Chelsea Kaplan’s Musings About Life... After Birth

I know I tease a lot about wanting my son to grow up an be gay so that he will never leave me for another woman, but the truth is that I don’t wish this for him. Not because I have a problem with homosexuality, but because we unfortunately live in a ridiculously bigoted country where people label acceptance of others with different lifestyles, religions, ethnicities, etc. as “tolerance”. I have always hated that term. “Tolerance”? Like, we “tolerate” people different from us? Ridiculous. Anyway, the real reason I don’t wish this for him is because I would hate to think that he would have to grow up in a country that claims equality, liberty and justice for all, yet still denies homosexuals basic civil rights. What a terrible experience that would be.

It’s no secret that I’m a die-hard, true-blue liberal, but I have yet to get behind one Democratic Presidential candidate thus far. I’m liking a lot of what I hear from Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards, so I’m just going to wait and see what else they say as time passe, and then pick who I’ll support in the primary. Obama, I must say, shot way up on my charts after releasing this, a statement on Gay Pride Month, on his website:

“Pride Month is a reminder that while we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do.”

“Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It’s about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect.”

“It’s time to turn the page on the bitterness and bigotry that fill so much of today’s LGBT rights debate. The rights of all Americans should be protected—whether it’s at work or anyplace else. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” needs to be repealed because patriotism and a sense of duty should be the key tests for military service, not sexual orientation. Civil unions should give gay couples full rights. And those who commit hate crimes should be punished no matter whether those crimes are committed on account of race, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation.”

“This Pride Month, let’s make our founding promise of equality a reality for every American.”

Now THIS is the type of person I want running the country in which I raise young people.