Why Arguments Against Same-Sex Marriage and Parenting Are Ridiculous

I can’t even read all the examples he gives of hetero parents abusing and killing their own offspring, but Terrance’s point is so obvious that you hardly need the heartbreaking supporting details to understand it:

I don’t write about this story as an attempt to suggest that all, most, or even a significant number of heterosexuals do this to children, but to point out how low the bar is set when equal protections are conditional upon a pairing of functional, or even potentially functional gonads. Making babies, something only possible with sperm from the testicles and an egg from the ovaries, is thus privileged above the capacity to love a child, and the ability and desire to protect and raise that child into healthy adulthood, something same-sex couples are equally capable of doing.

In other words, privileging couples like Zeigler and Trenor above couples like the hubby and me, who’ve loved and raised our son into a happy, healthy little boy in the past five years. Because we did not and could not have conceived him. Conception, or the possibility thereof, trumps caring. It is unclear whether Trenor and Zeigler are married, believe it or not, but they could be as far as the Maryland Court of appeals is concerned, and would qualify before the hubby and I would, what they did to Riley Ann not withstanding. [...]

With each case I’m still trying to wrap my brain around what these parents have over us, besides the what they can (or could) do with their genitals and corresponding orgnans [sic].

What those parents have over Terrance and his partner is a religious belief enshrined in government policy.

Giving Government A Bad Name

Sometimes you have to wonder if the conspiracy theorists aren’t onto something. Governor Perry’s office is trying to avoid an open records request by charging the requester out the wazoo. Granted, the guy making the ask is asking for a lot of information in order to make a point – but its a damned good point. And in any case, limiting access to public information on the basis of ability to pay plays right into the notion that government is untrustworthy, trying to hide something and dismissive of the public’s right to know what’s going on. Surely someone in that office has better political sense than this. (Nora, please help these people!)

Do Republicans make their candidates for office take some secret oath that if elected, they will do their level best to make government look foolish, inept and otherwise untrustworthy?

Hat tip to Off The Kuff.

Muslim Girl Scouts

Its sad that these girls feel the need to ‘prove’ their American-ness, but the fact that they use their membership in Girl Scouts to move people past prejudice is a concrete example of what I like about the organization and its impact on girls.

Sometimes when Asma Haidara, a 12-year-old Somali immigrant, wants to shop at Target or ride the Minneapolis light-rail system, she puts her Girl Scout sash over her everyday clothes, which usually include a long skirt worn over pants as well as a swirling head scarf.

She has discovered that the trademark green sash — with its American flag, troop number (3009) and colorful merit badges — reduces the number of glowering looks she draws from people otherwise bothered by her traditional Muslim dress.

“When you say you are a girl scout, they say, ‘Oh, my daughter is a girl scout, too,’ and then they don’t think of you as a person from another planet,” said Asma, a slight, serious girl with a bright smile. “They are more comfortable about sitting next to me on the train.”

She isn’t hiding who she is and she isn’t avoiding things she wants or needs to do. Instead, she has found a way to quietly reach out to other people and make them re-think their assumptions. She’s helping them to see the similarities – not instead of the differences but in spite of them. How wonderful.

I am a big fan of Girl Scouting. I was a Girl Scout from second grade on, all the way through high school. I spent two weeks every summer at Girl Scout camp, and in college I spent a couple of summers working at Girl Scout camps. After I was out of grad school and working, I volunteered with a troop for a few years. And now I lead two troops, one for each daughter.

What I love about the organization is its focus on developing the potential within each girl, helping her see herself as a capable and valuable contributor in an interconnected world while fostering respect for others and the environment. And while the Girl Scout Promise mentions God:

On my honor, I will try to serve God and my country, to help people at all times and to live by the Girl Scout Law. 

the organization makes clear that any religious or spiritual aspect is ultimately to be determined by the girl and her family. The Girl Scout website says:

The word “God” can be interpreted in a number of ways, depending on one’s spiritual beliefs. When reciting the Girl Scout Promise, it is okay to replace the word “God” with whatever word your spiritual beliefs dictate.

My experience is that religion and spirituality enters into it only insofar as an individual girl elects to explore it OR in troops that are based in a religious institution (like troops comprised completely of girls from a single church). Girl Scouts do, admittedly, sing grace before meals many times although mentions of God are absolutely generic in all the ones I can recall. And there were some songs with religious lyrics at the camp I attended (although most, I believe, would be considered traditional American folk songs at this point – for example, the African American spiritual Sit Down), but I don’t hear those sung at Girl Scout events anymore.

I think since I was a kid, public awareness and acceptance of a variety of religions as well as atheism has increased so perhaps people intentionally don’t sing some of those songs anymore. I know that’s the case for me – I wouldn’t teach my troops a God song because I don’t feel its my role to raise the religion issue and in any case, some of my girls and their families wouldn’t appreciate it. I had a parent approach me this fall at the recruitment event, worried about the religious angle because their family is atheist. She was so relieved when I told her that all I say about it to the girls is that what God means vis-a-vis the Promise is something each girl should discuss with her family because it means different things to different people.

Girl Scouting does alot of good, but just in teaching girls to honor but also look beyond differences, religious and otherwise, it has a huge positive influence on the future.