Thursday, June 07, 2012

Penney ad for Fathers Day


The Vancouver Sun newspaper reports:
American retailer J.C. Penney has recently released a Father's Day print ad showing a real-life same-sex couple hugging their two young kids. "What makes Dad so cool?" reads the copy. "He's the swim coach, tent maker, best friend, bike fixer and hug giver -- all rolled into one. Or two."

J.C. Penney has proven (again) that it is committed to including the gay community. Indeed, the retailer caused a commotion earlier this year when it employed openly gay talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres as its spokeswoman. Despite being accused of abandoning "traditional values" by conservative groups like One Million Moms, the retailer stuck with their spokeswoman, saying that "Ellen represents the values of our company."
This is a terrible image for Father's Day. No, these are not dads. These are two white non-married American gay men who managed to somehow adopt two kids from overseas. One is an Asian boy and the other is a Central American girl. These men did not father these kids.

Worse, the men are praised for things like being a "swim coach". Being a parent is a lot more than being a swim coach. He is not a "best friend". He directs the upbringing of the child.

Would an ad for Mothers Day say, "She's the dance coach, doll maker, best friend, button fixer and hug giver -- all rolled into one. Or two."? Such an ad would trivialize moms, and the JC Penney ad trivializes dads.

The men are not actors, but a real-life Texas couple.

Some people want a boycott:
Having previously threatened to boycott JCPenney after Ellen DeGeneres was tapped for a spokesperson role, One Million Moms once again fired off against the Texas-based retail group online. "One Million Moms (OMM) is disturbed that JC Penney's (JCP) is continuing down the same path of promoting sin in their advertisements," the group, which also slammed JCPenney's decision to feature a lesbian couple in its Mother's Day Catalog, wrote on their website. "We must remain diligent and stand up for Biblical values and truth. Scripture says multiple times that homosexuality is wrong, and God will not tolerate this sinful nature."
I do not go that far. I am not complaining about what these men do in private. My complaint is about the systematic devaluation of fathers in our society.

The LGBT crowd is only 1-2% of our population, and few would even notice if they kept their private affairs private. But talk of same-sex marriage is throughout the news media, and now even in advertising campaigns. Pres. Barack Obama has decided that he needs their support for his re-election.

Hardly any gay men want to get a same-sex marriage and then adopt kids. Hardly any lesbians want to either. The gay shrink Bret K. Johnson pretends to be a child psychologist, but he would not want to have anything to do with any real kids. The main reason for lesbian marriage is to cut fathers out of the child's life.

Am I wrong here? If so, tell me why JC Penney is running this ad for Fathers Day. The ad is offensive and insulting, and denies what fatherhood is all about.

69 comments:

John said...

As a straight, married father, I wholeheartedly disagree with you. I know many within the LGBT community who would love to get married and adopt children. I don't see how their commitment to raising a child diminishes your roll as a father in the slightest.

Furthermore, being gay isn't just about what one does in the privacy of one's bedroom any more than being straight is. Are you only straight in your bedroom? Are you only straight while having sex? No. You are straight all of the time. The LGBT community deserves to be who they are openly. If they want to commit to raising children, they should be able to.

Two loving, attentive parents of any sex are always a good thing.

I realize I'm not going to change your mind, but I just felt like I had to at least vent.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the above comment. I am a straight male fahter, too.

Upset with J.C. Penny ? Don't shop there.

Anonymous said...

As a married gay guy. Uhm, what?

Do you know any gay couples?

Anonymous said...

"The main reason for lesbian marriage is to cut fathers out of the child's life." ... How uneducated are you? As a straight female, I am devastated that YOU are raising children.

George said...

Several comments disagree with me, but it is not clear why. Do you agree with the JCP ad or not?

Daniel said...

You are wrong. Your prejudice is very obvious. I am a gay man and having kids is a dream of mine and I know plenty who do as well. These two men obviously wanted kids very badly to adopt them. What do you mean they didn't father them? That's exactly what they are doing. There is nothing offensive about the ad. I find your article offensive.

