Date: November 4th, 2010 3:29 PM Author: diverse shivering menage
this is going viral on facebook now. i think it was kinda wrong of the mom to post his photo in drag. that could come back to haunt him years from now. all because she was a selfish bitch who wanted to feel better about herself and the way she's raising her son
I hate how nowadays it's these self-absorbed types who are vain enough to want kids, while the selfless, responsible ones worry about whether they can handle the responsibility.
Date: November 4th, 2010 3:51 PM Author: Beta bipolar goal in life
This. I mean the kid is certainly acting quite effeminate, but he's FIVE. When I as five I wanted to be a fucking walrus when I grew up. Little kids are nuts!
What if -- and just roll with me on this for a second -- the kid matures a bit, the hormones start going, and he discovers that he's attracted to girls? What if, in spite of these early indications, he ends up being heterosexual? Well too bad, fruity! Your mom has already laid out an incredibly persuasive case that you're a big fag and publicized it to the world. You can't come back from that. If you end up not naturally enjoying cock, you'd better start acquiring a taste for it because there's no going back now.
husband appears to be an undercover drug detective. wife, who is a college dropout, appears to be sampling seized narcotics, as evidenced by her ultra-pale skin and fucked up eyes. she's petite though, so I would bend her over and break her if given the chance, little fag kid notwithstanding.
Date: November 4th, 2010 4:27 PM Author: Chartreuse vengeful international law enforcement agency
this is what angelina jolie is doing to her birth child. she said her daughter wants to be a boy and wanted her hair cut really short and wanted to be dressed in boy's clothes and called by boy's names. total coincidence that angelina jolie is a bisexual lunatic
Date: November 4th, 2010 5:22 PM Author: canary lodge foreskin
rofl, (a) you are white knighting, (b) lawsuits and internet privacy? she outted her gay son on the internet, she has no fucking privacy and (c) who is she gunna sue?
Date: November 4th, 2010 6:01 PM Author: Confused alpha
ESPECIALLY after she finds out that the last bitches to fuck with us (huge tittied heide iravani and lying cunt brittan heller) ended up getting COUNTERSUED for libel slander and abuse of process
Date: November 4th, 2010 4:55 PM Author: diverse shivering menage
srsly, i'd be so pissed if my mom posted my baby pics on a popular blog, let alone pics of me cross dressed and announced to the world i'm gay. it's not really her call, yet she has the audacity to proclaim "it's nobody's business". she has no respect for her son or his privacy. she could've at least written the post w/o including the photo and a sensationalistic headline like that.
In 16 years these kids are going to google their names and find detailed, painstaking descriptions of the color and consistency of their pewps when they were 8 months old.
Date: November 4th, 2010 5:11 PM Author: Confused alpha
Here are some things that I thoroughly enjoy. They may not be all time favorites, but I enjoyed them enough to put them here. Some may be high brow and others guilty pleasures. I am a conundrum wrapped in an enigma. And I hope to update this regularly.
Date: November 4th, 2010 5:18 PM Author: Confused alpha
she's not kidding about the yoga
Sarah Manley (Sam)
Sarah (Sam) Manley teaches our Saturday morning Kid's Yoga class. Sam is a mother of three, ranging in age from two to ten. She has practiced yoga for over a decade. After getting her children involved her practice, she was inspired to become an instructor. She has been teaching children's yoga for two years. She is certified through YogaFit for adults and children and continues her education through workshops with renowned instructors like Max Strom and Kim Schwartz.
"Children and yoga fit together perfectly. It is a great opportunity for kids to get involved with the practice at such an impressionable time in their lives when all of poses come so easy and they have no body issues or stigmas. What better way to start a lifelong journey than when we are fresh and ready? And what a great way to spend some time with your family."
Date: November 4th, 2010 9:06 PM Author: Contagious Toilet Seat
not really. xoxo has plenty of liberals. this thread just demonstrates that xo avoids faggot self-righteous pc narcissitic liberalism better than most places on the internet
Whatever. The only questionable part is that she posted about it, but even for that, it's not like she printed his name or anything. I have no problem with her letting him dress up as a girl for Halloween.
Google, are you serious? If you're sleuthing around the internet trying to find identifying information about a mom and her kid and then posting those on an online message board as a pumo... well, I don't know what to tell you. Sounds like you're the one with problems.
Date: November 4th, 2010 7:26 PM Author: Smoky Patrolman
Kind of thoughtless posting pics of her kid in an embarrassing outfit on the internet just to justify or rationalize being unwilling to say no to socially inappropriate behavior.
