ZOINKS! My Five Y/O Son Is Gay!! Ruh Roh....

When i first heard about this, they never said anything about the kids second thoughts.... I find it ridiculous that the mother completely avoided any of her sons concerns...


If the boy really felt comfortable he wouldn't have expressed his concern to his mother.... It appears that she was more interested in saying it didn't matter to her, instead of listening to what her son said...

Parents please listen to your kids.... If your boy wants to dress up like a female character, let him try that on mentally, and if at that point he says " I don't know what i was thinking" then listen to that as well... Don't force your child into something just because it was his or her first idea...

Ugh...

Enh

You blame the mother who said this:

"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."

I blame the enthusiastic genitalia police that like to call themselves Christians whilst judging other people constantly against Christs' will.

Admittedly, this mother is a little loopy. She's not perfect and she may be getting a lot of coverage on it but I don't think she is fishing for press coverage here because she seems very infuriated whenever she talks about it. She may be... misinformed in her definitions of homosxuality (wearing women's clothing has nothing to do with gay people) but her intentions to show her son that he can do whatever he wants despite what other people might think of him is a good lesson to learn early in life (especially if you plan on going around wearing women's clothing if, god forbid, you have a penis; it's somehow miles different than women wearing men's clothing)

Suffice to say, this boy never would have been made fun of if the overprotective socio-political zombies of parental control didn't make sure that no child was "exposed" to seeing a real man in women's clothing before the age of 10 to "preserve their innocence". Children do not relate men in women's clothing to sex, parents do out of ignorance and convince their children that it is wrong and everyone who does it is a freak.

All in all, this woman's decisions to send her child to school in the Daphne outfit built this child's character. What lesson did he learn that day? The truth in it all. He went to school and was not bullied by his peers; he found the real bullies -- parents. He was very nervous and he pushed through it, he conquered his fears and the only bad that came out of it was from parental influence... the people who are supposed to be the adults are once again caught acting the most immature.

The mother is Sarah Manley, and here is her guest post at Offbeat Mama.

offbeatmama.com...

She claims to be a yoga teacher of children, and with a little googling you can find the website to her page and the yoga studio she is affliated with.

Maybe she wanted to drum up business? The fact she posts at a place called Offbeat Mama is telling, she already has as part of her identity that she is offbeat and different, and sometimes moms like that like to transfer their offbeatness to their kids.

From offbeat mama:

About Sarah Manley:
I'm a stay-at-home mom of three. I am married to a police officer. I live in the middle of the Bible Belt

To get to know Sarah Manley better, click here

The click here goes to her blog.

So she lied to CNN about privacy. The offbeat mama post is dated the fourth, and the cnn interview is dated the morning of the fifth, according to this link:

amfix.blogs.cnn.com...

She willingly gave her entire name to some offbeat mama website just the day before, to soak in the internet glory of her doings!

The plot thickens.

reply to post by Brood


I agree, everything we go through builds character. But does a five year old even have the intellectual capacity to grasp the broader undertones of what his mother willingly did to him?

As a mom I cant get past the ignoring of the child's fears, I think that was sad and wrong, and yes it makes me mad and I am the furthest thing from a christian you can imagine. I am also pro gay rights, strongly, but I am a mom, and when they were little at five, I protected them.

This kids picture will be haunting him long after this fifteen minute momma loses her fame. That is sad.

But I wanted to acknowledge your point and say yes it does have merit.

I vaguely remember being five, I think I was riding my bike or something.

Poor kid.

Gay is a sexual orientation, not a lifestyle. 5 year old boys do not have a sexual orientation, ergo, this woman is forcing an arbitrary label on a defenseless child.

Originally posted by hotbakedtater
reply to post by Brood

 

I agree, everything we go through builds character. But does a five year old even have the intellectual capacity to grasp the broader undertones of what his mother willingly did to him?

All that building character is rubbish. We all react to things different, not everyone gets stronger with hassles, and why bring unwanted attention on the kid so young to project out how he feels.

It could be hormonal, and the kid may change, we will never know as now the pressure will be on him to be a certain way.

A boys sexuallity is harder to fix thana girls, when it gets messed up, that is something 100% true.

Originally posted by SyphonX
Gay is a sexual orientation, not a lifestyle. 5 year old boys do not have a sexual orientation, ergo, this woman is forcing an arbitrary label on a defenseless child.

Several times, she called him a tranny too.

And on her twitter she admits to drug use and how much she loves pain pills, and she discusses bumming drugs off of another twitterer.