Ron Sly said...

This post is so out of touch with reality that it is truly amazing. The author is basically arguing to erase gender and sexual minorities, diminish their parenthood to a lower status than his own, and has no concept of the many, many different family types of LGBT people. He is under the illusion that somehow the fact that I want to be a father "devalues" other fatherhood. How absolutely absurd.

I whole-heartedly support JC Penney's efforts to represent ALL types of fathers, and frankly, I feel sorry for this guy's kid.

You sir, are abhorrent. You are a bigot. One day your children will hate you for filling their minds with such vile tripe and for forcing them to painfully deprogram themselves in order to become decent human beings.

Anonymous said...

Don't be devastated that George is raising children. He's not. He's
blaming a Gay man and a Jew for not being able to see his children.

George, get a clue. People are agreeing with JCP. Choose to understand and you might understand.

Kate said...

Speaking as someone who is gay, with a (lawful) wife, I have no desire to cut fathers out of the child's life whatsoever.

I worked for a large adoption site, and saw first hand the power that adoption can make in children's lives. Foster care can be a crapshoot, and any child that can get into a loving, caring, stable home with two supportive parents is a great thing.

My spouse and I are working towards being in a place where we will be financially, emotionally, and logistically ready to care for a child. One of the things we have talked about is how we can keep male role models in the kids lives, because we feel they are important. That's part of why many adoption agencies (such as the Independent Adoption Center, which caters to the LGBT community) choose to do open adoptions, and keep the biological parents in the children's lives as much as possible. Some parents aren't in a position to raise children on their own, and so they allow others to raise them, while staying in their children's lives as much as possible.

My brother was adopted, and I felt the exact same towards him as any of my other siblings. When my [straight] parents adopted, it was about providing him a stable family, not stripping fathers away. When we will adopt, it will be no different. There are a lot of people in this world, and some of them are in need of a good home. I bear no ill will towards those that choose to conceive, but I have always figured that if I have room in my heart, and room in my home, then somewhere there's a child right now that deserves it. Some of those children have a biological father that wants to stay in their lives, some don't.

It's about families, not agendas.

Rhombus said...

Actually, our best statistics put the LGB population somewhere around 2-13%, a hefty margin of error. Even so, you think we have to be ignored because we're in the minority?

Kindly remove yourself from the voter registry.

Anonymous said...

Because these fathers adopted their children, they are not fathers? So are you saying that children in adoption agencies can never actually have parents?

Also, your statistics are off. 7-8% of the population is LGBT, according to the latest nationally representative polls: http://www.lehmiller.com/blog/2012/1/16/what-percentage-of-the-population-is-gay.html?SSScrollPosition=258

Ferin said...

As a gay man living with his partner of 3 and a half years, marriage has been on my mind a lot lately. Adoption's something we've talked about, but haven't made a decision on. It's something on the minds of the millions of GLBT folk who've joined together over the past decade or so to demand equal rights to marry our loved ones, regardless of their gender. So there's that to start with.

Next on the hit parade, exactly how does this ad demean you as a father? How would a similar ad targeted to Lesbian couples demean women as mothers? No where does that ad say "straight married opposite sex parents will never be this good". It says "hey, dads are great, and some kids have two dads, and that's pretty cool".

Were you planning to go overseas and adopt those kids, take them out of a foster system or orphanage and bring them home to a life of plenty in a land of opportunity? Got any plans to go down to a local adoption agency and take in some of the hundreds of thousands of kids who cry themselves to sleep every night hoping for any family at all to love them and take them home?

You ever bother to look at the objective scientific research that shows the only harm that comes to kids of gay parents more than their straight parented counterparts is that they have to deal with the crap bigots like you throw at them? Or is that just another case where reality has a liberal bias?

Tell you what. When every anti gay bigot like you goes out and adopts at least one kid from the foster system, come and talk to me about how our decision to adopt, or this ad celebrating one couple's love for their kid's, somehow hurts you.

