Introduction

Homosexuality represents a deviation from the social norms established by a sectorial society which imposes having a mandatory heterosexual pattern. Because of this, having a different sexual orientation implies facing prejudices which have diverse impacts on the family environment.

Objective

To know the response of the family environment towards the revelation of the sexual orientation from the perspective of homosexual males.

Methods

This is a qualitative and descriptive study with theoretical sampling and key informing, which used semi-structured interviews and observations on five homosexual males from the city of Puebla, Mexico, whose ages ranged from 19 to 36 years old.

Results:

The findings clustered around a central category: the family response towards having a homosexual member, from which three subcategories emerged: family beliefs, family conflict, and the loss of the heterosexual normativity, reflected by multiple codes classified in the five stages of the process of a loss proposed by Kübler-Ross.

Discussion:

The family responses towards homosexuality are dynamic and framed by a denial process which eventually can lead to the acceptance.

Conclusions:

The family responses towards having a member being homosexual are multiple; thus, an understanding of these responses can help nurses and other health professionals to plan activities and strategies aimed at addressing the process of the family loss of the heterosexual normativity.