Background:

the diversity of human sexuality has caused changes in society. However, homosexuality continues to contain a social taboo within itself, generating different responses in families.

Objectives:

to analyze the impact caused by the disclosure of an individual's homosexuality on their heterosexual family of origin.

Methodology:

this is an integrative literature review, according to the PICO methodology, whose data collection was carried out in May 2020, in the SciELO, RCAAP, Cochrane Library, LILACS, PubMed, IBECS and NCBI databases.

Results:

the analysis of the 5 articles included in the study allowed us to approach the impact of the disclosure of sexual orientation in different contexts: family and work/social, allowing the identification of issues associated with the coming out process.

Conclusions:

the young people's decision to reveal their sexual orientation to the family is linked to issues of family functionality. Her answers range from acceptance to expulsion/leaving the house, including situations of verbal and physical violence. Given the possibility of a negative reaction from parents, it is essential that health professionals are trained to promote environments capable of reducing negative behaviours/responses. It is also important to normalize different sexual orientations, particularly in schools, to prevent discrimination.