Kesher Talk

My $0.02 on gay marriage. In response to this: My parents were married for almost 50 years, it was their first marriage (my father remarried after my mom died). They got married in a synagogue. My mom stayed home, my dad worked, they raised us in a nice suburb, we had good educations, no physical abuse. They both loved us very much (albeit not very skillfully). Very classic middle-class 50s-60s upbringing.

I would rather have been raised by a less-neurotic less-abusive gay couple than them. I miss them, I worked through most of my resentments, I don't hate them, but the simple fact is that they were much lousier parents than many gay couples parenting now.

Here's an example of a het married couple who adopted seven kids. Seven kids who were not given to - horrors! - gay couples who might raise them without the ideal ratio of male/female parental bonding. So you read the story and tell which is worse.

UPDATE: My friends Laurie and Paula just sent me pix of their new baby, who was born from Paula via artificial insemination. I know Paula and Laurie, and they are going to be great parents. I hope their relationship and parenthood is eventually as protected by law as any heterosexual family. Whether or not it's called marriage in the eyes of the state is semantics; the legal protections are what matter. Religious groups can choose or not to sanctify their relationship as marriage in the eyes of God, and I know that where they live they have several options in that regard if they want to take advantage of them.

posted by Judith @ 2/06/2005 02:52:30 PM