Washington Post advice columnist Amy Dickinson recently received an appallingly homophobic letter from a parent seeking help convincing their gay son to "stop being gay."

"He won’t listen to reason, and he will not stop being gay," says the parent, who expresses concern about what the local church group will think. "Please help him make the right choice in life by not being gay."

Rather than advise "Feeling Betrayed" on how to get the boy to become straight, Ask Amy instead suggested the letter writer fix the problem by becoming gay themselves.

"You could teach your son an important lesson by changing your own sexuality to show him how easy it is," she wrote. "Try it for the next year or so: Stop being a heterosexual to demonstrate to your son that a person’s sexuality is a matter of choice — to be dictated by one’s parents, the parents’ church and social pressure."

Some have cast doubt on the letter's veracity, but as has been pointed out by others, real or not, there are more than enough people who feel exactly the way "Feeling Betrayed" does.

And it doesn't change that fact that Ask Amy's response was perfect.

Read the rest of the exchange below:

DEAR AMY: I recently discovered that my son, who is 17, is a homosexual. We are part of a church group and I fear that if people in that group find out they will make fun of me for having a gay child. He won’t listen to reason, and he will not stop being gay. I feel as if he is doing this just to get back at me for forgetting his birthday for the past three years — I have a busy work schedule. Please help him make the right choice in life by not being gay. He won’t listen to me, so maybe he will listen to you. — Feeling Betrayed

DEAR BETRAYED: You could teach your son an important lesson by changing your own sexuality to show him how easy it is. Try it for the next year or so: Stop being a heterosexual to demonstrate to your son that a person’s sexuality is a matter of choice — to be dictated by one’s parents, the parents’ church and social pressure. I assume that my suggestion will evoke a reaction that your sexuality is at the core of who you are. The same is true for your son. He has a right to be accepted by his parents for being exactly who he is.

[H/T: Towleroad]