Same-Sex Parenting and Co-Parenting

March 20, 2012 By

In the 20th century, stepfamilies were just really beginning to surface. However, in the 21st century, they are more like the norm. Recently, while reminiscing with an old friend I found on Facebook, I remembered that when her parents got divorced, she found out that her father was gay and that he and his partner lived together. In their divorce agreement, her parents decided it was best for her to be with both parents equally and I remember her being concerned about how she would feel about living 50% of the time with her dad and his partner. As she noted at the time, it’s hard enough to get used to your dad marrying another woman, but marrying a man was even harder to comprehend for a 15 year old. Currently, in the United States, stepfamilies that involve a gay or lesbian stepparent are becoming more and more common. With that being said, you can imagine that the dynamics of stepfamilies change even further and become much more tricky as gay and lesbian stepfamilies bring to their environment both the usual stepfamily issues and additional challenges. However, like my friend, many of these stepfamilies are very successful. As a matter of fact, statistics prove that gay and lesbian relationships have the same long-term success rates as heterosexual relationships.

An example of the challenges that families in this situation face is the stigma and bigotry that is placed upon them by peer pressure. Like any stepparent, defining your role with your stepchildren will be hard but it may be a little trickier if your stepchildren face emotional issues or unfair stigmas from their peers. Young children who haven’t been exposed to prejudice views have no problem with acceptance, but preteens and teenagers may not be as lucky. Not only do they have to worry about what their peers think, at times, they may already have formed their own opinions in this area that may not always be that of their parents. All in all, patience in this instance is the key to successful stepparenting.

In my research, I have found the main component, like in every stepfamily, is communication. The lack thereof can be what makes your family stronger or what ultimately leads to its demise. When communication is lacking, stepparents find it difficult to execute their roles and their identities feel as if they are null and void.

Outside of all of the myths that come along with same sex partnership (i.e., because a parent is gay their child will be gay, etc.) (which research has proven that children raised in gay/lesbian homes are no more likely to become gay than that of straight parents). Other challenges that gay and lesbian couples in a stepparent situation face is that which is different from my story above. Some ex-spouses are resentful at the notion that their children have to be raised in this type in environment so they are less likely to communicate and co-parent effectively. Ex-spouses often use their ex-partners sexual orientation against them when it comes to custody and court battles which make way for a lot of tension and stress for the children, not to mention bullies at school, etc. In my opinion, when this situation presents itself, honesty with your children is always the best policy. It is important that both parents are honest with their children. Otherwise, children feel isolation of the family unit they once had. Remember, the children are the ones that have to manage what is going on within the different households but also with their peers and those outside of their world. In speaking about this particular stress, think about this idea. Children are taught from all ends of the spectrum (from school, church, peers) that being in a gay or lesbian relationship isn’t what is “traditional.” It’s up to parents and stepparents to communicate and to be honest and allow them to express their feelings, to listen to their opinions and views and to let them know that what they think matters. Once open communication and trust is established, they will feel more free to be honest with you about their feelings and it is with this openness that you will be able to help them with acceptance. Here are a few tips to help you navigate a newly formed gay/lesbian stepfamily situation:

Communicate. Communicating with your ex-spouse, your new partner and your children is the utmost important task you need to master. Not only do feelings need to be discussed, but talking to them about your sexuality is also needed. Obviously, age-appropriateness needs to be taken into consideration as a 3 year old isn’t going to understand, but if your children/stepchildren are old enough to understand, or to feel the effects of your relationship from outside influences, then you need to be open and honest. We have to practice what we preach as parents. We want our kids to be honest with us, we need to be honest with them. This component is especially important when it comes to helping them with acceptance. Their feelings are important, they should matter to you and you should make sure they understand that.

Respect Their Feelings.  Children may have feelings of fear upon first learning of your sexuality. Make them comfortable by explaining to them that whatever feelings they have on the subject are safe with you and they are safe to express themselves as long as it is in a respectful manner. Be supportive.

Educate Them.  As I state frequently, children live what they learn. If you teach your children to learn to respectfully deal with those that choose to disagree with their views and/or those that treat them differently, they will always end up on the right side of the fence. If we model these same behaviors, they will follow our lead. Otherwise, if we don’t teach them, they will pay more attention to the negative and therefore their reactions to people who may not agree with your family situation may be toxic.

