After reading an article on the Details
Magazine website stating that progressive fathers accepting of
gays would be uncomfortable with a gay son, Parents and Friends of
Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) president John R. Cepek decided to write
about his own contrary experience and has invited other dads to join
him.
The article by David Hochman, titled
Would You Really Be OK With A Gay Kid?, profiles three
anonymous men about the prospect of having a gay son. Hochman
introduces the men as progressive and gay supportive, but who flinch
at the idea of their own offspring being gay. “No matter how
enlightened you are (or think you are), when it comes down to it, you
don't want your kid to be gay.”
While Hochman's statement was not meant
to be a question, PFLAG Dads are answering it in a series of blog
posts which aim to highlight dads proud to have gay sons.
Cepek has written the first post found
at www.pflag.org/blog/?p=239 where he writes: “Frankly, the
article strikes me as phony. I'm not keen about anonymous sources
for one thing. For another, the article confuses gender identity and
sexual orientation, dishing up stereotypes left and right. Finally,
the article cites an expert who observes that parents 'overestimate
the miserable life their children will have if they're gay.' But all
three of the anonymous sources are surrounded by successful,
presumable happy gay men. How could these three be so intelligent
and progressive and ignore their own experience?”
“This father knows best: having a gay
son is great,” Cepek writes.
PFLAG will offer stories from various
dads with gay sons over the course of the next week in response to
Hochman's article.