I'm sure many of you have seen, or at least heard, of this blog. It went viral in a matter of days and was covered by several major news outlets. This blogger, known as Nerdy Apple Bottom and "Cop's Wife", deserves commendation for putting herself in the line of fire to defend her son.
Like thousands of others, I left encouraging comments on her page, but somehow that doesn't feel like enough. She has made it clear from her own confrontation that it isn't just other kids that bully and shame gay teens and pre-teens, sometimes it is the other parents that we trust our children to be around.
We don't know when a child realizes their sexual orientation, some have said that they knew they were "different" at a very early age. But we do know that there have been too many young people, starting as young as 10, that have been left feeling so shamed and despondent that they take their own lives. Now I'm guessing, but I wonder how many of those kids were subjected to the same type of judgmental ridicule that Cop's Wife encountered at her son's school by mothers A, B, and C? Would the Alphabet Birds feel any regret or remorse if they behaved that way in front of a child and that child committed suicide?
I guess if you're a fan of Forbes you might think that the only way to protect your children from hateful, narrow-minded, bigots is to hide from them. Cave and let the Fearsome Threesome dictate what is and isn't acceptable. Yes, that would be best despite the fact that other mothers and the children in the class DIDN'T behave that way. Better that she should have caved because the middle aged "mean girls" tried to apply their version of peer pressure.
So this is for Cop's Wife, the woman that stood up for a child's right to be an individual, whether it was due to being a gay child or just a HUGE fan of Daphne, she was a prize winning Mom for letting him be himself. She is there protecting her son from vicious, judgmental adults that could cause him serious emotional harm. My hat is off to you, Nerdy.
P.S. And for those that were concerned about her posting his picture to 'capitalize' on it. First, she had no idea her blog was going to go viral. Second, he's a four year old that is adorable, but with fairly indistinguishable features and a bright orange wig. Look for another reason to chastize her.
Children, Gayla, Kids, Parent, Tanner, child, help, homophobia, love, mom, people, prejudice, school, tolerance
Gayla, this is a wonderful post. I don't understand what the issue is. A five year old? Really? Whether or not the kid is gay isn't a big deal, we are who we are..but 5? Kids that young like what they like, gender isn't really a big issue for them yet, but we adults have to turn it into something it probably isn't.
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