Why?

(Try to find out what feelings and needs are alive in the other person: empathic resonance)

Are you feeling disgusted?
I guess you are disgusted by gay people because they are so different from what you like people to be. Is it safety/protection/ predictability you want?

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What if?

(‘Mirror questions’: how would it be if you were standing in the shoes of that person)

Can you imagine your brother, sister, daughter, son, friend to be gay? How would it be for them to be called ‘sick’, ‘abnormal’ just because they love someone of the same sex?

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Self-reflection

(Questions you can ask yourself in silence to support yourself in understanding the other person)

How important is safety/protection/ predictability for me?
When do I have the need for it?
How do I feel when this need is not fulfilled?

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Empowerment

(More information on the issue and tips how to explore the problem and continue the discussion)

There is now a large body of scientific evidence that indicates that being gay, lesbian, or bisexual is compatible with normal mental health and social adjustment.
The American Psychological Association already in the 1990s adopted a resolution stating that homosexuality is not a mental disorder and rejected any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation. The sexual orientation of an individual does not have any valid basis for depriving one's personality or intelligence.