Spend Quality Time with Them.  Make sure that your time with your children/stepchildren is quality time. Your children will need extra support and it is important that you and your partner provide that by spending quality time with them.

TMF Readers, if you are a part of a newly-formed, same-sex partnership where you are raising children/stepchildren, I encourage you to pay attention to your children’s needs, fears and concerns. I would also encourage, as I would any nuclear or stepfamily, to encourage them to voice their opinion. As parents, it is our responsibility to make sure our children’s needs are met whether that be emotional, mental or physical. Most importantly, our children need to know that we value them, their feelings and their opinions. Once they know they have a voice and feel those vibes from you and your partner, they will be more well-rounded and will care much less about what others think.

Peace and blessings,

Diane

 

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The Hidden Truth: A Father’s Journey-Part 1

December 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

 In Part 1 of my article on bi-sexual fathers, I will be discussing the effects of being a bi-sexual father has on the children involved in their lives.  I will also be discussing a few of the issues gay fathers often face including stigmas, myths and prejudices in our society.  In Part 2 of my article, I will be interviewing a young man who has recently made an unremarkable journey in his life, realizing and coming to terms with the fact that he is bi-sexual.  He is a young father of two and an amazing, gifted young man.

In America, it wasn’t until the 1990′s that the gay community made a major appearance in our society.  Before then, gay men and lesbian women stayed “in the closet” because of the stigmas that society placed upon them.  Courts were reluctant to place children in the care of their father if he was gay even though research had shown that being gay had little or no effect on the development of a child’s identity.  Today, a lot has changed.  More and more gay men are adopting children and are even using surrogate mothers to have biological children.  There are thousands of gay men who have stepped up to the plate and are fostering children as well.

Unfortunately, a lot of people still feel that having a gay parent alienates a child’s ability to have a productive social experience and life.  However, as reported in USA Today, research has shown that gay parents who are open with their children about their sexual orientation, who exhibit mentally healthy behavior and provide supportive communities for their kids, tend to have the most resilient youngsters.

In the past, society pretty much ran homosexual or bi-sexual people through the wringer and placed unfair stereotypes upon them.  For example, one standing myth that has frequently reared its ugly head is that if a man is gay, he has to be a child molester because of his same sex attraction even though all the evidence, research and statistics prove that most crimes committed against children are committed by heterosexuals.  Another myth is the one in which I discussed above.  If you are a gay man, you will produce gay children.  Absolutely false.  There is a fabulous book that I am reading entitled Gay Fathers written by Robert Barrett and Bryan Robinson.  In the book, the authors list these additional myths about gay fathers:

·         Disturbed parental relationships myth:  Homosexuals, including gay fathers, have disturbed parental relationships (i.e., cold, rejecting fathers and emotionally smothering mothers);

·         Harassment exposure myth:  Gay fathers expose their children to harassment and embarrassment because of societal disapproval;

·         Sex-fiend myth:  The main goal in life for a gay father is primarily that of sexual gratification.

These are just a few of the myths listed in the book, but some of the most stunning in my opinion.  The truth of the matter is just as there are great heterosexual fathers, there are also great fathers that happen to be either bi-sexual or homosexual as well.  Just like there are bad heterosexual fathers, I am sure there are some homosexual fathers that fall into that same category.  Passing judgment on a gay man’s ability to be a good father just because he is gay or bi-sexual is not only unfair, but despicable.

In all types of families, children will have different experiences.  Children who have gay fathers will excel in life with the same opportunities that a child from a nuclear family will have.  Actually, children who have a gay or lesbian parent usually end up being more socially aware as teenagers and young adults.  They become more socially conscientious to the needs of people who are disadvantaged due to unfair prejudices, stereotypes and stigmas.  A child raised in an alternative marriage environment can be just as emotionally stable as a child who is raised by his mother and father in a traditional marriage.  As long as there is a supportive and loving environment, any child will excel.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this article.  If you are a family in need of help on this topic, I highly suggest you pick up a copy of Gay Fathers by Messrs. Barret and Robinson at your local library.  It is an amazing, encouraging book and one that I will read again.

Peace & Blessings,
Di

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My Gay Ex-Husband Part II – an interview with the author

June 4, 2009 By 1 Comment

The best part of this blogging experience is that I get to meet and connect with so many fantastic people. From ex-wives and second wives, to ex and second husbands, these people  have something to say and being able to do just that in front of a captive audience is so freeing, empowering and courageous. I have a tremendous amount of respect for these individuals.