The worst part is, the kid seemed genuinely distressed at the thought of wearing the dress at school. So why did she still insist that he do it?
He doesn't look embarrassed in that pic to me. He looks happy. And adorable. Lots of parents put happy and adorable pics of their kid online.
If he really didn't want to wear it, then you're right, she shouldn't have forced him. But I didn't read it like that. It sounded to me like he wanted to be reassured that the idea (that he came up with) was acceptable.
Date: November 4th, 2010 8:02 PM Author: Chartreuse vengeful international law enforcement agency
Whatever if the kid wants whatever as a Halloween costume. How does it follow that he's HOMOSEXUAL though? That's a fucked up thing to post about a 5 year-old. You don't tell the whole world that your kindergartener is "gay."
Date: November 4th, 2010 8:10 PM Author: Beta bipolar goal in life
"The title is for shock value, to grab attention, whatever."
Which would be fine, if this was an issue of the fucking national enquirer as opposed to something you're publishing on the internet about your own five-year old kid.
Date: November 4th, 2010 9:09 PM Author: Contagious Toilet Seat
wow, u are a stupid piece of shit. maybe next time the mom should just post a vid of herself assfucking her son with a strap on for shock value (to grab attention) and then continue on with her self-centered boomer shitblog post
Date: November 4th, 2010 8:09 PM Author: Beta bipolar goal in life
Well, let's see. I click on a link that includes the text "/my-son-is-gay/". "MY SON IS GAY," the headline proclaims in big, bold, red letters. I'm confronted by a picture of the kid in his costume.
(Or he's not), whispers the first line of body text.
Even if she technically qualified her statement, this is a pretty fucked up thing to do.
Date: November 5th, 2010 3:33 AM Author: Bronze arousing toaster sneaky criminal
Does she post the child's name anywhere on the blog? My concern is that you could google the child's name at some point in the future and this article would come up.
I'm pro-gay and my knee-jerk reaction to this article was very pro-kid and pro-mom, but I would hate to see the kid linked to this article and tormented by the bad people in this world.
Date: November 4th, 2010 8:16 PM Author: Chartreuse vengeful international law enforcement agency
Yes, that's her "point" and she's using her kid to make it. She doesn't think it should matter that his costume is "cross gender." Regardless of what actually happened, even the way SHE tells it is fucked up. She clearly got him all excited about this costume, then he didn't even want to wear it and she pressured him into it and escorted him into his school, all to make her little point. Look at what she writes:
Then as we got closer to the actual day, he stared to hem and haw about it. After some discussion it comes out that he is afraid people will laugh at him. I pointed out that some people will because it is a cute and clever costume. He insists their laughter would be of the ‘making fun’ kind. I blow it off. Seriously, who would make fun of a child in costume?
And then the big day arrives. We get dressed up. We drop Squirt at his preschool and head over to his. Boo doesn’t want to get out of the car. He’s afraid of what people will say and do to him. I convince him to go inside. He halts at the door. He’s visibly nervous. I chalk it up to him being a bit of a worrier in general. Seriously, WHO WOULD MAKE FUN OF A CHILD IN A COSTUME ON HALLOWEEN? So he walks in. And there were several friends of mine that knew what he was wearing that smiled and waved and gave him high-fives. We walk down the hall to where his classroom is.
And that’s where things went wrong. Two mothers went wide-eyed and made faces as if they smelled decomp. And I realize that my son is seeing the same thing I am. So I say, “Doesn’t he look great?”
I read the same passage differently from you. To me, it sounded like it was HIS idea and that HE was excited about it. As the day neared, he had second thoughts because he wasn't sure about the propriety of dressing as a girl. His mother (rightly) assured him that it was fine if that's what he wanted to be. That's how I read it.
Date: November 4th, 2010 8:27 PM Author: Chartreuse vengeful international law enforcement agency
Sounds to me like the kid had more sense than she did and she mothered him into doing what she wanted him to do. Then she goes on to blog about how she doesn't care if her son is "gay" even though no one said anything about that about that but her. Some mothers said it probably wasn't a good idea to have him dressed up like a girl, especially since he was "visibly nervous." Even if it was his idea and he REALLY wanted to do it (doesn't sound like that's what happened, even if you take the bitch's words at face value, which you shouldn't), this is how it sounds to me:
Kid: I want to be daphne from scooby doo.
Mom: HEY EVERYONE MY SON IS GAY. or not. Even if he is gay, that's okay. It's nobody's business if my five year-old is gay.
