@TheMiddleWay iiuc, the 'harm' you find objectionable is that an 8yo doesn't have the 'wherewithall' to make any claim gay/bi/straight. (I don't concur)

I think it is not hard to imagine folks any ANY age making public claim(s) of heterosexuality when they actually realize gay/bi BECAUSE of the 'norms'.
(in the closet). Therein lies the GREAT HARM(s) -- certainly to the individual, but also to culture(s).

@TheMiddleWay Perhaps I wasn't clear, imo the 'norms' are the HARM. agree/not ?

@TheMiddleWay There are many things we do in life that can be used negatively by other people, but that doesn’t mean we stop doing them. To deny normal human sexuality because it can be abused by some people into grooming behavior also does harm if we let it stop us from normal, healthy behavior.

All knowledge of sexuality isn’t a package that’s opened in its entirety at a certain age, it’s taught and learned throughout our lives, beginning at birth. A little girl who’s playing “wedding” with her dolls is learning about sexuality, and it’s considered normal as long as she uses a male and a female doll. If she uses two girl dolls and is corrected, then we may be grooming a gay child into straight behavior.

Our society uses heterosexuality as a baseline of normal, but there isn’t a point when someone veers off that baseline, there’s just a point when they feel able to announce who they really are, and refute the role they’re being forced into. Someone who is older when they express their gender identity hasn’t just flipped a switch and “changed.” They’ve been that way from birth but society didn’t allow them to be who they are.

Being LGBTQ IS normal. An 8-year-old stating that they’re gay shouldn’t be such a horrible thing to happen that you think it causes great harm to them.

(Sorry, @FearlessFly, some of this is what you said but I was typing simultaneously.)

@TheMiddleWay . . . seems we both focus on 'norms' -- me con, you pro.
I and Lauren don't agree on your focus on prepubescent 'harm'.

Your link is about sex ed (conveniently starting at 8), not the same as orientation.
An embedded link (also about sex) has a section :
"How to talk to kids about sex when they’re 2 to 5 years old"
[todaysparent.com]

Here, from another link :

"Influenced by a combination of biological and sociological factors, gender identity emerges by the age of two or three and is reinforced at puberty. Once established, it is generally fixed for life."

" Kohlberg noted that while children are aware of their own gender and the gender of others by the age of three, they do not really begin assuming appropriate gender-based behavior until the age of about seven, when they first understand that gender is permanent—that they cannot change gender the way they can change their clothes or their behavior. Kohlberg believed that children do not start systematically imitating the behavior of members of their own sex until that point."

[psychology.jrank.org]

@TheMiddleWay

Yes, it’s play. Playing at something you want to be, whether it’s married or a wizard, and it often involves kissing and hugging. And if it’s so innocuous, why would a good number of straight people go absolutely bat-shit crazy if they saw a young boy play-acting “wedding” with Ken and GI Joe? And how did the idea of marriage get in their heads anyway? Because society primes us for certain gender roles from birth, starting with acceptable colors. Sexuality surrounds kids everywhere but parents think they can see semi-clothed people in sexually suggestive positions on huge billboards and the kids never think about what sex is? Even storybooks are priming kids on this.

Sex education is a life-long process, not a single conversation. Eight may be the time that parents figure out they should be discussing it with their kids, but it’s far from universally acknowledged as “the” age. The age at which sex education is taught in school is 8-9 and this is not too early given that many girls require bras by then, and there are always a couple who start their periods in fourth grade and are terrified because their parents never did their job and explained what would happen, leaving it for teachers and nurses to explain. “Nocturnal emissions” are very common and frequent in boys at that age, and it’s one of the things discussed in sex education for boys.

Your article actually supports this: the books she lists are for kids from 3 to 14, and she mentions the age eight as a point when some parents are looking for guidance, NOT as the perfect age to tell them. One of her suggested books for 8-year-olds is “Jacob’s New Dress”, which discusses gender issues. Will the mechanics of sex be taught at that time? Probably not, but what problem do you have with children learning about the mechanics of sex? Most who have had a pet or farm animals already know there must be a human equivalent.

I didn't see the show you're talking about so I don't know how they presented it, but I've known a lot of LGBTQ people my whole life, and the majority will tell you that they very definitely knew they were "different" before that age, and not being able to discuss it or being denigrated for it hurt them a lot.

@TheMiddleWay I LITERALLY said "me con, you pro"

@TheMiddleWay Because they contradict your pro-norm objection the TV shows' normalization of sexuality in 8 year olds.

@TheMiddleWay The articles talk about gender/gender identity.

Despite not seeing the TV show, your post opposed "normalizing sexuality".
Why THAT terminology rather than gender identity ?

"Gender, on the other hand, involves how a person identifies. Unlike natal sex, gender is not made up of binary forms. Instead, gender is a broad spectrum. A person may identify at any point within this spectrum or outside of it entirely."
[medicalnewstoday.com]

[webmd.com]

@TheMiddleWay That quote does NOT say that nobody discovers their sexual orientation until teens/young adult !

It DOES say :
"Homosexuality and bisexuality aren’t caused by the way children were reared by their parents, or by something that happened to them when they were young. Also, being homosexual or bisexual does not mean the person is mentally ill or abnormal in any way. They may face burdens caused by other people’s prejudices or misunderstandings."

You didn't address my question about gender identity vs your use of the term sexuality. Not having seen the TV show, how can you know that the show was "normalizing sexuality" ?

