One dad has taken to the internet for advice after an incident involving his 6-year-old son, and his wife’s parents. On a day out shopping with his young son, the dad had purchased a pink princess costume that his son had taken a liking to, and let him wear it to go and pick up his wife from her parents’ house. However, on seeing the little boy in his dress-up clothes, the grandparents became very angry.

My son is 6 and we were out shopping and he saw a pink princess dress and he really wanted it so I got it for him because he’d been really good that whole day. After we got home I had to go pick my wife up from her parents house. My son asked if he could wear his dress to show is grandparents so I let him. When we got there my in-laws insisted that he took the dress off and shouted at me for letting him wear it. They accused me of trying to turn him gay/trans I laughed at them for being stupid but my wife said I shouldn’t have let him wear it. My son started crying because everyone was shouting so I took him home and left my wife there because I was just so fucking annoyed man. My father in law took my wife home an hour or so later. She told me that I should’ve just done what they said so we didn’t have to fight over it. I still don’t think I’m in the wrong but I don’t know. I don’t understand why they care so much about what my son wears.

Commenters were very much in support of the dad. Many people left comments saying that they or someone they knew would also dress up in all sorts of outfits at that age, and it made absolutely no difference to them.

Mate, I am a straight non cross dressing 55-year-old country boy from Queensland Australia. When I was his age I wore all my mum’s boots, jackets and her ladies fencing gear. I had no idea about genders etc, I just wore what I thought looked cool. My parents, including my very tough ex British Guardsman dad did not give 2 shits. I grew out of it, except I buy my wife the best shoes and boots. (WorldTravellerIOM)

NTA my little brother used to wear our sisters pink barbie ballerina outfit, with a tuti, and he still grew up into a straight teen. He was about 6 too. It’s normal for boys to do this. Making him feel as a child he is doing something wrong is actually what’s harmful in the long run. (SilenceWillFall)

People were shocked that the couple were ridiculous enough to think that an item of clothing could in anyway sway a person’s sexual orientation.

NTA, it’s clothes, your kid asked to wear them. A pink princess dress is a costume. Pretend. If he wore a Batman costume would they be screaming about not wanting him to think he’s Batman? (PuzzlingBLT)

If wearing dresses turns boys gay, then why doesn’t wearing pants make gay kids straight?

Your son’s sexuality isn’t about your grandparents, and any adult who allows their own kid to be repressed by ANYONE needs a wake-up call about just how much control anyone has over the personality and sexuality of others. 

You cannot “make” someone gay. 

But you can make them miserable. 

And you can make them hate you. 

Another thing you can’t do? Keep them in childhood. That kid is going to grow up and move out, whether they like it or not, and I can guarantee that if your son doesn’t want to continue talking to your in laws then, he won’t. They can go swing. 

NTA you support your child, that’s literally your job now. (Forsaken_Woodpecker1)

The fact that the boy’s mother didn’t stand up for her husband and son was also a cause of concern for many people. By siding with her paents she also sent her son the message that he was doing something wrong.

NTA – A six year old will think boys can’t wear dresses only if he is told so by adults. Liking dresses doesn’t mean your son is gay or trans and wearing them certainly won’t turn him into one. He probably just wanted to wear something pretty nothing wrong with that. Your in-laws should be ashamed of themselves for shouting at you in front of your son and scaring him. Your wife should be ashamed of herself for defending them. (vaahtokarkki)

NTA

People are absolutely correct here that a single item of clothing won’t make him be gay or trans. But the real question is…so what if he is? Would that be so bad? Are his grandparents and his own mother saying they’d love him less if he were? Because turning on your kid for their gender or orientation has to be one of the biggest asshole moves around. (knitlikeaboss)

Many people pointed out that the grandparents reaction was what was harmful to the child, not being allowed to play an innocent game of dress-ups.

Bud. Don’t let your kid grow up around these people. What an awful way to treat a kid for just being a kid. Honestly, keeping these people in his life would be doing him a great disservice.

And if your kid DOES grow up and realize they are trans or gay, imagine the internalized hate he will have for himself because of growing up around people like this. Don’t let him be around people who will teach him so much hate. Possibly for himself, but definitely for others. (AffectionateMarcg394)

In contrast to his in-laws homophobic and transphobic outburst suggesting that he was a bad parent, Reddit users praised him for the way he parents his young son.

NTA My goodness, How Long will it be before we reach a point of Understanding and ACCEPTING that people are who they are at BIRTH. No apparel choices will change that. A dress does not make a heterosexual gay/trans. Just like my being a “Tomboy” throughout my life has not made me a lesbian. You are a remarkable man these days…I look forward to a time when you are more the Norm: a male, confident in his masculinity, willing to share that confidence with his son. Shame on your in-laws for yelling at you in front of your son. How traumatic for him. (Exact-Ad-4321)

NTA

it was a costume, it made him happy

your in-laws are TA’s for making him upset over something that made him happy, and tbh your wife should have stood up for both you and your son. (3_wheeler_of_doom)

NTA, you’re a good parent and I hope you continue to support your son. It’s concerning that your wife and in laws are clearly homophobic and transphobic. There is always a chance that your son will grow up and realize he is queer, and that has nothing to do with the dress. And now he knows that his mom and grandparents aren’t safe people, regardless of if he is queer or not. Please protect him. Please choose him every time. (Sun_Bee)

What do you think? Do you think the dad should have allowed his son to wear the dress?