Parents struggling with acceptance of their queer child
The whole coming out and having unaccepting parents trope has been done time and time again on television and in movies. While it’s almost cliche at this point, there’s a reason why it’s such a common story, and that’s because it happens in real life all the time. On Queer as Folk, though most of the characters seemed to embrace their homosexuality with pride, not all of them came from such accepting households.
Justin was only a teenager when he came out to his parents, and it didn’t go over well at first. Even though his mother Jennifer is confused at first, she slowly but surely comes around and tries her best to understand what her son is going through. His father Craig, however, is not nearly so understanding. He comes off as extremely homophobic and his demeanor towards his son changes after he discovers he’s gay. Even worse, he’s enraged that a grown man — Brian — is dating him.
The contentious relationship between Justin and his dad eventually leads to him moving out and living with Brian for a period of time and living with Michael’s mother Debbie. Craig never comes around, and assaults Brian on multiple occasions. He refuses to pay for Justin’s college tuition, and later blames his son’s sexuality for him and Jennifer’s divorce.
We also see this storyline played out with Lindsay and her parents, who refuse to see her and Melanie’s relationship as legitimate despite their commitment to each other, as well as with Hunter and his estranged mother, who calls her son the f-word when she finds out he’s HIV positive.