My son is gay

Started by PowerMan72, Nov 09, 2010, 05:27 PM

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PowerMan72

 :sad5:
Out of an abundance of concern for the young man in question, I WILL NOT include the picture attached to this blog post.

*** Link to Blog Post ***

My son is gay

Or he's not. I don't care. He is still my son. And he is 5. And I am his mother. And if you have a problem with anything mentioned above, I don't want to know you.

I have gone back and forth on whether I wanted to post something more in-depth about my sweet boy and his choice of Halloween costume. Or more specifically, the reactions to it. I figure if I'm still irked by it a few days later, I may as well go ahead and post my thoughts.

Here are the facts that lead up to my rant:

   1. My son is 5 and goes to a church preschool.
   2. He has loved Scooby Doo since developing the ability and attention span to sit still long enough to watch it.
   3. Halloween is a holiday and its main focus is wearing a costume.
   4. My son's school had the kids dress up, do a little parade, and then change out of costumes for the rest of the party.
   5. Boo's best friend is a little girl
   6. Boo has an older sister
   7. Boo spends most of his time with me.
   8. I am a woman.
   9. I am Boo's mother, not you.

So a few weeks before Halloween, Boo decides he wants to be Daphne from Scooby Doo, along with his best friend E. He had dressed as Scooby a couple of years ago.  I was hesitant to make the purchase, not because it was a cross gendered situation, but because 5 year olds have a tendency to change their minds. After requesting a couple of more times, I said sure and placed the order. He flipped out when it arrived. It was perfect.

Then as we got closer to the actual day, he stared to hem and haw about it. After some discussion it comes out that he is afraid people will laugh at him. I pointed out that some people will because it is a cute and clever costume. He insists their laughter would be of the 'making fun' kind. I blow it off. Seriously, who would make fun of a child in costume?

And then the big day arrives. We get dressed up. We drop Squirt at his preschool and head over to his. Boo doesn't want to get out of the car. He's afraid of what people will say and do to him. I convince him to go inside. He halts at the door. He's visibly nervous. I chalk it up to him being a bit of a worrier in general. Seriously, WHO WOULD MAKE FUN OF A CHILD IN A  COSTUME ON HALLOWEEN? So he walks in. And there were several friends of mine that knew what he was wearing that smiled and waved and gave him high-fives. We walk down the hall to where his classroom is.

And that's where things went wrong. Two mothers went wide-eyed and made faces as if they smelled decomp. And I realize that my son is seeing the same thing I am. So I say, "Doesn't he look great?" And Mom A says in disgust, "Did he ask to be that?!" I say that he sure did as Halloween is the time of year that you can be whatever it is that you want to be. They continue with their nosy, probing questions as to how that was an option and didn't I try to talk him out of it. Mom B mostly just stood there in shock  and dismay.

And then Mom C approaches. She had been in the main room, saw us walk in, and followed us down the hall to let me know her thoughts. And they were that I should never have 'allowed' this and thank God it wasn't next year when he was in Kindergarten since I would have had to put my foot down and 'forbidden' it. To which I calmly replied that I would do no such thing and couldn't imagine what she was talking about. She continued on and on about how mean children could be and how he would be ridiculed.

My response to that: The only people that seem to have a problem with it is their mothers.

Another mom pointed out that high schools often have Spirit Days where girls dress like boys and vice versa. I mentioned Powderpuff Games where football players dress like cheerleaders and vice versa. Or every frat boy ever in college (Mom A said that her husband was a frat boy and NEVER dressed like a woman.)

But here's the point, it is none of your damn business.

If you think that me allowing my son to be a female character for Halloween is somehow going to 'make' him gay then you are an idiot. Firstly, what a ridiculous concept. Secondly, if my son is gay, OK. I will love him no less. Thirdly, I am not worried that your son will grow up to be an actual ninja so back off.

If my daughter had dressed as Batman, no one would have thought twice about it. No one.

But it also was heartbreaking to me that my sweet, kind-hearted five year old was right to be worried. He knew that there were people like A, B, and C. And he, at 5, was concerned about how they would perceive him and what would happen to him.

