When I’m driving, I listen to today’s hits on the radio.  Some of them may be inappropriate and I change the station for the really bad ones. For the most part you can find me and the kids singing to Kesha, Kanye, and the occasional Katie Perry on any given day.  And my kids love music and I’m sorry, there’s nothing cuter than hearing your five year old kid sing Gangham style.

One day, when my older son was about 5, a song came on.

“I kissed a girl and I liked it”

I like that song.  It’s got a good beat.  Then I hear from the backseat:

“Now, that’s just gross”

“What’s gross?”

He replied “She’s singing about kissing a girl”

(Keep in mind he’s 5 and gender equality/ homosexuality were not on my list of lessons for that day.)

I reply “Yeah? So?”

“Well, that’s just gross”

“Why do you think that’s gross?”

“Well, it’s just UNNATURAL”

“What makes it unnatural?

“Well, that’s two girls kissing, and well, I don’t know but that just seems wrong”

And he doesn’t know.   He said it himself.  Though his perception of what “natural” is has had some growth in his 5 years (man/ woman, animal mating, whathaveyou) he doesn’t know.  He has not been taught.

“I guess you didn’t know that two people of the same gender could kiss.  And now you do.  Two girls can kiss, two boys can kiss, and a boy and girl can kiss.  It’s all natural because they are all people expressing their feelings and emotions, and that is natural to all humans”

He wasn’t totally buying into it and it ended up with him saying “Well, I don’t know about any of that, it just doesn’t seem right”

I followed up with how we, as a family, don’t judge others and accept whatever preference people have.

A few years pass by.

We’re driving in the car and notice a new restaurant being built.  My son says “What is that Chick-Fil-A place?”

“Oh, it’s a place that makes chicken sandwiches but we won’t be eating there because they don’t support equal rights for all people.

“What do you mean equal rights?”

“Well, they don’t support the idea of two men or two women being in love and getting married and your father and I do, so we won’t be supporting a company like that”

“Oh”

A year or so more passes by, and again, we’re in our car.  A new Chick-Fil-A has been built closer to our house and now my younger son (who is now 5) notices.

He asks “What is that restaurant?”

And before I could answer, his older brother who is now 10 says:

“Oh, that’s a chicken place that we won’t be eating at because they have problems with homosexuals getting married and I don’t know why.  What business is it of theirs who gets married?   They’re a chicken place.  They should just worry about chicken.”

It starts at home.   It starts with you.

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This post dedicated to all of those who don’t think that an effort is made to educate the young about gay rights.

And for my friend @JeniSpin