This is a spontaneous, if erroneous response. Even the most enlightened parents are still, however reluctantly, in possession of some biases. We are human, after all. Well, I've weighed in on these issues in the past. So here goes.
Life is harder still for gay folk.
Not every congregation is accepting. Many employers discriminate. Many neighborhoods would be unsafe. Television and other popular media still allow derogatory comments about homosexuals, without apology. They weren't gay, but were only following the tradition of their native culture.