves activates a variety of fears and concrete forms of violence, psychological distress and uncertainty. We seek to understand how these youths cope with aggression and suffering, reacting to a coercive effort by their relatives to adequate them to the hegemonic sexual norm.
young homosexuals; family; domestic violence