I recently had the opportunity to connect with a blogger named Carol Shwanda who told a very compelling story about her gay ex-husband. She candidly revealed the moment her husband told her that he was gay.

So I asked him, “Jared, are you gay?” As if the words were coming from the bowels of his being, for the first time in his life he admitted to someone, me, his wife, that he was gay,” she said.

The fact that she found out her husband was gay wasn’t the most spine tingling for me. It was what she did afterwards that was amazing. She basically held his hand while he went through therapy to confront his issues that he had with being gay. Her ex-husband had planned to kill himself that night and was withering away, due to not eating. She helped nurse his mind and body back to good health; staying true to the vows, for better or worse. Not to mention that after they divorced and her ex-husband remarried, to a gay man of course, she accepted his new lover into their family with open arms. And now she even advocates for gay marriage and the acceptance of homosexuality.

“We as compassionate and reasonable people have to dispel this notion that it is wrong to be gay, that homosexuality is a disease that has to be cured or prevented. It is not. Nor is it a choice. It just is. Accept it,” she said.

Although I was deeply moved by her very apparent act of love and compassion for her ex-husband, I had to wonder whether or not she would have had the same reaction if it was another woman on the end, instead of her ex-husband’s gay lover. I wanted to know if she would have still welcomed a second wife with open arms; not holding her ex-husband’s mistakes against her. So I asked and she opened up in an interview about just that. See it below.

Kela: Would you have had a different reaction if you found out that it was another woman? Your ex-husband didn’t cross the line, but was still torn between his family and her, due to the unexpected development of feelings.

Carol: Yes, I would have. I think in addition to feeling angry, jealous and hurt, I would have also felt inadequate. I would have questioned my ability to make my husband happy just as I did later, post divorce, when I was dating men and the relationships came to a jolting, unexpected halt.

Kela: Was it easier to accept your ex-husband’s new lover because he is of the opposite gender and therefore not a threat?

Carol: Yes and no. I remember the first time I met him and thinking, “You left me for him??” It was unsettling, but somehow I got past it.

Kela: Would you have welcomed a second wife just the same?

Carol: Hard to say, but probably not. The circumstances for the divorce would have been different so I think there definitely would have been some residual bitterness and resentment there.

Kela: How do your girls view their father’s relationship?

Carol: They love their dad the same and they have come to like his partner in the same way they have come to like my new husband. They are very aware, though, that society does not always accept gay people and junior high kids can be particularly cruel, so they are very careful about to whom they confide in about their dad being gay.

Kela: How does your husband feel about it?

Carol: My husband is great. He is not at all threatened by my ex. In fact, they are quite cordial toward one another. My ex comes over every morning to take my girls to school and he often sits at the breakfast table with my husband, chatting and reading the paper.

Kela: Do you have as many problems on that side of your blended family as a more traditional blended family (ex wife vs. second wife)?

Carol: I do have some issues with my ex-husband’s partner in that his partner was (still is) very jealous and threatened by me. He was in a previous relationship with a man who wanted a family who left him for a woman. He is concerned about my ex doing the same thing to him. He also does not have children so he can be selfish and demanding when it comes to the kids’ needs interfering with his. He’s also from a culture where children are seen and not heard.

Kela: Do you get along with your current husband’s ex-wife?

Carol: Yes. Our relationship has evolved over the years from distant, to civil, to amicable and now quite friendly. She and my husband communicate mostly through email, rarely by phone and almost never in person. They are civil toward one another for the sake of the kids. I have been their buffer. Time has softened the resentment they feel toward each other and now that the kids are much better adjusted from their divorce, everything is much easier.

Kela: Would you like to offer any other information that might be helpful to our readers (I’m sure there are others going through similar situations even if they aren’t as open as you are about it)?

Carol: First, don’t blame yourself. Even if you feel like you should have known, don’t kick yourself. Ending a marriage because your spouse comes out of the closet is one instance where you cannot be held at fault. Take whatever comfort you can in that. Secondly, understand that homosexuality is not a disease that needs to be prevented or cured. It will help you let go of something you could not have controlled or changed. Thirdly, unless you feel unsafe due to the bigoted attitudes of those around you, tell people the reason for your split.  Don’t feel ashamed or embarrassed and don’t cover up. And finally, even in your darkest moments know that it will get better.  You will recover. The pain will subside, you’ll move on and you will find happiness again. I sure did. And my new husband is so not gay.