Anonymous said...

Please stop making statements based on what you think gay couples want, as you clearly don't have any idea. You also seem to have some laughably ignorant views on what it actually means to be gay or lesbian.

Anonymous said...

I wish to marry my partner and have kids.

We will raise them better than your parents as they will not be discriminatory asshats.

Cami said...

First of all, and this goes to the poster and all replies that are against this ad:

people don't like what they don't understand.

That came straight from the mouth of Kody Brown, the all-too-well-known Mormon Fundamentalist who has a reality show with four wives. Consider it.

Now for your actual post...

This entire post was an insult to my intelligence. Half the things you said were so ignorant I'm embarrassed for you. Do you seriously think those loving men cared what the JC Penney ad said? Hell, they probably weren't allowed to know what it said as long as it wasn't derogatory.

For this, I commend JC Penney and that beautiful gay couple. They are taking a stand and proving that it doesn't matter what race, religion, nationality, or sexuality you may possess. You also don't have to "FATHER CHILDREN" to be a FATHER. That was probably the most ignorant thing I read out of that entire post. Yeah, maybe the way the ad was written sucked (not to me, but maybe other people), but at the same time, do you really think those men knew? Shit, do you think they CARED? Absolutely not.

Usually, I really enjoy reading your blog -- I lurk often. However, after this blast of complete idiocy, I'm going to have to relinquish my follow and ignore your blog forever. Enjoy being ignorant.

Cami said...

And Ferin, if you see this, thank you. You are going to make an AMAZING father. And if your partner is half as passionate as you (which I'm sure he is), your child(ren) are going to be really good people. Good for you. <3

George said...

I am ignoring the ad hominem attacks, and answering the specific quesions.

Anonymous, your link cites a 1994 study that 2% of adults identify as homosexual, and concludes, "In short, although we cannot say with certainty what percentage of the population is gay, the best available scientific evidence suggests that the numbers are probably a little lower than most of us think." It also mentions this study, but I don't see any estimate of homosexuality in that.

Cami, I do not know whether the Texas gay couple cared about the ad. I did not express any opinion about what they thought of it.

Ferin, yes, a similar ad targeted to Lesbian couples demean women as mothers. No, I was not going to adopt an overseas kid. If you have relevant scientific research, go ahead and post it.

Anonymous said...

I am a gay man who intends to legally marry my boyfriend and have children (biologically mine).

This image is inspirational to me and sets a good message on the reality of the gay community.

Anonymous said...

I'm extremely curious as to why you think this as devalues fatherhood. You really didn't explain that issue very well.

Rene Rosechild said...

Yes, you are wrong. What makes a man a father? Caring for, taking responsibility for, loving and raising children. Anyone can sire a child, but only a father can raise one. Including all fathers does not devalue any, and I can't understand why you think it would. So salute to all fathers, including these two.

Dylan said...

Um...how exactly is this "offensive and insulting," exactly and how does the fatherhood of gay men devalue the fatherhood of straight men?
Also, why do you assume few gay people want to marry/have kids? Have you ever actually met a gay person (beyond just saying hi...I mean getting to know personally)? As far as I can tell, this assumption is based on the outdated stereotype that the gay community is more promiscuous than the straight community and is full of people only interested in casual sex.
As a gay man who wants the same opportunities as straight men, I am offended by this hateful blog post, and completely support the ad.

Dylan said...

Also, I know this goes against the name of your blog, but you should calm down about this ad. I mean, how exactly does this affect you to make you so up in arms about it?

Maybe you should just calm down and accept that some people are gay, and some of those people want to marry and raise children, and not have to hide it.

Tyler said...

You're extremely ignorant. Do you actually believe you have to be a biological father in order to be a father? I don't understand your logic. As a straight man, I am much more offended by your oblivious article than I would ever be by this FAMILY. I hope your kids don't grow up to be as narrow-minded and ignorant as you are.

Unknown said...

