Houston Chronicle columnist Kathleen McKinley has penned an incredibly homophobic and irresponsible column suggesting that LGBTQ teens should be told by their parents to stay in the closet for their own safety.

McKinley says she came up with her brilliant idea after reading a People magazine about gay teen suicides due to bullying.

Am I mad at the hateful mean kids who bully and tease these teens? You bet I am. But I am just as mad at the idiotic adults who force our adult views on kids, and pull them into our adult world long before they are mature enough to handle it. The 13 year old that killed himself told his Mom he was gay. She said she already knew and hugged him. She said she just assumed that everyone else would be as accepting as she was.

Really? Have you been around teenagers? They are cruel and mean. They constantly tear each other down. It was bad when I was a teenager, I can only imagine what it's like now. No, I don't have to imagine how it is now. This is how it is now. Why in the world would you give teenagers a REASON to tease you? Oh, yes, because the adults tell you to embrace who you are, the only problem? Kids that age are just discovering who they are. They really have no idea yet. The adults tell you to “come out,” when what we should be telling them is that sex is for adults, and there is plenty of time for figuring out that later.

McKinley then trashes Gay-Straight Alliances:

Because we adults and celebrities and our culture are so determined to sexualize EVERYTHING, we have created a climate where everyone is put into sexual categories (gay, straight, bi-sexual, transgendered, transvestite, sluts, man hos, cougars, ect), which is just so high school, isn't it? The 15 year old who committed suicide had started a “Rainbow Club” at his high school. Was there NO ADULT anywhere that could have said that maybe that isn't such a good idea? Oh, no. Because that would be politically incorrect. Good grief. The idea of a high school club based on who you want to sleep with is absurd to begin with.

She accuses LGBTQ kids of flaunting their sexuality:

If my 13 yr old had told me he was gay, I would have hugged him too. I also would have told him that I would love him no matter what. But I wouldn't have pretended that he could just put that out there among his peers, and everything would be great. There is NO reason to flaunt sexuality of ANY kind that young.

And says that the "It Gets Better" campaign is killing kids:

These kids were sold a bill of goods by people who thought they were being kind. The “It will get better” campaign just didn't think it through. They didn't think about the fact that kids are different from adults. They handle things differently. They react differently. Why? BECAUSE THEY ARE KIDS…They don't see it getting better no matter how many times Lady Ga Ga says it will. So, enough with our politically correct campaigns aimed at kids. It's killing them."

Are Adults Also To Blame For Gay Teen Suicides? Yes. [houston chronicle]

(thanks, tipster nathan)