It sounded to me like the mothers were more vehemently against the idea of him dressing up as a girl, saying that she should have actively talked him out of it or that next year she should "forbid" it. Anyway, like I said above, posting about it might have been questionable, but I fully support her mothering and telling him it's ok to be a girl for Halloween.
Date: November 4th, 2010 8:36 PM Author: Chartreuse vengeful international law enforcement agency
lol HE tried to talk HER out of it. its perfectly credited to take into account things like the desire not be socially ostracized and weigh it against his desire to wear a dress to school. he's SUPPOSED to be learning shit like that.
But it doesn't sound like HE was traumatized or that HE was ostracized. It sounded like his friends were greeting him and high fiving him and he was perfectly happy. It's the MOTHERS who were upset.
Date: November 4th, 2010 8:51 PM Author: Chartreuse vengeful international law enforcement agency
she said several of HER friends high-fived him - not his friends. things have not changed that much since we went to school. of course he looked like a little fairy and everyone thought it was weird and gay. even the 5 year-old anticipated that. you give this nutjob's version of the story too much credit. of course she isn't going to post things that contradict her telling of this. she's RIGHT! she's only posting about other moms because on top of being self-righteous, she's catty as fuck. supermom probably linked them to her blog if they weren't aware of it already.
and again, where the fuck does "gay" come from but her? "If you think that me allowing my son to be a female character for Halloween is somehow going to ‘make’ him gay then you are an idiot. Firstly, what a ridiculous concept. Secondly, if my son is gay, OK. I will love him no less."
huh? the other mothers never implied anything like that. she clearly manipulated her kid and walked in there anticipating her chance to express TOTAL SURPRISE and indignation at other people's predictable reactions. this didn't have anything to do with her kid, he didn't even want to do it.
It comes from people like in this very thread who say this is an instance of "getting soft on fagottry" or that "of course ... everyone thought it was weird and gay."
We'll just have to agree to disagree, I guess. I would have done the same thing as a mother, to encourage him to be whatever the hell he wanted.
That sounds like the nice thing to think, which is why you're thinking it. But the kid's just not going to see it that way when he's grown up. He's not going to appreciate her open-mindedness.
Date: November 4th, 2010 9:01 PM Author: Chartreuse vengeful international law enforcement agency
you don't take into account the fact that he weighed the social consequences against his relatively weak and unimportant desire to dress up like a girl. she's not telling him not to follow his passion of playing the piano because its effeminate or something (and this had NOTHING to do with him being "gay"). he changed his mind, and she should have let him do that if what she really cared about was letting him develop into his own person with his own values. this wasn't a case of that to begin with and if it had been, she still did the wrong thing.
the mother obviously is baiting people, hoping they will make big deal about her GAY SON so she can be a martyr and get attention.
she probably hopes the school disciplines him or sends him home because of his provocative costume, or else that some other students beat him up, so she can get on the local news, and then maybe on Oprah!
oh, what a courageous and freethinking MOMMY! she's so bighearted to love her GAY (Or not Gay) SON JUST THE WAY HE IS! Hurrah for her!! Hurrah for her GAY (Or not Gay) SON!
Date: November 4th, 2010 8:30 PM Author: the penis
Oh rina. There are sharks out here.
She was factually wrong in assuring her son that it was "all right" to dress as a girl. She's being a major ass trying to promote a progressive or tolerant agenda--esp. By blowing her sons pic up on the internet.
I could deal with a gay son but not a self-aggrandizing shrew of a baby momma.
Date: November 4th, 2010 8:35 PM Author: Chartreuse vengeful international law enforcement agency
tcr if the kid was old enough to have developed a sexual preference and she was trying to defend his right to be a homosexual, that's one thing. sounds more like he (might have) wanted to dress up like a girl for halloween, then took into account things like other people making fun of him, etc., and changed his mind. but she wouldn't let him, drove him to school while he's sick with worry, dragged him out of the car and paraded him around in front of everyone he knows irl, then posted a picture of him on the internet with huge words over his face that say MY SON IS GAY.
She's clearly uncomfortable living around religious people in Kansas and wants to shock them. I think that's the subtext. She's just chosen a terrible, demeaning way to do it.
This kid could become a serial killer because of the lifelong shame he will likely feel from this. Moms don't realize that their sons don't find the same things cute and adorable that they do.
*Sigh* I guess in this modern age all we can do is focus on ourselves and ignore the insanity and tragedy around us.
Date: November 4th, 2010 8:51 PM Author: Dashing Laser Beams
I don't support any mom in the article. I do, however, support the son.