@TheMiddleWay How would ANY parent 'get-the-idea' to broach the subject to their 8 year old (especially all the parents who would never want to) IF TV show(s) NEVER take-on the subject(s) for fear of folks claiming "great harm" ! ! ! ? ? ? ? ?

@TheMiddleWay Being gay or bi is more than about having sex. Yet that seems to be your argument here. That implies that two people cannot be in a romantic relationship that does not involve sex and that sex is the primary basis of a romantic relationship.

@TheMiddleWay Maybe you should define what you mean by "normalize". Do you mean "normalize" as in "accepted as being a part of normal human behavior"?

Also, romantic attraction is not necessarily sexual. It is NOT a slippery slope. There's a huge chasm between being sexually attracted to someone and engaging in sex with them regardless of age.

And regardless of sexual orientation, the overwhelming majority of society does not condone 8 year olds having sex because of a variety of factors including their lack of mental and emotional maturity as well as to protect them from harm and abuse by adults.

@TheMiddleWay, @Charles1971 I was about to say those things, I think you said them sufficiently well.
I agree.

@TheMiddleWay "Surely if they lack the mental and emotional maturity to have sex, they lack the mental and emotional maturity to claim that they are bisexual."

Surely, that is a non sequitur.
Losing virginity can't be 'undone', a gay/bi/straight claim SURELY can/could be undone.

@TheMiddleWay I don't think it is a choice.

. . . I meant, isn't it possible that a younger child could (years) later come to understand/realize their orientation differently than previously ?

@TheMiddleWay "point of contention" doesn't necessarily mean "great harm".

Since we agree the understanding/realization could change, where is the harm (much less 'great' ) ?

At any/whatever age, I doubt folks need a TV show (or "normalization(s)" ) to come to a realization of their orientation.

@TheMiddleWay Ah, okay, so if an 8 year old said they were bi or gay then the parents should just tell them to be quiet and don't talk about it? Or maybe the parent should try discussing the matter and finding out what exactly is going on with their child and why the child feels they are bi or gay. The parent can choose to either make the child feel embarrassed, ashamed, and abnormal or the parent can make their child feel comfortable, loved, and normal. Seems an easy choice to me.

And its silly to compare reality to a TV show. If anyone is taking parenting tips from Sex in the City then they have way bigger concerns than a bi/gay child.

@TheMiddleWay "challenging the norm"

. . . one of my philosophies :

Why should anyone suffer (what they consider to be) foolishness in silence ?

I do consider most 'norms' foolishness.
Isn't that what CT is FOR ?

I don't see "great harm" challenging 'norms', even if done by TV show(s).

@TheMiddleWay "The scenario here is a parent accepting right off the bat"'

"Don't watch the show myself, (sex and the city reboot) just going by the news of it"

Since you don't watch, how can you claim 'scenario'/'right off the bat' ?
. . . sounds like "jumping to (your own) conclusion(s)"

@TheMiddleWay I watch shows that I can download or check-out from my library.
I don't think 'reboot' is available for that yet.

IMO, all non believers come to that position by way of CT (or parent 'indoctrination' of religions non belief, which is a distinction without a difference).
If that makes me a contrarian -- guilty as charged.
Isn't that what CT is FOR ?

. . . not accepting 'norms' -- I'm not one of those 'sheeple'

@TheMiddleWay Any TV show can present anything as being normal because TV is fiction. Star Trek presents teleporting people as normal yet I am highly skeptical whether it is indeed normal since I have yet to be teleported anywhere.

Okay, so, 8 year old says their bi-sexual. So, how would a parent prove otherwise? Insistently demand that the child renounce their bi-sexuality? Tell the child they don't know what they're talking about? Just tell the child to shut up? Ask the child to prove it? If an 8 year old says they are bi-sexual then what is the proper response? How would a parent handle this? You don't like acceptance of the child's claim at face value so what would YOU do?

I don't have any children so I can only speculate how I'd respond but I would hope that in such a situation I'd respond only with kindness and understanding and let the child figure it out on their own because I don't know how to tell someone else what their sexual orientation is or is not.

I doubt any parent would look forward to their child saying that they are bi-sexual. The world is a cruel and hate-filled place and though many people (including myself) accept people regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity there are still far too many shitty people that will eagerly shovel pain and suffering onto those who don't fit into their view of "normal".

@TheMiddleWay You have NOT provided ANY evidence (I doubt there is any) that straight/gay/bi ORIENTATION (not sexual activity) is a CHOICE.

It seems to me that any evidence is a prerequisite to any imagined/claimed
"normalization".

@TheMiddleWay"Pretty sure" I don't need you to explain my own experiences to me and I specifically mentioned that I have been told by gay people that they also knew.

@TheMiddleWay
. . . sooooo, your 'beef' is that this TV show implies 'normal'
. . . in terms of CT, is it normal (irrespective of what the 'unwashed masses' might think) to conflate TV show(s) with 'reality' ?

IMO, better to disabuse the unwashed masses of their alleged 'normal'

@TheMiddleWay Oh good point, produce some evidence other than your opinion.

@TheMiddleWay Your original assertion was that an 8 year old identifying as bisexual was wrong
"Is a TV show having an 8 year old claiming to be "bisexual" doing great harm by normalizing sexuality in 8 year olds? I think so." So my opinion requires proof but yours is correct by default,
.Sounds like a case of "prove god doesn't exist"... I knew I was straight, the end.