Back in August I noted a post done by a wonderful mother who posted about her 6B year old son who had a crush on the character Blaine on the TV show Glee. Her openness and acceptance of her son was very moving and should have been an inspiration for all parents. As she discovered, some Christianists were none to happy with her acceptance of her child however God created him. She also heard from many LGBT children and youths who related their fears to her and also their wish that she were their mother. Now, she has shared some insightful reflections on her experience in the aftermath of her blog post going viral on Huffington Post. Given that today is the anniversary of my mother's death, her thoughts hit home with me. Here are some highlights:On August 16 I learned what viral meant. I wrote an essay about my oldest son and his love of a popular gay television character, Glee's Blaine, and how this crush led to him telling me he wanted to kiss boys, not girls. I naively posted it to a blog, thinking some fans of the show might think it was cute.
Within 24 hours it had been reposted and "liked" over 30,000 times on the blog's website. It wasn't long before messages started flooding in, other websites began posting it and people were commenting. The response was overwhelming positive.
It also made some people uncomfortable. Of the criticisms, the most common is that my son is six years old and doesn't know anything about sex. While I fully acknowledge this may not be the end-all-and-be-all to my son's sexual orientation, I object to the idea that being gay is only about sexual acts. Our emotions and feelings, our attractions and compulsions, all contribute, not just our body parts. . . . . Plus, for every comment I've read saying my son is too young, I have received multiple messages from adults saying "I knew when I was little, too."
It got me thinking and after awhile I started to feel like I knew this big secret that shouldn't be a secret at all: Every gay adult used to be a gay kid. It's not as if all children start off as straight until some time later when someone flips the gay switch. We are who we are from the very moment we are born.
The horrible and hate filled words of the Michele Bachmann's of the world take on a whole new level of disgusting when picturing them being screamed at a group of kindergartners and first graders. They are unnatural. They are sinners. They are going to hell. They are dirty, wrong and sick. These people would tell my innocent little boy (who currently wants to be a fireman-ninja when he grows up) he is the biggest threat the American family... because he wants to kiss boys and not girls.
The reality is they are pounding these words of ignorance and hate into the ears and minds of gay children every day. And those children are hearing them. I know because many of those kids are now writing to me. Kids as young as 14 have sent me messages. So many are scared children, who sure as hell did not choose this for themselves, living in fear of their family finding out because they know full well what their mom and dad will say. And they tell me they wish I was their mom.
[T]he solution is obvious to me. Keep it away from all our kids. It's my responsibility as a mother, as a human being, to stand up and say "No more." No, you are not allowed to say those things in front of my children, not unless you want to deal with me. Because I will not allow any of my sons to be viciously attacked without seeing me defend them. They will never have to doubt for a second exactly where their parents stand, and never have to live in fear of who they are.
While my mother never wrote a blog post, I suspect her thoughts mirrored those of the wonderful "Amelia" who authored the August post and this piece on Huffington Post. I know for a fact that during the years she headed up a lab at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital she looked out for some young gay Navy boys. Would that all mothers - and fathers - were so loving and decent.
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