Phillip Schofield: What it's like when your parent comes out as LGBT

BBC Susan and Gerrie Douglas-Scott with their daughter Jillian StewartBBC

When I was four my mum came out as a lesbian and my whole life changed.

I completely relate to what what Phillip Schofield is going through and what his children will be going through.

I felt so happy for him. I don't know him at all but I felt a sense of pride for him because he's finally being his true self.

I think it's amazing that his family are so encouraging and supportive because he's not changed as a person - he's still their dad.

You have to go through the struggles of explaining that you are from a different kind of family and it's not 'normal' - but it is my normal.

Like he said in his post - it is a scary time for him - but he also said he feels the world is so much more accepting now.

Phillip Schofield on ITV's This Morning: "Every person I tell, it gets a little lighter"

I've learnt from my parents that it was a bit more difficult for some of my older siblings, so I wanted to speak to them about what it was like.

And I also wanted to find out if it's any easier now for parents to come out.

In 2017 Jillian made a documentary for Radio 1 Newsbeat about what it's like when your parents come out.

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My mums - Susan and Gerrie - made history in 2014, becoming the first lesbians to marry in Scotland.

It was "the perfect moment in history", but it wasn't always easy for them to get down the aisle.

For my mum, having such young children when she came out, it would have been really hard, and I think she was quite scared.

Although my grandparents knew, none of their friends knew and they were so worried about what their friends' reaction was going to be.

I remember my mum sitting me and brother Jamie down, asking if we were embarrassed by her.

We both said "don't be so stupid" and that "of course" we weren't embarrassed.

Jillian, Jamie and Rupert the dog
My brother Jamie, who was eight when our mum came out, and Rupert the dog

I feel that Jamie always found the funny side of things.

He knew how to make a joke about it, and not get sad or angry.

Something I tell all my friends is what was written in Jamie's school yearbook: more mummies than an Egyptian pyramid.

I don't remember anybody staring at us when we went out, but I could have been so oblivious to it because I was so young.

Jillian and Elaine
Elaine is Gerrie's youngest daughter, she was 11 when she found out my mum and her mum were together - one of her sisters came out as a lesbian before Gerrie did

Elaine definitely struggled through school, I think she's quite emotionally traumatised by what happened to her.

She said she didn't tell anyone about her mum and my mum in school because of how people reacted to her sister.

It was interesting to hear how different it was for the different ages involved.

Looking at Elaine, she's struggled so much but she's come out of it so much better. She's an incredibly strong person.

I was very fortunate in that I didn't struggle, but I didn't realise how difficult it was for Elaine because we were both at different stages of our lives.

Jillian and Anne
Anne says it was funny when her mum came out because it was around the time there was a lesbian mum storyline in Friends

I feel that Anne has taken the amazing qualities from our mothers' and created a worldwide community for women who live oversees.

Anne is Gerrie's eldest, but I never lived with her because she was at university when our mums moved in together.

She says she sees through them that "absolutely anything is possible", and it was "kind of cool" to have lesbian parents at university.

I would like to think in the future it will change and nobody will judge you for being lesbian or gay with children.

Jillian celebrates the end of filming of My Lesbian Mums
Aaaaaand... that's a wrap

Parts of this article were originally published in August 2017.

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