There are just so many things wrong with this.
Most gay men who are in a committed relationship/want to get married don't want children? Really? I can literally name 7 gay couples that I know personally who have adopted/are trying to adopt or who are using a surrogate/have used one. These are wealthy, upstanding citizens and wonderful parents who deserve all the same recognition and respect as any heterosexual father.

By saying " No, these are not dads. These are two white non-married American gay men who managed to somehow adopt two kids from overseas. One is an Asian boy and the other is a Central American girl. These men did not father these kids.", are you saying that adoptive parents don't count anymore? What about a straight man who adopts with his wife? Would you consider him a father? Don't try to pretend that you are upset because you feel like your role as a parent is being trivialized. This is because you are a homophobe, plain and simple.

Nobody likes a bigot, and I truly hope that you catch up with the world before it leaves you behind. People like you 60 years ago would be using racial slurs and promoting segregation.

Anonymous said...

"You're extremely ignorant. Do you actually believe you have to be a biological father in order to be a father?"

That was the norm before it was decided the biological father could be used and abused as what the mother wanted.


"Upset with J.C. Penny ? Don't shop there."

good advice for homos that are turned away. But judging from the responses here that came out of nowhere, they are a bunch of hypocrites.
As are you, for you won't give out the same advice to them for the fear of being branded "homophobic".

Anonymous said...

The commentor above me is a dickhead :(
just sayin'

Anonymous said...

"Most gay men who are in a committed relationship/want to get married don't want children? "

How many gay men are actually in these committed relationships?

"Don't try to pretend that you are upset because you feel like your role as a parent is being trivialized. "

You don't get that an ad for Father's Day that doesn't represent fathers but a small minority of already small minority of sexually dysfunctional people who have delusions of a 'normal' life with kids is not offensive to fathers?

"This is because you are a homophobe, plain and simple.Nobody likes a bigot, and I truly hope that you catch up with the world before it leaves you behind. People like you 60 years ago would be using racial slurs and promoting segregation."

Indeed, the world has regressed to unimaginable idiotic heights.

George said...

If I am ignorant or uneducated, then please correct my facts and post a link to some reliable source to back up what you say. Yes, most gay men don't want kids. Most lesbian couples with kids do not want a man to take a father role to their kids. If I am wrong, please prove me wrong.

Anonymous said...

Aged 22 gay male... looking forward to raising kids some day.

Dyllan said...

I guess there's no convincing the angry dad to treat LGBT people like human beings :(

Kate said...

@George,

Generally, the one who is making the accusation has the burden of proof.

Per the Williams Institute analysis of the US census:

A new Williams Institute analysis of Census 2010 data shows that nearly 132,000 (20%) of the nearly 650,000 same-sex couples in the U.S. identified as spouses. Data further showed that 31% of couples who identified as spouses and 14% of unmarried partners are raising children. The analyses in the new national report use new estimates of same-sex couples released by the Census Bureau that revise tabulations released earlier this summer.

48 percent of households in this country include a husband and wife, and of those, around 2/3 have a child under 18.

Anonymous said...

@ George

If YOU are right, and all gays/lesbians do not want to marry and adopt children and so on, please, please post scientific research and studies and back up YOUR claims. Because you, sir, cannot claim your opinions as facts without citation and linking back credible sources. I am curious to see what you dig up.

Because I'm sure those of us who are gay have a better authority on what we want then a straight person who has no clue or first hand experience what the LGBT community is fighting and thriving for.

Anonymous said...

My partner of 28 years and I have had a daughter by surrogacy. She is ten now. I volunteer weekly at her school to help with math, or coach her robotics team, or just to read with her classmates. I am always the age-group parent at swim team. She is the best thing to ever happen to me.

We've been together since 17 years before she was born, and we'll be together until one of us dies.

This doesn't make us better than you -- just different.

Hopefully, one day you will see that you, too might not be better than us -- just different.

I truly hope for the sake of your kids, that you obviously love, than none of them turn out to be anything other than "straight" before you learn that lesson.