There are two places, I think, where this goes awry:
(1) Mom's naivete. Look, she sends her little boy to a Christian preschool. He would have had problems dressing up like a girl in a non-denominational, secular, progressive preschool. That she could possibly be so naive to believe that he would encounter no difficulties being dressed as a girl is absurd. Absolutely absurd.
I find that liberal women will occasionally use this kind of faux-innocent justification when dealing with the hard realities of the world. It is "victim blaming," for example, when one observes that a woman should not walk through certain neighborhoods alone at night. Now, of course it is victim-blaming to observe this ex post, as though it justifies what happens. A woman who chooses to do x, y, or z thing, which is known to increase the likelihood of rape, still cannot rightly be blamed for being raped. Rape is a volitional act by an aggressor.
Nevertheless, to ignore, in the spirit of liberal equanimity, the obvious when it comes to taking measures to prevent rape? Like, not getting black-out drunk with strangers, or not dressing provocatively in shady areas, or whatever? Well, you aren't dealing with the world as it is. You are dealing with the world as you think it, by rights, should be.
That's fine when you want to internalize the cost of that. Go get raped on your own time. But don't take it out on those in your care.
She knew, or should have known, that her son would have been ridiculed. And by pretending that she didn't, she wasn't forced to make a hard choice: expose her child to ridicule, or permit him to express himself. She wanted it all for her little boy. Now, perhaps she can't be blamed for wanting that, but being a parent isn't just about loving your children. It's about knowing better than them, too.
(2) "Mine is not to dictate what is ‘normal’ and what is not, but to help him become a good person."
Date: November 4th, 2010 9:02 PM Author: Dashing Laser Beams
WAIT.
SHE LIVES IN (big, midwestern town)?!
Okay. A fortiori, she knew. It's just so tacky to pretend otherwise. Just own up to it, lady. You used your own son as a teachable moment. Pretty despicable.
Date: November 5th, 2010 3:08 AM Author: Bronze arousing toaster sneaky criminal
The main issue I have with the article is the mother publicizing a potentially embarrassing Halloween costume. She doesn't say whether or not her kid got teased by other kids at school.
There are competing values here. What is more important? Self-expression in face of potential ridicule, or conformity at the expense of denial of your natural impulses. I'm not saying that one is more important than the other because there are times when it's more beneficial to conform (such as in a conservative workplace), but it's also dangerous to dissuade a young child away from expressing a certain identity solely because some people might find that identity weird or off-putting.
That's teaching the child that non-mainstream views, behaviors or opinions should be subjugated in the face of a strong, contrary mainstream view, and that non-mainstream views essentially have less value. I'm not sure I want to raise my kids with that.
It's a fucking Halloween costume. If I had a dollar for every time I saw a guy dress up as a chick for a costume party I could buy everyone in this thread a beer.
I don't like the idea of her using her son to create a teachable moment to blog about on the interwebs, but we don't know how things went down from the son's perspective, or how this once Halloween will affect his development.
Date: November 5th, 2010 5:07 AM Author: Milky address
So kids have dumb ideas all the time. That's what kids do. What parents are supposed to do is teach them why those ideas are dumb. Instead of doing that, she a) encouraged him to follow through with his dumb idea, and b) posted on the internet complete with photos of her young son following through with aforementioned dumb idea. Then, she proceeds to be outraged when she is called out on being stupid.
Date: November 5th, 2010 10:59 AM Author: Beta bipolar goal in life
Yes. And the kid only had the "dumb idea" for a brief while. He changed his mind about dressing up in the costume (kids, impulsive as they are, change their minds about shit all the time) but his mom wouldn't let him.
To me, this is roughly analogous to if the kid said "I want to be a spaceman when I grow up!" The mom then carves that statement in stone, buys him astronaut sheets, gives him picture books about space, and loudly proclaims "MY SON WILL WALK ON MARS."
Two weeks later, the kid decides he wants to be a police man instead, but the mom says "SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU'RE GOING TO BE AN ASTRONAUT AND I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYBODY SAYS."
Date: November 5th, 2010 10:07 AM Author: hideous pozpig public bath
Those of you talking about the kids free will, did you read the blog? The kid thought better of it, realized it was ridiculous and tried to back out. The mother insisted he go through with it and then publicized it. The mother waited for an opportunity to seize on how progressive she was and used her son to show people how forward thinking she is. This is disgusting.
