Thursday, October 9, 2008

Another case study.....

I've taught my kids that you measure a person by their character, not their gender, race, sexual orientation or even politics (although that one is a little tougher for my rabidly liberal daughter). If they are a good person, that is what counts. My kids grew up knowing my sister is gay and have been surrounded by a couple of "uncles" - friends of my sister and I - who are also gay. They've also been around the most hetero manly men too - so they have had exposure to both sides of the spectrum. One day, When my daughter was four, Uncle Gary was over visiting with my sister. We were all sitting on the front porch and she asked me if she was gay. Now, how do you explain this one to a four year old? I asked her if she wanted to kiss a boy or kiss a girl when she grew up...she thought for a moment and said, I want to kiss boys. I replied, "Then you're not gay." Uncle Gary laughed and said that was best, simplest explanation he'd ever heard - because he knew as a four year old he wanted to kiss boys.

4 comments:

Kate said...

This is perfect! I wish more people would feel comfortable discussing sexuality with their kids in such a simple, age-appropritate way:)

Caffeine Court said...

I have a neighbor who was outraged that her 6 year old daughter knew the word vagina. She actually called the school principal about it!! WTF?

jenn said...

That's a great way to distill it down in a way kids understand.

Lexy said...

I just read your post and it is really making me think. My husband and I's best friend is gay. He currently doesn't think he wants to have kids but he can't wait to be "Uncle Mark" to ours (He's ready for us to have one now -- we arent!)

It was great to read how open you have been with your daughter regarding Uncle Gary. I am glad I had the opportunity to see how other people explain it to their kids and decide what we want to do before we have a little one who can ask. Thanks for sharing.