George said...

When I make a statement about MOST people, it is not a statement about ALL people. For example, if I say that most people have 2 legs, you do not need to tell me that someone does not have 2 legs.

Mantronikk said...

@George

Don't let them label you as a homophobe. See heteroseparatist.com

Mantronikk said...

@George

Don't let them marginalize you as a "homophobe." See heteroseparatist.com.

Anonymous said...

Your blatant homophobia aside, how can you say that because someone didn't sire their child they're not a Dad. As the Asian daughter of a man and woman who did not naturally give birth to me, I'm disgusted that you could feel the need to judge my father for not being a 'Dad.' A father has little to do with the genetics and everything to do with how they raise their child.

If anyone is trivializing the role of fathers it's you not J.C Penny's. You have no right.

Anonymous said...

I think you need to put yourself in the shoes of a gay man (I know you may not want to, but just try). Try and understand the great hatred that these people endure. Regardless, they still want things that "regular" people want, and one such thing is becoming a parent. Being a parent has nothing to do with where you got your child. A man who adopts a child or a woman who raises her dead sisters child or a neighbor who raises a child after the kid has been kicked out of his home.. ALL of these people are more worthy of being called "mom" or "dad" than many heterosexual married couples I know. Please, be a little considerate. I want to have children one day and raise them with another man, and I know many other LGBT individuals do to. And regardless, even if there were not a lot of people who wanted to be same-sex parents, we can't just say they can't be parents because there aren't enough of them. That's a bit ridiculous. You sound like an intelligent man so I'll hope that you understand the points I am trying to make. Please, just open your mind a bit and you'll realize that we are people too :)

Jas said...

Obviously, with thoughts like these, you cannot be not much of a dad, dear sir. It's time to abandom myth and emotion, learn the facts and make what is real your truth. And then you can be a dad to look up to, even to a son like me... a gay kid, who dreams of being married and raising kids someday. Don't be like my dad.

Dylan said...

"When I make a statement about MOST people, it is not a statement about ALL people"

You're still making a generalization, though. For example, if you said MOST Asian people are bad drivers, that would be making a racist generalization. If you said MOST women only want to be a housewife that would be a sexist generalization. Saying that MOST gay people don't want serious relationships that involve raising children, that is a homophobic generalization.

(You, sir, just got schooled)

Anonymous said...

Yes, you're wrong... as usual. Your statement that "Hardly any gay men want to get a same-sex marriage and then adopt kids. Hardly any lesbians want to either." is in direct opposition to accepted facts:

"Even though in 2008 there were only a few states where you could get legally married, a large portion of same-sex couples either were married or chose to use that term," said Gary Gates, a demographer at UCLA who is advising the Census Bureau."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/22/census-gay-marriages-numb_n_294322.html

George said...

The census article says that there are 150k same-sex couples in a relationship akin to "husband" and "wife". Of these, 66k are men. It does not say how many of these have kids or wants kids, but it is presumably much less.

Another commenter says that 7% of the population is gay. If so, then there are about 10 million gay males in the USA. The vast majority of them are not in a relationship akin to same-sex marriage. So nothing in the article contradicts what I said.

john said...

George, the burden of proof is on you to provide sources for what you said, not for others to provide sources to prove you wrong. That's not how debate works.

Alex said...

I am a queer man, and I would love to have kids someday. Being queer hasn't really curbed my desire to have kids, as far as I know. I just hope that the society I live in will be understanding enough to give me the same chance in adopting a child that any straight person in similar circumstances would have.

Anonymous said...

Exactly as John says. The burden of proof is on YOU.

I am a gay man who wants to marry and wants to have kids.

Anonymous said...

Everyone here has made valid points dismissing what you have said about parenthood and gay marriage. I'd like to add something about President Barack Obama. You said that he has spoken in favor of gay marriage because he wants votes? Really? Because the LGBT votes would have gone to Romney?? Ha!

Utter Randomness said...

