Story of the Week (Updated) (Updated Again) (And Yet Again)

This one is all over the place. This is the world's greatest mom:

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.

Update: I saw a post on this story yesterday but didn't have time to pursue it. Reader Nigel was kind enough to leave a link:



My reading is that the psychologist got cut off at the knees and spent the rest of the segment trying to recover. Hooray for Sarah.

Update II: Here's a bit from Timothy Kincaid that highlights one of Gardere's comments that bothered me:

“I have to tell you, I work with many heterosexual as well as, uh, gay couples and it is the worst nightmare of both the heterosexual and the gay couples to have to fathom that their child may be gay.”

Mmm -- that's an attitude that speaks volumes about Gardere. I don't know what kind of people he's working with, but that statement just doesn't hold water, at least not in this world. I think the man's probably an idiot, and quite possibly not qualified to be doing what he's doing.

Update III: Gardere takes an opportunity to expand his remarks. This makes more sense, but it's still not quite on point:

"What the full statement should have been and what I always say because I do work with straight and gay parents, it is a real issue for them because they are afraid, and this is the part I didn't say and what I should have said, and you can go back and research it and you'll see that I've said it in every other place. And that is my fault and I accept complete responsibility for not saying that. Those parents, even gay parents say it, as controversial as that will sound, do not want their children to have to deal with the pain and the isolation and a lot of the emotional trauma that they have to go through as far as coming to terms with their sexuality. They know that they went through it and they prefer that their kids not go through it. And that's what the full statement should have been."

What's missing from this, and I think what he should have brought up in this context, is the role that parental support plays in that, and how strong support at home goes a long way toward ameliorating that pain and suffering.

So maybe he's not a total idiot.