Just as it was heartbreaking to those parents that have lost their children recently due to bullying. IT IS NOT OK TO BULLY. Even if you wrap it up in a bow and call it 'concern.'  Those women were trying to bully me. And my son. MY son.

It is obvious that I neither abuse nor neglect my children. They are not perfect, but they are learning how to navigate this big, and sometimes cruel, world. I hate that my son had to learn this lesson while standing in front of allegedly Christian women. I hate that those women thought those thoughts, and worse felt comfortable saying them out loud. I hate that 'pink' is still called a girl color and that my baby has to be so brave if he wants to be Daphne for Halloween.

And all I hope for my kids, and yours, and those of Moms ABC, are that they are happy. If a set of purple sparkly tights and a velvety dress is what makes my baby happy one night, then so be it. If he wants to carry a purse, or marry a man, or paint fingernails with his best girlfriend, then ok. My job as his mother is not to stifle that man that he will be, but to help him along his way. Mine is not to dictate what is 'normal' and what is not, but to help him become a good person.

I hope I am doing that.

And my little man worked that costume like no other. He rocked that wig, and I wouldn't want it any other way.
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan: "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."

outdoors

he is a kid-so what?

Mr. X

Kids have no concept of sexual orientation or climate disruption or whatever they are calling "gay" now a days. heck I wore little girl clothes till I was in 1st grade cause my parents only had girl hand me downs. It means nothing.

Quote
My job as his mother is not to stifle that man that he will be, but to help him along his way. Mine is not to dictate what is 'normal' and what is not, but to help him become a good person.
yeah and if her son wants to eat poop or have sex with dead bodies, who's she to interfere.

Feminists - "Verbally beating men like dumb animals or ignoring them is all we know and its not working."

Captain Courageous

This is a tad confusing.

The title says his gender identity at five years of age has been identified. Then it is stated as an "if he is" proposition. 'Back off'; 'He's my kid'; 'I don't care what you think' ... but she still feels she's got to write up the whole story and share it.

Is she really convinced she did the right thing? If the boy had a dad, would this have worked out differently??

dr e

I applaud the mother for allowing her son to wear whatever the frick costume he wanted to wear.  She might have done a little better job in talking with him about the crap that he was going to face if he wore it, but hey, what can you say she supported him in what he wanted and they all learned something.  I like that she seems to want her son to have the same choices as the girls and do what he wants to do without being condemned by the parentazi's.  A also like that she has identified the bullying behavior of the other mothers who usually fly under the radar like the elephant mothers in dumbo. 
Contact dr e  Lifeboats for the ladies and children, icy waters for the men.  Women have rights and men have responsibilties.

The Biscuit Queen

Are you sure the boy doesn't have a dad?

I think the title of the article is tongue in cheek. I am torn on this. I do not think it is healthy for boys to be so shamed and blamed for dressing like a girl when, as the author pointed out, girls can cross dress with little consequence. Kids experiment with these things at this age, and typically grow out of it later.

That said, very few kids so blatantly dress the other gender, going so far as to wear wigs and such. I wonder if he was given a choice to be any other character of the show.

I think her post was a valid one in many ways. It wasn't the kids who cared, it was the mothers passing judgement. She was upset that she was supporting her son and other mothers judged her son and herself. Her son felt self conscous not because of the kids, but because of their mothers.

he Biscuit Queen
www.thebiscuitqueen.blogspot.com

There are always two extremes....the truth lies in the middle.

BRIAN

It's a Halloween Costume no biggie. When I was in highschool a guy came dressed as Aunt Esther from Sanford and Son. I think mom is the one politicizing the fact.
You may sleep soundly at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence upon those who seek to harm you.

Mr. X

I dressed up as a fat old woman one year complete with balloons for breasts. Ironically the whole night girls spent mauling my boobs continuously. I had girls on my back all night just mashing them.
Feminists - "Verbally beating men like dumb animals or ignoring them is all we know and its not working."

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