Fathers, sons, and being LGBT: Kevin and Alex Newman book signing for All Out

Toronto-born Kevin Newman, who had worked for CTV and the CBC, aspired to reach the top of his profession as an anchorman while also being a family man. At the same time, his son Alex sought to be the boy his father always wanted—athletic, popular, a guy's guy—even though he was artistic and solitary.

After anchoring at Nightline and World News Tonight, Kevin became cohost of Good Morning America in 1998. When ratings took a nosedive, he was asked to mask his true self and develop a new persona that would require him to change his accent, looks, personality, and more to become a "quarterback type".

Meanwhile, his son was struggling with trying to hide the fact that he was gay.

Although both father and son were dealing with parallel situations, they were unaware of each other's private struggles.

After Kevin was fired from Good Morning America, he relocated to Vancouver where he became a founding anchor at Global National in 2001.

When Alex came out at age 17, instead of father and son becoming closer, they differences between the two grew wider.

What brought them together was the statistic that gay kids are twice as likely as straight kids to commit suicide. The two decided to write a book to help other gay people and their families.

As they co-wrote the book All Out: A Father and Son Confront the Hard Truths That Made Them Better Men, they discovered that their real subject wasn't just sexuality or acceptance but fathers and sons.

Vancouverites will have a chance to meet Kevin and Alex in person when they appear tonight in Vancouver at Indigo (2505 Granville Street) at 7 p.m. for a book signing.