It takes more than genetics to make a father.

George said...

I said, "Pres. Barack Obama has decided that he needs their support for his re-election." Not just LGBT votes, he also needs their fundraising and their leftist allies.

Kate said...

To be fair, it's not really an apples-to-apples comparison anyway.

Gay people often face significant stigma in their family and work life, which can rather hurt one's ability to form loving, stable, committed relationships.

I was forced to choose between my biological family, and my spouse (due in no small part to their religious beliefs). I made that choice, but it hurt. Quite a lot, in fact.

Many people break up with each other, or go into loveless "straight" marriages rather than face the societal and familial shame. It's telling that so many gay people are in committed relationships anyway.

Anonymous said...

Yes because the leftist allies were going to support the right this year.

Anonymous said...

Here are my problems with what you wrote:

First, you say that only the biological father of someone can be their dad. Can see understand not only why many people would consider that incorrect, but also insulting to the many step-dads, adoptive fathers, grandfathers that provide a fatherly role, and many other people?

Second, you say it trivializes dads when these men raise their children and are involved in their lives. How does caring and nurturing an adopted child trivialize fatherhood? If anything, your above view that the most important thing a dad does is be the genetic donor to the child trivializes it far more.

Also, you make a broad claim without any backing - that few gay men want to be married and raise children. What if I was to make a claim that few straight men want to be married and raise children, and that you should have to prove me wrong. Do you see the error in your logic?

Finally, most gay men and lesbians do want to keep their private affairs private, but people with views similar to yours insist on intruding on their private lives and stopping them from getting married, adopting, and other things you take for granted. However, some will appear in ads just like some straight fathers appear in ads. If this is what bothers you, then why have you not posted similar blogs about when straight fathers are profiled in ads?

George said...

No, I did not insult the many step-dads, adoptive fathers, grandfathers that provide a fatherly role. They may provide a fatherly role, but they are not the fathers.

Being a genetic is certainly not the only thing that makes a father. I posted a followup explanation on this point.

If you claimed that few straight men want to be married and raise children, I would simply point to the 50+ million men who do exactly that. It is a smaller proportion of the population than it was 50 years ago, but it is still huge.

I am not what is keeping LGBT folks in the news. They are relentlessly lobbying to force people to accept their lifestyles. I do attack straight ads that portray negative images of dads.

Anonymous said...

Totally disagree with your narrow definition of a father. Any male with a penis can make a baby, but that does not automatically make him the father.

If a man rapes a married woman, and she has that child and the child is raised in that family and her husband holds that child out to be his own, treats that child like his others, do you think he is not a father, just because he did not "plant the seed?" Is that child not truly related to his siblings?

Modern dictionaries have different ways to define a father. Some important ones for you to consider are:
- a man who provides care and protection
- a male parent
- any male acting in a paternal capacity
- to perform the tasks or duties of a male parent; act paternally
- a father-in-law, stepfather, or adoptive father.

You are describing a "biological father" and that is not a "father" all of the time.

In my family, I have one daughter who was not "fathered" by me, yet she's been my daughter since she was born and always will be. When her mother and I separated, she chose to try and claim that I was not the father in the same manner that you are arguing and that the man that biologically fathered her and hasn't been around (by his choice) for her entire life is the true father. To date, not a single court professional has agreed with her in the slightest, and I continue to be the custodial parent to my "step-daughter."

Anonymous said...

* correction: instead of saying "that does not automatically make him the father" I should have said "a father" yes, he would still technically be the biological father.

Anonymous said...

"They are relentlessly lobbying to force people to accept their lifestyles. "
Gays simply want the same civil rights as everyone else. No more, no less.

Anonymous said...

41 year old man, been with my mate 20 years. Your claims that gay men don't want kids is patently wrong has been dis-proven simply by the number of us who have responded to this poorly thought out post, let alone the numbers of people in same-sex relationships who either are, or are trying to be, parents.

Simply being a male and siring a child doesn't define "fatherhood" at this point in history/culture.

