Saw this on Facebook posted by Being Liberal

[ashling]

Being Liberal
‎ W) My hope for the future of humanity just doubled, after reading this letter from our young liberal fan :

"I am a 15 year old girl, born and raised in southern Virginia, surrounded by bigotry, ignorance and hatred. I finally found some people as open-minded as myself and i'm glad about that. Anyway, i was sitting in a photography place and let me just tell you, this place was packed with screaming children and aggravated parents. But there were these three particular children that caught my eye. They were probably ranging from 2-5 years old, and instead of being rowdy like the rest of the kids, they were the most well-behaved children I'd seen. As they were walking out, one of the daughters even tidy'd up where they were sitting, and pushed in the chairs. These were the children of a gay couple. How does gay marriage destroy children again? Please, inform me when you find out. Because, from what I was shown today, these children were loved, and also disciplined but not by being yelled at like what the other parents were doing to their children. Hm. I don't believe for one bit that gay marriage is bad at all, and maybe that's my bias against this whole situation but I'd rather be for love than against it.

-Lindsay"

[Rider3]

1. That warmed my heart...

... and gives me hope. Thank you for posting!

[freshwest]

2. Big smile here reading this!

[denvine]

3. Excellent post! Thank you.

[Cha]

4. Thanks for bringing over, ashling!

[SleeplessinSoCal]

5. This story totally confirms my recent fear about the radical right

I think they don't believe in their own cause, but they hate "libs" more than helping themselves or loving their country and will go spout ignorant rants without concern for facts or ramifications. The recent vote in the Senate to ratify the treaty for the disabled sealed the deal for me.

[Hamlette]

6. I don't think we should judge people on how well behaied their kids are

sorry, maybe its just me and of course I wasn't there so don't know but I know mothers who live and die for people to think her children are well behaved. For me, I want people to think my kids are happy.

I don't want them to annoy others but sometimes I see a prim little kid acting like an adult and I wonder if the parents are too strict or its just the kid. My son was naturally shy and not so energetic so he didn't misbehave much. My grandson, on the other hand, is a ball of fire. My lessons to him are not to be loud, stay out of people's way, clean up after yourself but if its okay to do so, running around is not always the worst thing in the world.

(Sorry, pet peeve based on d-i-l)

[Moonwalk]

7. You totally missed the point. This isn't about whether the parents were the best in the world....

...no doubt they have faults and problems like all parents and aren't always as angelic and good to their kids as they ought to be. The point, however, is that this girl lives in a place that likely doesn't want gays to raise kids at all. There are states that won't let gays adopt kids, and there are plenty of places that would OUTLAW gays from being parents if they could. Because, the argument goes, gays are bad for kids. The kids will grow up wrong, damaged, or abused. Gays are bad for kids--THAT is the message she has been getting from those who live in her town.

Thus, the point of this is not how wonderful gay parents must be because their kids are well behaved, or how awful heterosexual parents are if their kids aren't well behaved. The POINT is that these kids are evidence that gays can raise children as well as any. And that is ALL there was to this. That's it. Period. End it. Maybe the parents are too strict, or not. Maybe the kids are naturally polite and weren't taught a thing. It doesn't friggin' matter, because that is not, not, not, NOT the point. All that is the point is that these kids did not appear to be abused, dangerous or damaged.

The point is simply that a pair of gay parents had been as adequate and as good a pair of parents as any in that room. *Maybe* better--but equal for certain, and good enough for sure. Yes?

[pipewrench]

8. Great story

Stereotypes be damned.

Given a loving environment children can be happy and content no matter the gender of the parent role models. Respect and love is shared and that family looks like it has that down in spades.

ashling

[JCat]

9. I hope others around you noticed the same thing

and came to the same conclusion.

[heaven05]

10. she's

got a beautiful heart, splendid outlook and hopefully a bright progressive future.

[sheshe2]

11. Thanks Ashling...Love tops Hate everytime!

[scmoore120]

12. It brings hope.

[silverweb]

13. Beautiful.

[MynameisBlarney]

14. Obviously those children

are all antichrists and will surely destroy the world.

[ReRe]

15. Young people, for the most part, aren't fooled..

...even if they are raised in the worst conservative household. I was raised in one of those kinds of homes, and even as a child, I knew something was wrong with the thinking of my parents and especially with those in my religious community. Our church was very bigoted against other churches, saying that the Catholics and Baptists were going to Hell. Very hateful. Ha! I didn't buy it. I learned my New Testament good when going to every summer vacation Bible School in our small mid western town.

Yeah, I see much hope in the young people of today. Religious or not, they know the real difference in right and wrong. Discrimination of any kind is not a good thing. "God don't make junk." No two individuals are the same.. i.e., "it takes all kinds."

Yeah, the kids are going to be alright, especially if we keep them in school and get them into college, where they will REALLY learn how to THINK.

[AverageJoe90]

16. Thanks for posting this, ashling.