Christian author Jen Hatmaker, who has publicly affirmed same-sex relationships, released a new online “Me Course” about parenting LGBTQ+ tweens and teens. The six-session video course, currently offered for a discounted price of $41, is billed as a “roadmap” for parents and guardians. It’s also “for those reexamining what they’ve always been taught in the church, for those asking new questions, for allies and friends, for pastors and faith leaders, and more.”
Hatmaker, who shared in 2020 that one of her children is gay, states on her website: “One of my greatest sadnesses in my life is that I did not do my own work early enough so that my own daughter, Sydney, felt safe and beloved in her journey to discovering herself and who she was beautifully made to be.”
Jen Hatmaker: Course Is ‘Near and Dear to My Heart’
In a June 2 Instagram post, Hatmaker, wearing a rainbow T-shirt and earrings, described the course as “obviously near and dear to my heart.” The sessions are “packed with everything you’ve ever asked me” about parenting LGBTQ kids, she said, including terminology, how to handle a child coming out, how to keep LGBTQ kids safe, the current landscape, and “how we navigate this as people of faith.”
By signing up for the course, people could participate in a live June 8 Q&A session between Hatmaker and therapist Isaac Archuleta, one of the course’s guest experts. Archuleta, CEO of I Am Clinic in Denver, grew up in a conservative Assemblies of God household with two ministers as parents. After coming out as gay at age 22, he went through years of conversion therapy, attended seminary, and then established a therapy practice “of queer people for queer people.” Because Archuleta had no resources to help him during his own journey, he said he felt damaged and dirty, leading to anxiety and depression.
Hatmaker and Archuleta both emphasized the importance of providing safe spaces for LGBTQ kids. The Me Course, Hatmaker said, helps parents “keep our kids not just safe but thriving.” Her daughter has “talked very candidly about what her experience was like in our home, in our church,” and as a mother Hatmaker wishes she could “go back and teach myself sooner what it would’ve meant to truly be a home of safety for her, that she wasn’t having to figure out so much alone.”
Another guest expert for the course is Sara Cunningham, who founded Free Mom Hugs after coming to terms with her son’s sexual orientation.
Reactions to Hatmaker’s Course Announcement
In the comments of Hatmaker’s Instagram post, people are debating whether homosexuality is biblical or sinful. “As Christians, we should accept and love all people, as Jesus did,” someone wrote, “but why would we embrace, promote, and be prideful in what the Bible speaks against?” Another person commented, “Pride month [is] weeding out all the people I’m unfollowing. Thanks.”
