What is it about lesbian moms and gay dads that sends thoughtful and rational folks off the rails? I’ve had versions of the following conversations too many times.
Conversation #1
“I draw the line at gay parents.”
Why?
“Because the children will be confused.”
Conversation #2
“Children need a mom and a dad.”
Why?
“Because the children will be confused.”
Conversation #3
“It’s one thing to be gay, and another thing to impose it on children.”
Why?
“Because the children will be confused.”
At this point, faced with a National Epidemic of Confused Children, I ask the same question: “Do you know any same-sex parents?” Almost always, the answer is NO.
But I do. I know families with two dads and two moms. Down the line, the kids are quite clear about the identities of each parent, about their own identities, about their places in their families. Of course the kids have issues, and if you’re bound and determined to Blame The Gay, then I can’t stop you. But honestly, all kids have issues; it’s the nature of growing up.
So let’s reconsider. Are these children truly confused?
NO. And YES.
As a parent of three, I’ve seen the world through the eyes of two developing boys and one developing girl. I’ve learned that the world is a confusing place. Why do we eat in one room, but not another? Why are some words fine at home, but forbidden at school? Why do we say “thank you” to a friend for candy, and the same “thank you” to our doctor for a shot? If kicking is wrong, why isn’t soccer illegal? How can bite and sight possibly rhyme, and what in the world is an irregular verb?
Every day presents challenges, and many are confusing. But the issues that confuse a child are not always the same issues that confuse an adult. If you know any kids who have two moms or two dads, then you know that these children are not at all confused by their family constellation. However, other people’s reactions are quite problematic. Other adults look in, hunting with determined tenacity until they find a sign that the child is somehow at risk, or the parents are somehow deficient. The issue here is not a confused child, but rather a confused adult. What confuses the child are the baffling reactions of these adults, and of the children who follow their cues.
Each subculture has its own set of unspoken, unwritten, complex rules and expectations. But same-sex parents are just moms and dads, raising their kids, forming a family. As a mother of three grown children, I can count on parenthood to remain extremely straightforward and totally confusing. I’ll always welcome all parents of any gender to help me figure it out.
Amy Kaufman Burk's Blog 
What adds to my frustration is knowing that eventually all of the noise of insecurity around gay parenting will fade and it will become a non event, yet we still go murderously crashing through the years and decades it takes to get there. We devastate the lives of many good people in the process, when none of it had to happen. We need to speed up human consciousness so we don’t spend so much time hurting ourselves. It happens over and over – look how long we held on (and still hold on) to racism when it is clearly something that will not last beyond the moment that human kind finally realizes how silly it is to measure a person by how they look instead of how they are. Look how many people still die or worse in the name of one of the ancient gods. There WILL be a day when humanity gives up on this concept of a supernatural force watching us, controlling us, creating and destroying us, and telling us whom to hate. Yes racism is fading. Yes religious zealotry is losing power in developed countries. But how long do we have to wait? How many more good people have to be torn down, even raped and murdered, all for reasons that we WILL realize are terrible, inappropriate interpretations of from our primitive past?
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