For those of you who have kids, let me ask you this. Have you ever had one of those days where your kid does or says something so unbelievably out there that you are wondering if they have learned ANYTHING from you EVER? Well, my daughter, almost 10 and in the fifth grade, yesterday is telling me a story about how she and her dad were at the grocery store and in the checkout line she saw a magazine cover with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on it. She proceeds to tell me that Angelina stole Brad from Jennifer. :wacko: OK, I think that this boggles the mind a little so I tell her that Brad Pitt is a big boy and he can be with whoever he wants to. So her response to me is that Angelina is a BAD person. Now I am getting slightly confused and more irritated, so I ask her, since she knows everything at 9 years old, what makes Angelina a bad person. He answer is that she is a bad person because she adopted a chinese baby. And I say to her "So what!!" "But mom, the baby had a disease", she says. So I proceed to tell her that in my eyes anyway, that makes her an even better person to want to be able to give that baby a home full of love and maybe the chance at being healthy, etc. So, I tell her that we are going to have a new theme song or motto or whatever for her and it goes like this: EVERYONE, no matter who they are, deserves to be loved and to be able to love whoever they want regardless of race, religion, or sexual preference as long as they aren't hurting anyone in the process. She doesn't understand this, of course, because at 9 years old she really doesn't know as much as she thinks she does. So I am at work today and end up in this conversation with a guy I work with about religion and sexual preference. Now, I will tell you that I don't know if I believe in God or not. I am sort of a "you have to see it to believe it" type of person. I have never read the bible. What I do believe is that everything happens for a reason and there is a higher power, I just don't know if I call it God or fate or what. My grandpa on my mom's side was a Baptist minister. My father's parents came from Italy, so they were Catholic, but he was raised by an aunt who was Jewish, and when my parents married they decided to become Buddhist. It is no wonder that I don't know what I believe and therefore cannot really force or teach a belief to my kids either. What I do know however is that I am a good person and I don't need a book to tell me how to be one. That said, the guy I was talking to is religious, and basically said that he thinks homosexuality is wrong because the bible says so. Then he tells me that his 17 year old stepdaughter who just had a baby and is living with him and his wife has a diary they read that says she loves her girlfriend and thinks she is a lesbian. So I ask him how he feels about this. He asks me in return if I think being gay is something you are born as or something you choose and I say I think you are born that way. As we continue talking, he tells me that they may take her to get some counseling to find out why she thinks she wants to be that way. I take that opportunity to point out to him that it is because of his religious beliefs that he thinks there is something wrong with it and what will he do if this counselor tells him that she was born that way, and will he get some counseling for himself as well, or is this just a problem that she has.Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that some people just suck, and some are confused or naive, and some are closed minded, but I as a parent want my children to be none of those, but rather be compassionate, caring, non-judgemental, and loving. It is frustrating to me to have to exist with people like this, and I am sure more so for those of you who are gay. I guess just know this; in the end I will always be an open minded, open hearted, person who will not pass judgement on you or your life as long as you aren't hurting anyone and I hope that I can find a way to teach my children to be those types of people as well. Those of you who I have met here at GA I have found to be amazing, intelligent, loving human beings, and I wish I could say the same for the rest of the world.Taking a deep breath, Vivan