Illinois Pulls Book Over Same-Sex Parent Reference

An Illinois school district has reportedly banned the otherwise-well-received "The Family Book" because of a reference to same-sex parents.

Think Progress and Joe. My. God. are just two of the media outlets reporting that Todd Parr's children's book has been yanked from a local elementary school's shelves because of a line which notes that "some families have two moms or two dads."

The ignorant hate facts and understanding.  Pretending something doesn't exist does not serve children who most assuredly are growing up surrounded by same-sex couples.  How is it going to help a child who may not know his own sexuality, and now has nothing but rumors and innuendo to rely on?

Is this really where we are?  Really?

I remember seeing my first obviously gay couple when I was pretty young.  I was certainly still in elementary school.  I was curious and asked my mom what I was seeing.  "Sometimes women love women, and men love men," she told me, not making a big deal out of it.  This was long before I understood sexual relations or anything else, they were just a happy couple that was a bit different than everyone around them.

While the adults are trying to pin religious and sexual overtones to everything homosexual, to kids they are just people, and we are obligated to answer their questions when they arise.