It's not that she's a lesbian, it's the point that there is no Kate and her daughter lied to her for two years. Unless it's her friend's brother. But meh :]

-.- dude, it says her BOYfriend, not GIRLfriend

You know, it's all great and well for your parents to trust your judgement when you're turning 18 soon. You're a little older, a little more mature and you've had time to prove that you're trustworthy. The OP's daughter was only 13 years old when this all started. There are situations that no 13 year old will ever be equipped for and that's why parents should be there to keep them out of those situations for as long as they possibly can. My parents never insisted on meeting my friends' parents, or even my friends for that matter. I wish they had. I wish they had taken more of an interest and tried harder to protect me from things I was not ready for at the ages of 13 through to 16 (possibly even older). Yes, I got myself into those situations, and I don't fully blame my parents, but had they taken a more active role I wouldn't have been able to. That's their job. I've been lucky. Nothing truly bad has happened to me, but I look back and I'm horrified at how easily a lot of things could have turned out so much worse. I will not makes those same mistakes that my parents did and I fully believe that knowing where your child is and knowing the people she or he is with is one of the most basic principles of good parenting.

No, I'm pretty sure they've trusted me for a while. Never once have they asked to meet the parents of any of my friends, and alot of the time, if I say I'm going to see so-and-so, I have to remind them who that is and whether or not they've met them. And, I haven't gotten myself into 'those' situations (you didn't clarify, so I'm being forced to assume what you mean). For as long as I can remember, there have only been one or two of my friends that my mum has showed disapproval of after meeting, and those friendships ended up falling apart over time anyway. Maybe because I am my mother in alot of ways, and because I have always respected both of my parents when many kids don't, but I very often consider how they will react to something before I dive into it.

I didn't mean that they only just started trusting you, I just meant that by the time you're almost 18 you'd have had a chance to prove yourself. By then there have been situation where your parents have given you some rope to see if you'd make it work for you, or hang yourself. You, obviously, didn't betray their trust and so you were rewarded with more freedom. That's the way it should go. You can't just trust that you've done a good job of raising your child because there are so many outside influences (friends being the biggest one). The best you can do is to know who those friends are by taking the time to meet them, and their parents, at least once. As for "those situations" I kept referring to, I simply meant situations in which I had to make decisions I was not equipped to make at that age. Decisions that required good judgement. Something most young teenagers do not have even if they think they do. I mean, at the time I thought I was oh so mature and all that, but looking back now I realise just how childish I was. Just an example: I started going out and drinking when I was very young (14) and there were times when I'd stay behind to party some more when my friends wanted to go home and I'd just catch a ride with whoever I could. That is so stupid and I'm horrified I ever did that. Like I said, I'm lucky nothing bad never happened to me. I had sex at (what I consider) a young age too and I realise now that at the time I didn't know how to say no and wasn't really ready to say yes. I must say though that, in time, my mom giving me pretty much endless freedom gave me guidelines. If there was something I wanted to do I knew I couldn't tell her about then I knew I had to think twice. It was a good thing in the end, but damn did I have to make some really bad choices to get there.