Date: November 5th, 2010 10:10 AM Author: Translucent Tank Hissy Fit
from teh blog
"Then as we got closer to the actual day, he stared to hem and haw about it. After some discussion it comes out that he is afraid people will laugh at him. I pointed out that some people will because it is a cute and clever costume. He insists their laughter would be of the ‘making fun’ kind. I blow it off."
"Boo doesn’t want to get out of the car. He’s afraid of what people will say and do to him. I convince him to go inside. He halts at the door. He’s visibly nervous. I chalk it up to him being a bit of a worrier in general."
Date: November 5th, 2010 10:14 AM Author: hideous pozpig public bath
Yeah the kid was clearly embarrassed and his mother forced him to go through w/ something embarrassing that could have been easily avoided. He wasn't ready for this and she forced it on him.
Date: November 5th, 2010 11:15 AM Author: Dashing Laser Beams
I love how this independent woman creates her entire online persona in terms of her relation to her husband. She seems confused, to her son's detriment.
Date: November 5th, 2010 12:24 PM Author: puce stag film tattoo
"So truly I was doing a bit of a pun"
Right, because "happy" is still what people think when you write "my son is gay"
This poor kid is going to be haunted by this the rest of his life. You almost have to HOPE he's gay at this point because the fallout will be so much worse for him if he's not. She clearly has no regrets. She could have at least taken the picture down once it started going viral but she didn't. Not only is it there, but it's her facebook pic as well.
Part of me also wonders if forcing him to wear the costume was not only for an agenda, but also "I paid good money for this costume because you insisted, so I'll be damned if you're not going to wear it." Nevermind that he had legitimate concerns about its reception.
Date: November 5th, 2010 1:20 PM Author: Aggressive swashbuckling trailer park
Would the mother still be accused of exploiting her child had she not blogged about it? When does encouraging a child to have the courage to be himself end, and exploitation to create a teachable moment begin?
If the child was an awkward preteen girl who wanted to read fat, thick dorky fantasy novels in studyhall when all of the rest of the girls were reading Sweet Valley High, would we be criticizing her mother for encouraging her to read what she wanted to read even if the kid had fears of being labeled a nerd?
Posting a photo of the child was in poor taste, but you can't find out these people's names unless you really dig (which some people will do).
If it were me, I'd encourage the child to wear the costume and not care about the taunts from petty people who he doesn't need as friends, but I'd refrain from blogging about it and if he ended up not wanting to wear the costume even after a few motherly pep-talks, I'd respect that.
Date: November 5th, 2010 1:50 PM Author: Aggressive swashbuckling trailer park
Haha true true. I'm guilty of tl; dr posts aplenty so you got me there : )
I'm torn. I don't like the idea of teaching a child that giving into bullies is more important than self-expression (since that validates the opinions of the bullies/intolerant types), but lying to the child and telling him that he won't be laughed at for dressing up as a girl is irresponsible.
I admire what the mother was trying to do but it could have been done in a more sensitive way.
Date: November 5th, 2010 1:59 PM Author: Aggressive swashbuckling trailer park
If the mother did force him, that would be wrong. I can't tell if the mother forced him, or simply convinced him to be brave and tune out any teasing. We don't know what the mother said to convince the boy to wear the costume.
I would like to hear more about the boy's day from the boy's perspective, and whether he had fun or got teased.
Date: November 5th, 2010 2:04 PM Author: Aggressive swashbuckling trailer park
No, I'd let my kid wear whatever the hell he wants to wear. If he got second thoughts about wearing what he originally really wanted to wear because he thought he'd be made fun of for it I'd tell him that it's OK if he doesn't wear it, but it's not OK for people to bully him and he shouldn't let other peoples' cruelty and intolerance spoil his holiday.
Parents should not be forcing their kids to put themselves in situations that they may not be ready for, or may be too fragile to cope with, but parents also shouldn't be reinforcing the ideas behind the bullies.
Date: November 5th, 2010 1:46 PM Author: Know-it-all School Preventive Strike
"Posting a photo of the child was in poor taste, but you can't find out these people's names unless you really dig (which some people will do)."
A simple google search of "kid dressed as daphne", which I doubt most people would label "digging" gets the real names in every single one of the first page hits.
This kid will be taunted with this picture for the rest of his life.
CNN can't say "It will get better! Stop the bullying!" for the whole last month and then stand and applaud when kids are fucking set up for it.
Date: November 5th, 2010 2:01 PM Author: Know-it-all School Preventive Strike
one expert there did. but I'm sure Anderson Cooper was thrilled by it all.
even giving her attention, which is CLEARLY all she wants, was a ridiculous move when they literally have been pounding the drum for weeks about leaving gays alone and not bullying them.