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My Gay Ex-Husband

May 15, 2009 By 3 Comments

Remember when the govenor of New Jersey announced he was gay? I sure do. I remember smiling ruefully to myself when I heard people talking about the scandal and asking, “How could his wife not know? Can you imagine being married to someone and not knowing he’s gay?” Yep, I can because it happened to me. I don’t mind telling people about this because I somehow feel it gives me a free pass for a failed marriage. There was no “we just grew apart” or ” we wanted different things” excuses. Nope. I married a gay guy. Not my fault. Except when you consider that I was, how should I say this?, STUPID enough to marry a gay guy in the first place. By way of explanation, let me just say this. My ex, whom I will refer to as Jared, was more the Rock Hudson type of gay guy rather than the Liberace sort. It wasn’t like he was into decorating or Broadway show tunes. He didn like ballet, though, maybe that should have been a clue.  These dadys when he comes over the the house to pick up the girls wearing Bermuda shorts and socks and sandals, I ook at him and say to myself, “You are soooo gay. How did I miss that?” Back when he was still in the closet he played the part of the straight, ex-highschool football hero pretty convincingly and I and everyone else was fooled. And to answer the most often asked question, yes, we did have sex. No problems there, so you can see, I really had no idea.

Jared and I met in 1987 at a Christmas party my roomate and I were throwing at our apartment. He was her guest. They worked together. He seemed like a nice, genuine guy who wore T-shirst and jeans and watched sports. At the time I had been having a lot of short-term romances with playboy types who strung me along with promises of trips to Jamaica and then dumped me with no notice. My current beau fit the profile, but hadn’t arrived yet, so Jared and I struck up a conversation about just exactly how did the guy who played Latke on Taxi die, (we learned we were both obscure trivia buffs) when my date showed up and whisked me away. Two weeks later the lotario stopped calling and I swore off dating forever. I was 26 and decided that marriage and children were just not going to happen for me. Little did I know. I concentrated on my career as a rising fashion industry star and embraced 80′s VCR technology.

Sometime around spring I decided it was time to venture out into the dating world again. I informed my roommate, who responded excitedly that Jared was still available, had just gotten his own apartment and really liked me. I was making chocolate chip cookies at the tiem and gave her some to give to him at work. A few days later he called and we went out on a date. I liked him a lot, thought he was really nice, but did not get those nervous butterflies that had gotten me into so much trouble in the past. I didn’t feel that instant chemistry, but decided to wait it out until I did because I knew Jared was a nice, decent guy. A mensch, not a chump and all my friends liked him. After a month of dating I really fell for him and thought, “This is what love is supposed to feel like – calm. Not insecure or nerve wracking.” After 9 months of dating, we got engaged (at the ballet) and 9 months after that we were married. The first two years we lived the 80′s yuppie, pre-kids lifestyle. We indulged our hobbies of dining out, browsing bookstores and going to movies.

In November of ;92 Jared got recruited by a high tech company in California and we were moved from the East coast to the West to start a new life. At the same time I got pregnant with Sophia. There were a lot of changes in our lives and the accompanying stress that goes with them. Jared became a work-a-holic which was kind of typical of the high tech boom in the early 90′s. Something wasn’t right in my marriage, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I shrugged it off to the hectic life with small children. When Eva was born in ’96 I quit my job to stay home which only made Jared spend more time at work. Because I was now with the kids full time, I looked to him more to give me breaks with the girls. Instead, he worked 6 days a week and slept ’til noon on Sundays. we never did anything as a family. Forget vacations. I would have settled for help with the laundry. With our family all on the East Coast I spent a lot of time alone. I look back on those years and I don’t know how I survived. As a kid my dad was never an active participant in our family and i regretted that. I began to see the effects Jared’s absence had on the girls and it made me very sad. One year on Jared’s birthday, Sophia sat on the front porch with his gift on her lap and he never came home.

Why did I put up with this for so long? I was afraid of the alternative. Being the eternal optimist that I am, I looked on the bright side. I enjoyed my children and was grateful that I could afford to stay home and spend so much time with them. I looked for diversions and decided I needed a bigger house with a large yard so we could have a dog. We bought a minivan. I don’t know why Jared agreed to it because he told me later the trappings of  a middle class lifestyle put him over the edge. A bigger house, a bigger mortgage. He was screaming inside. He felt imprisoned in a marriage he should never have been in and became more and more distraught and desperate. He coped by working, his only escape.

