Sending her to a Catholic school, IMO, won't make her change her mind. I can guarantee that at that school there will be gay and questioning youth.
I was hit on by two gay girls in the bathroom of the very prestigious Catholic H.S. I went to. (Chrissie Evert was in my grade at that school.)
I had a very similiar situation espoir1114. I am a very open minded person when it comes to ones sexuality. I don't believe you chose your sexuality, it is chosen for you. (Although, I do believe some people do "chose" a sexuality for whatever reasons they may have.)
When youngest DS was in 6th grade we started online homeschooling. DS missed a lot of school because of migraines and a weak immune system. With homeschooling we could work around his migraines and avoid catching every. single. thing. that went around school.
One night as I was tucking DS into bed I noticed a picture on his iPod. It was of a boy. I said "Who is that?" DS said "My boyfriend." Me (teasingly) "Your boyfriend? Do you mean you want to kiss him?" DS "Yes!" Oh. My. Gosh. Wasn't expecting that. My world started to swirl before my eyes. All I could see was Matthew Shepard tied to a barbed wire fence, tortured and beaten to death because he dared to love men.
Didn't say much that night. I had to think on how and what to say and try to keep my feelings out of this. Of course, I had different "expectations" on how my DS's life was going to look. Now, that was all different. It was going to look very different if he was gay. And, much harder, simply because there still is much hatred out there for gay people and they still aren't accorded full rights in all states.
(Sorry, this is going to turn into a novel.)
DS was very lonely being homeschooled. He missed all the social interaction he had throughout the school day. Unbeknownst to be, he had a MySpace page and this older boy (15) and him became friends. This boy started to ask DS about his sexuality. This boy claimed to be gay. Started talking to DS about it. Also, some men befriended DS, too. They were always complimenting him. How cute he was,etc. etc. I got the feeling my son was being groomed. I saw a program on the Dr. Phil show about how a boy (online) would befriend young boys. He turned out to be the bait that lured the young boys in for a man who was a pedophile.
I went to IC to talk to her on how to handle this situation. Didn't want my DS to not think I wasn't supportive of him if he was gay, OTOH, didn't want him to be manipulated into thinking he was gay. I feel that is what you are feeling, too, espoir. I had some very good and frank talks with DS. However, we closed down the MySpace page and he said "Goodbye" to the boy online and we stopped homeschooling. Went back to mainstream school the next week.
DS has had girlfriends since the 7th grade. Had a LT GF starting in 9th grade ended in the summer after 10th grade. Started dating a girl in the fall of 11th grade and still has that same GF now in 12th grade. I know having GF's doesn't mean you aren't gay. That has been proved over and over again.
Coincidently, just this very past week DS17 and I had a discussion about his "boyfriend". I asked him if he thought he might be gay. I am so scared that I may have f*cked him up and that he is suppressing his sexuality. I told him this. I told him I would be so very supportive if he was. He laughed. He said "Mom, I am 100% heterosexual, believe me!" I asked him what he thought was going on in 6th grade. He said he was just very lonely and that he knew it wouldn't ever go any farther than online. It was like a "fantasy" and it wasn't real, but he enjoyed the friendship and the attention.
I do believe that it can be a stage your daughter is going through. It seems your daughter has a wonderful attitude. You should be very proud of her, and I am sure you are. My advice is to listen to your daughter. To be there for her. It is hard when our dreams for our children don't work the way we want them to, but we need to support our children's dreams and be there for them.
[This message edited by SisterMilkshake at 9:54 AM, October 13th (Sunday)]