To the Editor:
In response to Mr. Olsen’s letter claiming that gay marriage is harmful to children: “Think of the Offspring,” (LCN, page 4, 10/8/09) I too, grew up on a farm in Lincoln County, and my parents were also loving, patient, hard working and committed to their children. They also insisted on respect for difference and equality before the law for all the varieties of us.
I am very sure that if any of their children had been gay, they would have welcomed the partner, loved the children, if any, and been grieved by the hardships that gay people and their families endure.
What I can’t for the life of me figure out, is why a few very vocal people think it is good for gay children and children of gay parents to grow up in a society that condemns homosexuality.
If you went to the hearing at the Civic Center in Augusta in May, you saw two lines of people waiting to take turns speaking. In one line, speaking against gay marriage, were mostly middle aged or older white males; and most of them, it seemed, were either clergy or politicians. In the pro-marriage line were mostly families. Mothers, fathers, -and, pathetically, children, pleading for the same rights and privileges that heterosexuals enjoy.
If you were at that hearing, you would also know it was not the “tiny minority” that Mr. Olsen claims. The hearing had to be moved to the Civic Center because, as well as the clergy and politicians and their supporters, there were swarms of men, women, children; parents working hard for justice for all Mainers alike.
Can you imagine being a child in a society where your parents are considered second class citizens, and subjected to shame, harassment, prejudicial laws? For heaven’s sake, do think of the offspring!
Nancy Holmes, Newcastle
