Birth:
Traditionally Deaf children were "caught" around the age of 3 when their oral skills would normally develop.
Gay youth often come "out" in the adolescent years.

Now there is a test to determine if your newborn is deaf, there is no test for homosexuality. (but wouldn't you like to know?)

"There is, however, a disturbing trend to send deaf newborns straight to
the cochlear-implant clinic. The parents are supposed to be presented
with information on the various options in a fair and unbiased way, but
it seems that a number of them aren't. They're being steered in one
direction only--towards the implant."

In a way, blind children have an easier time of it than deaf[gay] children
do. When a child is born blind into a sighted family, the parents,
siblings, and relatives quickly accept the fact that he's blind. They
usually don't waste much valuable time shopping around for treatments
and cures.

The greatest gift of love you can give your deaf child is to accept him
as he is, and to encourage him to thrive as a person. Embrace your
child's deafness. It is a part of him. If you take the attitude "I love
you, but I hate your deafness," or "You're okay, but your deafness is
unacceptable to us," you're going to end up with one very confused kid. [source: http://www.cochlearwar.com]

I'm not sure of the truth behind this but I found it interesting:

Deaf children with implants often endure hazing from other deaf kids: "Borg! Borg!" "Robot-ear!"
[http://www.cochlearwar.com]

This is similar to insults "fag, queer, homo"

Some parents choose to not learn ASL and force their children to attend aural/oral schools to teach them to use their voice and not to sign. They aren't accepting ASL as a real language. Some parents reject homosexual lifestyle and subject their children to therapy or religious "gay camp" I find this similar to denying Gays the right of marriage because love between same sex couples isn't "real".

Originally posted on robotscott.vox.com