At Thursday’s press conference, Dr. Daniel Summers, an Augusta pediatrician who spoke on behalf of the Maine Chapter of the American Pediatric Association, which has 200 members, said he sees all kinds of families in his practice.I also had a whopping 30 seconds of screen time on WGME's evening coverage, right before they cut to the odious Michael Heath. Speaking of the opposition, I found this quote intriguing:“No two are exactly alike,” he said. “The adults in the family are united by a common desire to do the best they can for their children.”
Laura McCown of Portland disagrees with her colleagues. She has worked as a social worker and therapist in public and private schools and at a community counseling center, according to Maine Marriage Initiative, a group backed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, which opposes Damon’s bill.Uh........... huh. Well, Ms. McCown, I know this is probably going to come as a huge, earth-shattering revelation, so please sit down. Are you seated? Good.In a press release issued by MMI last week, McCown said same-sex parents aren’t able to give children the proper influence in gender role training.
“Kids emulate what they see,” she said. “They need to learn from both men and women how to behave in society. If you have two women raising boys, for example, it’s going to be extremely difficult for those boys to develop gender identity, unless the women have a very secure and trust-worthy male who can fulfill that role of example.” [emphasis mine]
McCown is taking a break from her career as a social worker to raise her three children, according to the press release.
Many gay and lesbian couples have relatives and friends of the opposite gender who fulfill the exact role you suggest. I know! It's crazy!! So, um... maybe gay and lesbian parents actually think about having role models for their children to address those very same concerns you express. It's like they didn't even need you to tell them! Maybe they have creepy, weird powers of prognostication, or something. Perhaps if you actually knew a few of them, you might have realized this already, and wouldn't have made asinine and easily-dismissed statements for the public record.
Oh, also? What about boys that are raised by single mothers? I've noticed a few in my practice. Are they also similarly confused about how to behave in society? So far as I can tell, none have shown up at school wearing foundation undergarments or lip gloss, but maybe I'm not paying enough attention. Has there been a wave of gender-confused little boys, or are you simply mindlessly insulting the parenting skills of a large segment of the American population?
It's probably for the best that you're taking a break.
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I was annoyed by McCown's comments, as well, but even more so because it implies a fairly rigid understanding of "gender roles." Is she afraid that without a man in the house, a little boy might (GASP) CRY once in a while? Or show signs of nurturing? How will he know how to shoot toy guns and enjoy monster truck shows? How will he know the difference between a 65 Corvette and a 72 Mustang? Goodness, will he even know he's supposed to pee standing up?!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you were there, and I wouldn't worry about how you looked, I'm sure you were fine. And don't you want people paying attention to what you said more than how you looked?
Well, from the perspective of policy change, then I'd prefer to have them pay attention to what I said. But, for the sake of my modeling career (which I know is totally around the corner), then I want my hair to look nice, too.
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