Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., is apparently worried about how parents will explain the world to children if the military doesn’t discriminate against homosexuals:
What do mommas and daddies say to a seven-year-old child about this issue? I don’t know. I think it would be a family issue that would concern me the most … What they might see in their discussions among the kids.
As the parent of a seven-year-old child, let me reassure the congressman. It isn’t that hard. Here’s how I explained it.
You see, when they grow up, most boys want to date girls, and most girls want to date boys. Like your mom and I did, or your grandparents. But sometimes, boys want to date boys, or girls want to date girls. There’s nothing wrong with that – it doesn’t happen as much, but it’s not a bad thing, it’s just different.
Now, some people do want to say it’s wrong, or it’s bad, because they want to say anything different is bad. But your mom and I don’t believe that, and you shouldn’t, either.
When you grow up, you’ll probably want to date boys. But you might want to date girls. Who knows, you might not want to date anyone. No matter who you fall in love with, we just want you to be happy and to be with someone who makes you happy. And we will love you no matter what.
You see, congressman? My daughter was able to understand that just fine. After our conversation, she saw a TV show with a gay couple, and identified that they were two boys who were married, and that they seemed nice. And that was the end of it – she didn’t seem overly concerned about it, because it’s not something one should be overly concerned about.
Of course, I started from the position that discrimination is bad. I suppose if you want to raise your children to believe that homosexuals are monsters, that may be a problem. But the problem isn’t that we want to extend equal rights to homosexuals. The problem is that you’re a flaming bigot. The rest of us – the tolerant majority – don’t have this problem. You should try it.
Comment