Shortly after our move to the new house, Jared and I were barely speaking. He left for work before the girls got up for schol and came home after they were in bed. He refused the warmed dinners I saved for him saying he had already eaten at the office. I knew somehting was seriously wrong with him and kept prodding him for explanations and answers. Hw ould push me away and tell me I was imagining things and to leave him alone. Around the same time Sophia was diagnosed with a learning disability and needed a lot of my attention. I was exhausted all the time and did not know what to do about my mariage so I did nothing. I think I went months without even looking in Jared’s direction, until one day I saw him get out of the shower and was shocked to see that he was dangerously thin. Jared was always a lender guy with a small build. Six feet tall he usually weighed around 155 lbs.  I could see the bones sticking out of his ribcage. I exclaimed, “Oh my God, you are so thin! What is wrong with you?” and demanded he get on the scale and he did. He weighed 128 lbs. He admitted to me that he thought he was anorexic, but he wouldn’t explain why. I otld him he needed to get counseling and he agreed and even ate some breakfast. I was encouraged by his admission, yet very troubled. After he left for work I got on the internet to research anorexia in men and found an article that offered two explanations. The first one I immediately discounted and scoffed at. Anorexia in men is caused by the suppression of latent homosexaual tendencies. Ridiculous. My husband is not gay. i read on. The second reason seemed more likely. Repressed memories and hostilities as a results of an authoritarian father. That had to be it. Of course, growing up in the sixties, who didn’t have an authoritarian father? Armed with my new knowldege, I decided to approach Jared that eveing. Instead we had a big fight about something I can’t remember and he went to bed. I stayed up stewing and watching stupid TV shows. My intuition told me I had to confront him. I had to know. I went into the bedroom, sat on his side of the bed and woke him up. I told him, “Jared, I am your wife. You have to tell me what is bothering you. I don’t care what it is. This is eting us both up. Temm me. I have to know.” At first he said nothing. Tears started to stream down his face and his body was shuddering and rockign slightly. Softly, he started repeating these works over and over again. ” Ijust want to be happy. I just want to be happy. I just want to be happy.: It was at that moment that it hit me like a ton of bricks. I remembered what I read on the Internet. He’s gay. So I asked him, “Jared, are you gay?” (he told me later he could not believe I had guessed.) As if the words were coming from the bowels of his being, for the first time in his life he admitted to someone, me, his wife, that he was gay. It was as if he were speaking in slow motion and under water. “Would you hate me if I told hou that I think I am bisexual?” I was so relieved to finally know that I wept too. “No, I don’t hate you, I love you.” I assured him. I promised to help him and to stick by him. I knew my marriage was over, but I could not admit it to myself. The girls were little, I hadn’t worked in years and he was a basket case. I threw myself inot my plan to get him well. I started the next day stuffing hm with high calorie smoothies and calling around for referrals for therapists. Jared told me later that if I had not come in to force the truth out of him he would have most likely killed himself the next day. That was his plan. I know how he was having a nervous breakdown.

For the next two years we clung to hope that somehow we could make our marriage work. Jared considered himself bi-sexual, and by marrying me he was simply making his choice. During the first two years of our marriage he was fine with his decision. It was when I got pregnant with Sophia that he started to feel confined and panicked. Once everything was out in the open and we both sought counseling, we explored all of the thoughts, issues, conflicts and struggles he was feeling. I read books, searched the Internet and consulted experts in the field. One of the most significant things I learned, and probably the greatest source of confusion and controversy regarding human sexuality, is that some people, not all, but some, have varying levels of homosexuality and/or heterosexuality in their makeup. While some people, like myself, have no doubts about their sexual orientation. I have always known that I am straight. Likewise, there are gay people who have similar certainties of their homosexual orientation. However, there are those, like Jared, who are not so sure and are unfortunately therefore so conflicted. This uncertainty coupled with social construct opposing homosexuality is what closets so many people.

After two years of feeling like I was walking on eggshells, always watching Jared to make sure he was OK, of meeting his needs and not my own, I decided I needed more. I needed to be either with a man who wanted to be with me or to be alone. It was a difficult decision and one that was long overdue. The tipping point came at one of our final visits to see our marriage counselor. The counselor suggested that we settle on some kind of “arrangement”, in which we would agree to time apart and I would simply look the other way while Jared went off on some gay Club Med trip. This apparently works for some people. Not for me. With tears streaming down my face I made a vow to myself that I deserved better and Iwould find it.

