How a "My Son Is Gay" Blog Post Sparked a National Conversation

"My son is gay. Or he’s not. I don’t care. He is still my son. And he is 5. And I am his mother. And if you have a problem with anything mentioned above, I don’t want to know you," starts the rapid-fire mommy blogger post last week that is being met with all sorts of national attention.

The post, a seemingly local, innocuous, and somewhat private attempt to showcase one open-minded mother's anger at the judgmental PTA moms for questioning her young son's choice to dress up in a female Halloween costume (Daphne from Scooby Doo), has taken the abyss that is the world wide web by storm. "My Son is Gay," the post is entitled, matching the lede by the mother, Sarah, on her blog Nerdy Apple Bottom.

The post has seen countless Facebook shares and retweets, and is getting picked up by news outlets nationwide. 38,938 comments later on the blog post itself, and word is still out whether the post is detrimental or beneficial to awareness around LGBTQ identity for parents and their for kids coming out.

A blog post by social media writer Caroline Howard on Forbes.com raises concerns about how the soccer mom essentially outed her five-year old son to the whole wide world without his consent, and that such behavior could well be dangerous. "I wish saying, 'My son is gay,' was as neutral as, 'He’s a people person,'" Howard writes. "It’s not. The memory of bullying victim Tyler Clementi is still too raw. His mom’s blog post is now part of Boo’s digital fingerprint–forever – which may or may not be a problem should he ever apply for a visa to Iran, be vetted for the Marines or do a Google search."

Sarah's post, though, didn't seem like it was intended to reach millions of people. Mommy blogger thanks her friends and family for being supportive and writes, "I’m trying to decide if I want to post a little bit more about this. I’m on the fence if I should just let some things go or if I want to go into more detail. Do the two of you that read this have an opinion?"

ABC News mirrored Forbes' sentiment on the story, pointing out that the network news station blurred the child's face in their story, and expressing concern that Sarah didn't do the same on her site, bringing into question Sarah's judgment for a lack of worry about allowing the world to see her five-year-old.

Yet the overwhelming response via social media has been in support of Sarah's argument and it seems her story has done more to support acceptance for parents with gay children than to detract from it.

Little did Sarah know the post touched on something incendiary at this precise moment in LGBTQ history; at time when we are dealing with a visible amount of young adult suicides due to gay bullying. Her note, perhaps because of its authenticity and understated nature and not in spite of it, struck a chord across the country, grabbing the attention of the mainstream media and mommies (and the rest of us) everywhere.

What hasn't been addressed at all here, and maybe it's beside the point (though it keeps nagging at me) is the invisibility of transgender issues at stake. It seems mommy dearest may not have a budding gay son on her hands, but rather a transgender child. The jury is still out on whether she'd be just as quick to condone that. Perhaps a follow-up blog post is in order?

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