You seem simple-minded so I'll be less harsh, but seriously what is your intent in posting this? It's disappointing.

Chelsea said...

You seem to be misreading the ad. It says "What makes Dad so Cool", not "What makes a Dad a Dad". My father is my best friend, my baseball coach, bike marathon partner. He is also the man who raised me and directed my growth as a human being, ensuring I became the best I can be. If you think those two sets of descriptors are mutually exclusive, you are woefully ignorant about the many ways to be a good father. It's certainly not devaluing anybody, unless you think that being your child's best friend has no value to you. In which case, I pity your child.

I'm surprised at your outrage that the two men pictured in the ad can't possibly have made genetic contributions to the two children. Isn't that what adoption is? I'm not sure what your point is there: that you don't see your family reflected back at you in an ad, and therefore it is not an accurate portrayal of an American family?

A similar ad about mothers would not be demeaning in any way. The message of the ad is specific to the family pictured. It's a common marketing technique, where the model family is meant to be speaking to the readers/viewers. To apply the labels of "swim coach, tent maker, best friend, bike fixer and hug giver" to all fathers would be ludicrous, just like applying the labels of "dance coach, doll maker, best friend, button fixer and hug giver" to every mother is absurd. If the ad were meant to be representative of every father ever, I'm sure the marketing team would have been lost somewhere at "He's my dad - or they both are. And that's cool." Which still lacks anything that smacks of offense, really.

As for your assertion that gay couples don't actually want to get married and adopt children, I really am shocked. You think "talk of same-sex marriage is throughout the news media" because all the straight people want to give it to us? You're sorely mistaken if you think that we're clamoring for equal treatment under the law because we just like making noise for the heck of it. But then again, I guess the tremendous number of gay couples that you know must not want to get married or adopt, so that must mean it's okay to deny the rights to the whole bunch of gays, right? Because the ones that you know (I'm assuming you know gay couples that don't want to get married or adopt. Let me know if I'm off base here.) are really the only ones that matter, right?

I also believe your statistics are off. The percentage of the American population reporting as LGBT identified is more like 7-8%.

I wholeheartedly support this ad from JC Penney, not just because is wonderful to see support for all families in the media, and because it is evocative and reminds me of all the things my father was and still is to me, but also because there is really no logical reason to disagree with it. I keep trying to see the whole picture from your point of view, since your post was astonishingly lacking in misguided religious rhetoric, but now I'm just disappointed to see you're a bigot, and you offer only outdated statistics and incorrect assumptions to justify your bigotry and ignorance. You've (justifiably) refused to respond to ad hominem attacks and told other commenters that they should present relevant scientific research to validate their arguments, and yet you fail to do the same. The only mildly scientific part of your post was that you used the word "psychologist" once, and then you followed it up by claiming that the only reason lesbian marriages exist is to cut fathers out of childrens' lives? I'm wondering where the evidence for that is...

Luke said...

I am a gay (20) male whos life goal is to get married and adopt a daughter.

The fact that I want to be married to another loving man would NOT devalue me as a father.

In fact it is people like you. People like you are the reason why we are devalued as fathers:
"If same-sex marriage does disadvantage kids in any way, it has nothing to do with their parent's gender and everything to do with society's reaction toward the families, said Indiana University sociologist Brian Powell, the author of 'Counted Out: Same-Sex Relations and Americans' Definitions of Family' (Russell Sage Foundation, 2010). "

The JC penny ad is RIGHT. YOU are wrong. YOU are insulting and offensive. No father should teach their son(s) or daughter(s) to be hateful to others whom do not deserve it. If you are feeding your children the same hate that you are showing now, how can you call yourself a father?


Also, this is for you to read.
http://www.livescience.com/17913-advantages-gay-parents.html

Cullen Maglothin said...

As a gay man, I want to get married and have children. Fuck you.

Don't be angry, you'd be so pretty if you smiled said...

Woooow, George, you're another angry, radical MRAnazi, never seen one of those before.

