As a Christian, being for or against Homosexuality is usually a theological discussion than a real life experience, because honestly, most Christians that I know, don't have gay friends. For me that's not true, I have a few gay friends, relatives, closeted and open.
As a father, how exactly do I handle the "gay" topic with my five-year old. That issue was thrust upon me recently and I get the feeling that gay and straights may not like how I handled it.
Last Sunday, I took my daughter to Disneyland and we happen to do almost every Sunday. The traffic into the park was usually heavy and it took move over an hour to park. We entered Disney's California Adventure and whammo, I discover that it's Gay Days at Disneyland. How do I know? 80% of the men in the park are wearing red shirts.
How would I know this? The Anaheim Angels won their first World Series several years ago. I wore my team's red and white proudly at Walt Disney World during their gay days and I sadly no one hit on me.
Back to today, so my daughter and I walked through the park to go on rides. Every moment, gays and lesbians holding hands, being affectionate and sitting in front of and behind on all the rides.
So how did my daughter respond to the "debauchery" that surrounded her. Simply, she could care less. She just wanted to go on rides and find toys for me to buy her. My moral duty was to just let her go on rights and refuse to buy the toys that she wanted. In fact, that was the only drama I had on this trip. She never asked me why those two women are holding hands, why that guy has his arms around another guy or why did those two dudes kiss. Honestly, I don't even this she noticed...she just wanted to go on rides and eat candy.
To my Christian friends, I guess you would want me to point out that being gay or lesbian is a sin and God hates that. To be honest, that's not the kind of Christian I want my daughter to be. It would kill me to have her walk up to anyone and start pointing out the sins in their lives. With all my heart, I want her to love others and let God do the judging.
You may also ask, aren't you afraid that gay relationship and marriage will warp her definition of a family. You can talk to her personally, her idea of a family is far from warped. Here's here understanding of family. She has two parents who love her very much. She has aunt, uncles, cousins, grandparents and until recently great grandparents who love her and whom she loves in return. She has aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, who are not even related to her, but she knows they love her very much. That's family. It doesn't make a difference if these people are men or women, she just knows that they are special people in her life and she loves them.
My cousin and his partner are looking to adopt a child. I hope a miracle happens and they do get a chance to adopt. They would make great parents. At five years old, all my daughter will understand that her second cousin will have two parents who love him/her very much.
To my gay friends, I guess you would want me to point out that gay relationships are as normal as straight relationships. C'mon, she's five. She just wants to go on the Ariel ride and buy toys with her dad. To be honest, she's not ready to enter the political world of sexual equality, she just wants to ride rides.
My job, as a father, is to her to love you, gays and lesbians, as God loves you, unconditionally. To treat you as God would have her treat you, as one of God's creations.
So gays and straights, I admit it, I wussed out and didn't discuss with my daughter whether homosexuality is right or wrong. I just wanted to ride rides at Disneyland with my daughter.
