I've really tried to keep my mouth shut about this, but, Amy, you are so ignorant. And I'm not saying stupid, I'm saying uninformed. I'm not going to insult you, but let's just say that I usually don't bother reading your posts, but after Leigh's response, I was curious. My dad is gay. Granted, he didn't decide he was gay until I was 6 months old, but he's gay nonetheless. And I'm glad. My mom also had girlfriends through most of my adolescence, and it bothered me a little, but I accepted it. I had a slumber party for my 10th birthday with all the girls from school there. Later, it turned out that one of the girls' mom's knew my dad from a long time ago and told her that she couldn't go to my house anymore b/c he was gay. I went to a pentecostal school, if that tells you anything. Well, she went to school and told everyone, then they all started prank calling my house and leaving extremely mean messages on the machine. My dad hid all this from me, but the kids at school teased me a little. I thought nothing of it. I knew that he had always had male "roommates", and I loved them almost as much as him. He finally took me to fly kites one day and set me down and explained to me how he was. He was really worried that I wouldn't love him anymore, but I reacted like, "yeah, and so?" When my mom started having girlfriends, everyone would tease me, as this was jr. high, and kids are a little meaner by then. I was angry towards her for many other reasons, so her sexual orientation didn't bother me too much. Maybe just a little. I wasn't living with her a lot of the time, so it didn't really affect me as much as my dad. Through high school, my dad worried constantly about what my friends would say. He always told me not to tell anyone, and he freaked when I did. And I always did. I was proud of him for having the courage to be who he was, and it inspired me to be who I am, rather than worry about what others thought I should be. I love his friends, and they love me. My friends loved him and his friends, even though none of them had ever known gay people and were wary at first. When, I went to college, he again told me not to tell anyone. That it would be harder for me. Bullshit. I wouldn't want to hang out with anyone that would make it harder on me for my father's choice to suck dick. And I was open with my friends from the beginning. Anyway, my point is this. Gays have a total right to have children, and I encourage them more than anyone. I was brought up to be completely accepting of any type of person. And I learned, at an early age, the importance of being who you are and making yourself happy. I also saw a lot of the repression and aggression towards people for choosing to do so, by people who were scared of the idea of being completely honest with oneself and going against what the majority thought of as normal. I also saw how overlooked AIDS was for a long time b/c it affected gays more than straights. I had known many of my dad's friends die when I was growing up, and I would hear stories of many more that I had never met. My dad's long time lover died of the disease, when I was 11, and my dad contracted it (he's still alive and kicking, though). Yet it was the early 90s before the epidemic starting getting attention. After straight people started dying. It all definitely made me more aware of what needs to change in our society, and I've tried to do my part in changing people's views. That's all I can do. But, don't ever say that these people don't have a right to have kids. If a parent communicates well enough with their child, walking in on their dad sticking it in some guys ass, is about as odd as them walking in on their dad sticking it to their mom. That's the way it should be. There should be no differentiation. People love who they love, and you should be happy for them for loving rather than hating. Either scenerio could do damage to a kid, so why are you making it seem wrong and unhealthy for men to have sex with each other if you HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH GAYS? I love the way I was brought up, and it's made me a much better person than many of those around me. I wish everyone could experience it and see it through their own eyes, so they could fully understand what I'm having a hard time conveying. I am completely offended by your statement that gay people should never have kids. Anyway, I hope I got my point across. It's pretty early, and I didn't get enough sleep, so my head is pretty cloudy. ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