I'm confused though, you're critiquing an advertisement that features a male couple...but you're demonizing lesbians because they aren't sexually attracted to men, which means that lesbians marrying is some huge conspiracy to deny men rights? I just don't see the link. In fact, I think that you've made up a link between the advertisement and your misogyny and homophobia so that you can blow wind on your blog.

Go polish your guns and leave people capable of loving each other and raising children despite gender or sexuality to do it, rather than people with toxic anger and radical, damaging conservative ideas, such as you.

Anonymous said...

With these vitriolic comments, the question any rational human being should ask is, "what kind of children will these people raise?"

Clearly, the LGBT "community" is a humbly persecuted class offered absolutely no protections or advantages by government whatsoever. Our hearts go out to these brave soldiers. March on!

George said...

No, I am not demonizing lesbians because they aren't sexually attracted to men.

Hack said...

I agree with the author of this post 100%. Valuing traditional fatherhood doesn't equal homophobia. Get that through your heads.

Anonymous said...

Regarding the picture ad and text, I have to disagree with a couple of things. First, to say "Pals" is, in my opinion, not a healthy way to raise ANY child - wheter the child be from a heterosexual couple or a homosexual couple. There has been a trend in this country over recent decades to become "best friends" with your child. I was always against this, and feel it devalues the parent/child relationship; kids need discipline; character building; guidance; and self-respect. This would be a difficult scenario if you and your young child is your "pal". The ad also mentions "roles" of the couple towards the kids - the roles seems superficial to me - whether these be roles of hetero or homosexual parents. Commanding respect is a function of parenthood; through this, the child learns to respect himself/herself. Kids and parents, in my opinion, should not have a "pal"-type relationship. Healthy discipline is an aspect of child-rearing, and being one's pal makes this difficult to achieve. That said, I feel that all people should have the same rights, and a loving couple - whether homosexual or heterosexual - has the capacity to raise a healthy child. Any parent(s) though - wheter homosexual or heterosexual - should not force their belief systems on their children. Of course, the kids need to be guided until they are old enough to make their own decisions, about thin liek religion, politics, etc. Any helathy relationship encourages healthy dissent/disagreement, otherwise we are nothing but robots! Barbara

Stacy said...

I'm a religious woman and I have to say that these brainwashed LGBTs are making me sick.

Gay men: How is leaving a WOMAN out of a child's life not MISOGYNIST?! How can you separate HALF of humanity from a child's life? How can you just use a woman as a surrogate and degrade her dignity?

Oh wait. You're feminists. But here's the deal: feminism is wrong and is an aberration.

Lesbian women: How is leaving a MAN out of a child's life not MISANDRIST?!

Gays: the most INTOLERANT people in all of the universe. Narrow-minded people who think they're open-minded.

Children need BOTH a FATHER and a MOTHER. Not "loving relationships".

Gay guyish said...

Gays can't see the writing on the wall. Gays are going to have a hard time finding families sho sympathize with us the future. Why?

"Straight fathers" who like gays are going to be nearly non-existent in the future since feminists and liberal women don't have a lot of kids. And actively avoid them thanks to contraception and abortion.

LGBTs listen to me: our straight allies are nearly all in the feminist camp. They are all shrinking in size.

Going after traditional religious people and patriarchal men and telling them we want marriage and families is not going to cut it.

George said...

I write this blog from a father's point of view, but it is my opinion that kids need mothers also.

Anonymous said...

This is a great post.

It is sad that many Americans think warm feelings justify vice. Remember, homosexuality and other perversions are a symptom, not the larger problem itself. The problem is a rejection of Jesus as God and King.

When people have no king they become a law unto themselves. Transgress their law and they take out the pitchforks.

Anonymous said...

If all the gay guys and lesbians want to marry, they can do so in every state, right now, and have been able to do for centuries. All they have to do is find someone of the opposite sex willing to marry them. QED. One person of opposite sex -- that is what marriage has been in America since it started.