Out of the Mouths of Babes

I received a book the other day as a gift, “Courting Equality,” text by Patricia Gozemba and Karen Kahn, Photographs by Marilyn Humphries. It’s chronicles the events leading to May 17th, 2004, when gay marriage finally became legal in Massachusetts. I placed it on my coffee table and it’s been in the hands of my kids every day since.

They like looking at the photos- there are a few people in the book the kids know and it’s a treat to see them splashed on a glossy page. Jake, however, goes through each photo and asks me, is this a good guy or bad guy?

And minus two pictures of people from an anti-gay marriage rally, all the photos are of ‘good guys.’

Last night, Jake was flipping through the pictures again.

Good guy, good guy…

Men, women- doesn’t matter to him. Everyone is a ‘guy.’

Mom?

Yes?

Am I gay?

I don’t know honey, but I am. Your moms are gay. So are your dads. But for you? That’s something you’ll figure out later in life.

Oh.

Mom?

Yes?

Why is it called gay marriage?

Well, because when two men or two women get married, it’s called gay marriage. When a man and a woman get married, it’s just called marriage.

That’s dumb, he said.

Out of the mouths of babes…