After twelve years of marriage, two children, and a relocation across the country, Jared and I ended our marriage, but not our family. I was determined to keep my dignity and composure and to have a positive divorce. We told the kids in February of 2002. It was Black History month and the girls were learning about segregation in school. I used that backdrop to make the comparison of discrimination against gay people. I explained to the girls that Daddy was gay. Because we live in a very liberal community where there are lots of gay couples, the girls knew that some people of the same sex are happier being together. However, not everyone is acceptng of gay people which is why their father kept his feelings as secret for so long.  I told them that because we love Daddy we want him to be happy and we have to let him find what is going to make him happy. At first they were worried they would not get to see their father often. They both have friends whose parents were divorced and the dads had moved out of the area. I assured them they could see their father whenenver they wanted to and they do. Although the children live primarily with me they see their father every day when he takes them to school.

About six months after Jared moved out, he met Keith, his life partner to whom he is now married. Shortly after, it was Jared’s birthday. I suggested to Jared that he invite Keith to our house for dinner. I did this for the girls to show an act of solidarity and to give my approval. I wanted the girls to know that it was OK to welcome Keith into their lives. I never wanted them to feel like they had to choose sides or feel guilty about liking him. I also didn’t want hem to worry about me.

The morning of his birthday, Jared met the girls and me at our country club to go swimming. As I watched Jared rough house with the girls in the pool, tossing them in the air and playing Marco Polo, I realized I had never seen him so happy. During our marriage, when I could get him to come with us to the pool, he often sat on the sidelines reading a book, retreating into himself. When I saw how delighted the girls were with his attention, I knew that I made the right decision. I sacrificed my marriage, so that my children could have a father. Later, Keith arrived at the house with gifts in hand for me and the girls. While I got dinner started, Keith and Jared played hopscotch and jumprope outside with the girls. Later, Jared wrote me a lovely thank you email telling me how much he appreciated my generosity and that it was the best birthday he ever had.

Was I always so amicable and giving? No. There were several times I felt such anger and resentment toward Jared that I could have clocked him. I spent many mornings sobbing in the shower. Jared, because of his guilt I guess, put up with a lot of my tirades and sarcastic barbs unti one day he asked me point blank, “How long are you going to punish me? I’ll give you twenty years and then after that the statute of limitations runs out and you have to forgive me.” He sounded like he was joking,but I knew he was serious. I realized at that moment that I was only hurting myself and if the girls sensed my feelings, they would suffer too. I decided from that point on to take stock in my life and acknowledge what was good. I had two wonderful daughters, a beautiful home (which I got to keep in the divorce settlement), I lived in a beautiful place and I had the talent, intelligence and perseverance to start over.

Why did Jared marry me you wonder? I asked him the same question. His answer, besides the fact that he loved me, was that he wanted a family and a conventional lifestyle. When we separated he did right by me and the kids. He gave me the house, padi very generous child and spousal support so I could continue to stay home with the girls while I figured out what I wanted to do since I hadn’t worked in a while. At the time of our divorce, an acquaintance of mine from my kids’ school was also getting a divorce. Her husband left her for another woman and moved to Brazil, but only after he drained their bank accounts. Since he was self-employed he was able to hide his assets and income. She, like me, had been a stay-at-home mom with three kids. Her car was repossessed and her landlord evicted her for non-payment of rent. She was forced to go on public assistance. Now I aks you, which man, my ex-husband or hers, had better family values?

Although I have no regrets about marrying Jared, I know that if he had felt the freedom to live as an openly gay person, who had the rights to marry and have children, we would have never gotten married. This brings me to the topic of same sex marriage and the general acceptance of homosexuality. We, as compassionate and reasonable  people have to dispel this notion that it is wrong to be gay, that homosexuality is a disease that has to be cured or prevented. It is not. Nor is it a choice. It just is. Accept it. By doing so you would save others from experiencing the pain and unhappiness we have had to endure as a result of society’s discrimination against homosexuality.

Carol Shwanda is now remarried as well and chronicles her blended family’s lives and experiences on www.shwanda.com offering hope, guidance, wisdom, inspiration and humor to anyone who is in or about to enter into a blended family. For more information about Carol,  please visit www.shwanda.com or send an email to Carol@shwanda.com.

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