It's interesting how different people view this. Another poster said she'd rather that gays don't indulge in demonstrations of affection in front of her children. I personally have never thought that shielding children from reality is the best way to teach them to deal with life. Also, by asking gay friends to refrain from displaying affection in front of children, one is not only creating an unrealistic fantasy world for the children - a world in which gays don't exist or, at least, don't show affection for each other; one is also asking one's gay friends to deny who they are, and to act hypocritically. Hardly a good lesson to teach your kids when they do, inevitably, find out the truth. Not only will it lower their esteem for the gay friends who were complicit in your little "make believe" fantasy (if they agreed to do so - which frankly would lower my esteem for them), it will lower your children's esteem for you, because they will recognize that you, in essence, lied to them. That is if they haven't already developed into what you - wittingly or unwittingly - hoped they would become all along, which is homophobic.
I think that sexual behaviour in front of children is wrong regardless of the sexual orientation of the parties involved, so of course I would expect ALL of my friends to refrain from fondling, deep kissing, and other forms of sexual activity in front of my children. But to make a rule for gay people that they can't hold hands in front of your children while making no similar rule for straight people: well, as I said, your agenda - no matter how politely you attempt to justify it - is quite blatant, and frankly repugnant.
I just wish people would be less Pharasiacally obsessive in their worries that exposure to people they consider "unclean" will some how corrupt THEM, and try much harder, instead, to truly live what Hillel and Jesus taught.
Karen Mercedes ............................ NEIL SHICOFF, TENORE SUPREMO http://www.radix.net/~dalila/shicoff/shicoff.html
My Own Website http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + I sing hymns with my spirit, + + but I also sing hymns with my mind. + + - 1 Corinthians 14:15 + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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