Date: November 5th, 2010 2:02 PM Author: Aggressive swashbuckling trailer park
Oh, I only read the blog post, not all of the follow-up articles on the blog. I didn't know that it got CNN coverage and I definitely didn't investigate close enough to find out the names of the parties. A few of my Facebook friends linked to the blog and were giving it kudos so I checked it out.
Don't know how appropriate it was for the other news sources to have mentioned the child's name, and I don't know if this mother could have foreseen that her blog post would go viral.
# Just now get to watch the actual CNN segment from this morning. I do want to be clear that I haven't 'outed' my son. That is not the mssg. 22 minutes ago via web
# The message is unconditional love and tolerance. That is the point I am making. 21 minutes ago via web
Also, for those that are worried about his image, is it because of what he's wearing? Are those same people worried about child models? 10 minutes ago via web
[NICE TU QUOQUE]
@ParsingNonsense I guess I can't force everyone to read the whole post, not just the first line. :( less than 20 seconds ago via web in reply to ParsingNonsense
Mommy blogger Nerdy Apple Bottom (aka Sarah Manley) is up on her hobby horse with a recent post titled, “My son is gay.” It’s the story of how her 5-year-old boy wanted to be Daphne from Scooby Doo for Halloween, then didn’t, was convinced by mom it really was a good choice and then…the fallout.
After the sensational headline, “My son is gay,” Sarah Manley goes on to say:
Or he’s not. I don’t care. He is still my son. And he is 5. And I am his mother. And if you have a problem with anything mentioned above, I don’t want to know you.
Then there’s the photo. He might be dressed as Daphne but in truth he looks more like some kind of sweet homage to the B52’s Kate Pierson dressed in hot pink and purple. In the picture, he’s perched on a big pumpkin while clutching a little purple zebra-striped purse. His smile is killer.
Mom must’ve been proud, but you can see why little Boo was somewhat hesitant about the costume. “As we got closer to the actual day, he started to hem and haw about it. After some discussion it comes out that he is afraid people will laugh at him.”
It’s a distinct possibility. But for Sarah Manley, the Daphne costume had transformed from playful to political. This might be a teachable moment for her pre-K son, whom she describes as “a worrier in general,” about the triumphs of being unconventional. It might expose him to ridicule. She is torn: “It also was heartbreaking to me that my sweet, kind-hearted five year old was right to be worried.”
But she shakes it off. “Who would make fun of a child [boy] in [a girl] costume?” Turns out a lot of people–a lot of mean mommies at her kid’s daycare. And that is a shame, particularly when you consider that little Sally or Shiloh can choose to be a cowboy or Batman without tsk-tsks and accusations of gender-bending.
Her anger at the mean mommies is valid. But she’s taken to the blogosphere with her rants (people can be mean, even to children! traditional gender distinctions aren’t fair!) at the expense of her “worrier” son’s privacy, forever and ever. Maybe he won’t mind. Maybe he will.
Here’s my point: He can wear anything he likes. And while Nerdy Apple is right in telling those mean mommies with their stares and comments that “it is none of your damn business” what her son puts on, it’s even more true that she has no damn business putting up that headline with that photo of her son on the Internet.
I wish saying, “My son is gay,” was as neutral as, “He’s a people person.” It’s not. The memory of bullying victim Tyler Clementi is still too raw. Let’s get dystopian for a moment: This post could potentially cost Boo a future visa to Iran or Uganda–or a spot in the U.S. military. Homosexuality is social and political kindling in many corners.
Now let’s dial it back: He might straight up be embarrassed. And should “out and proud” be his future–which may or may not be the case, as many little boys and girls play with gender stereotypes–it ought to be on his own terms and in his own time. I appreciate Nerdy Apple’s political point of view, but she’s gone two steps too far in oversharing by however-ironically “outing” her kid.
Here’s what some of the ForbesWoman community from Facebook had to say:
It seems like Sarah Manley might be causing her 5 y.o. more grief than help by airing his private struggles. Most of her points are well taken, & bullying of any sort is awful. I think she would help her son more by taking a less defensive approach and by not airing his life for the world to see. — Hanorah Anderson
This could cause a relationship issues for a lot of kids/parents some day when the child is older. — Duong Sheahan
That is so wrong! Any body can see that… what kind of mother is she? — Lorelei Evans
This is THE central problem to all mommy blogging. Children are not characters in a blog’s storyline. They are real people, with feelings–and a long memory.