gay parents

Aaaaaah…the parade. Every year it thrills me to witness our culture represented with a myriad of sub-cultures. Folks, it’s not just chaps in chaps. And there is one group in particular that always puts a smile on my face- BESIDES the scantily clad rent boys. Strutting down the street with a stroller derby of mochafrappulatteccino babies and Prada diaper bags it’s the GAY PARENTS!

To celebrate Pride and these remarkable families we reached out to our blogger friends and asked them two easy (like Sunday morning) questions:

These holidays are usually celebrated during the preschool years and kindergarten. Children express their love for and appreciation of their parents with a variety of artistic projects that they labor over for days:

Well it is approaching April and we headed to the Beach House last night. The sleepy New England beach town is still covered in snow and the yard I thought I would be able to get cleaned up is far from awake. The boys slept longer than usual as did I. I always sleep better up here with the ocean air less than 2 blocks away.

You've just gotten pregnant and your long dormant spirituality has begun to
awaken. Or you have a high-energy three-year-old and you're starting to think a little
values infusion couldn’t hurt. It’s time to shop for a church, you decide, but you're gay so you naturally have a healthy dose of cynisicm, skepticism, and other "isms" when it comes to organized religion. What if you land in a Christian cabal of gay haters and they want to exorcise you? What if they decide to brainwash you back to grace, turn you against your partner, find you a suitable opposite sex mate, and help you discover the joys of Adam and Eve in the garden?

One field trip to a church can tell you everything you need to know about the clergy and congregation's attitudes toward people who are different. So go on a "mission," observe carefully, and then take the simple screener below to find out if you've found a spiritual home for your gay family.

Most families feel obliged to make occasional trips to grandparents who live far away, and in this time of economic uncertainty, vacationing at their home is certainly the frugal alternative to Europe or the Caribbean. And some grandparents really do want you to come. They may even cough up plane tickets to sweeten the pot and go out of their way to deliver a rip-roaring good time for their grandchildren.

But other grandparents only say they want you. They never really expected you to accept an invitation. And the minute you, your partner, and children pull up to the house, their ambivalence kicks in. They’re thinking,Oh, God, how are we going to get through a whole week? Can we just give them the keys and we’ll go to Europe? and you’re thinking, If they lived in California, they would have voted for Prop 8. They are the enemy. Why are we here?”

So I used to think that there were 2 things in a little boy’s arsenal that could leave you swearing in the middle of the night after you stepped on it a matchbox and a Lego. Well, there are new dangers from a toy, seemingly smooth, round and innocent a Bahukgan. Well that is until you find out that during your 3 a.m. trip to the bathroom these little jewels with their little weapons lie open on the bathroom floor complete with their little spears and you step down on one and draw a pint of blood and more than a few choice words from me.

In Part I, we answered a few burning questions straight parents have about gay ones. But if straight parents could sit down with a live set of gay parents, their questions could go on for hours. What else would they ask? What would you say? Let’s listen in for a while.