How can people find her actions heroic? She thrust a baby into a sexual spotlight. It makes me sad because she was sending him to Church preschool, and from her twitter she celebrates Lent, so maybe it was a catholic school. I love how CNN forgot to mention that tidbit.

Another issue to consider in this case, is that of the social internet playing a part in this child's humiliation.

But for the mom plastering this all over the internet no one would know. Instead of being horrified it got out, closing comments, and making the blog private til stuff died down, to minimize the potential damage to the kid, she stepped on his little head faster than a Rand Paul supporter at a rally to grab onto her minute in the sunshine. She decided to leave his picture up, and draw attention to the story by giving media interviews, and landed housewife GOLD with the Today show morning show.

A DR on CNN has claimed Sarah Manley OUTED her five year child, and when she disagreed, the DR reaffirmed he felt she DID.

Who does this to their kid?

Social networking played a part in this kid's infamy.

Looks like Forbes Magazine has the same idea I was flat footedly trying to make above.

blogs.forbes.com...

Nerdy Apple is right in telling those mean mommies that “it is none of your damn business” what her son puts on, but it’s even more true that she has no damn business, however ironically, “outing” her little boy on the Internet.

I wish saying, “My son is gay,” was as neutral as, “He’s a people person.” 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. Don’t believe me? Just Google, “my son is gay”…and there’s Boo with the killer smile sitting on the pumpkin.

Must read, very much covers some of the points about this story that as a mother make me so disturbed.

Edited to add, nowhere have I read of the mother offering the child a choice when he expressed disapproval, only encouragement to wear it. I might have said to my child, aww, I don't think anyone will make fun of you, but if it bothers you, mommy will get a different costume, if you would like. What do you feel you would like to do? And possibly bring up some age appropriate discussion on why he thought people might do something to him if he wore it, that is a disturbing comment to hear a child make, and in my house that would have been explored.

Originally posted by andy1033
All that building character is rubbish. We all react to things different, not everyone gets stronger with hassles, and why bring unwanted attention on the kid so young to project out how he feels.

This child was not made fun of by the other children at school. He chose the costume himself because he loved it so much, and had second thoughts about it because he didn't want to get made fun of.

The message to the child was "Do what you want and don't worry what they think about you". Isn't this what we tell our children all of the time? Wouldn't it be hypocrisy to tell him not to do something because he would be made fun of for it? Wouldn't that be saying "Don't do the things that you like if other people make fun of you for it".

It could be hormonal, and the kid may change, we will never know as now the pressure will be on him to be a certain way.

What could be hormonal? Something to do with this 5 year old ? What would change? The kid wore a damn Halloween costume, are you saying that this reflects his sexual behavior as an adult? You actually believe that? Would you happen to be a Christian Preschool mother?

A boys sexuallity is harder to fix thana girls, when it gets messed up, that is something 100% true.

There are more lies in this sentence then there are spelling mistakes.

reply to post by hotbakedtater


Her post-incident actions are what I do not agree with. I don't understand how this because a national issue because its just an innocent costume and there's no reason why this child, his mother, or the preschool parents should have been alarmed by it in the first place.

Now she is nationally slandering her own son's sexual preference and gender challenges before he even knows they are.

Please don't take this as a flame, but rather an observation from another parent.

You seem to be VERY caught up in all of this and reading/following everything you can find. Why?

Don't you think that perhaps the very act of you posting the story and pushing all their personal information before a HUGE internet audience is, in an act itself, harssing this young boy? Don't you think that posting his PICTURE is actually perpetrating what you yourself seem so upset about?

Yes, it would appear that his mother is all about making this public and doing interviews, etc. BUT...what if everyone had ignored it and simply treated it as the simple story that it is? If it weren't sensationalized, it would be over, and that 5-year old boy (who is the REAL story here) would not be so emotionally harmed.

I realize you had the best of intentions with this thread, but really, I feel all you are doing is making it worse for that little boy. Not you alone, by all means...but don't you see you are contributing to his exposure and harm?

If you really want to help him, then ignore the story. It is sad the way his mother is treating him, but also the way that society is so eager to crucify the family (and by association, the child) in front of everyone to see.

Let it go.

reply to post by westcoast


Oh, I am the author of the thread, and when you author a thread it is your job to keep it updated. I am merely offering as many sides to the tale as possible, for the readers. And I did not make this a story, the mother did that all by herself.

Pretty scary all around...on a side note my wife wants that purse!

reply to post by hotbakedtater


Right. But if it weren't for the BLOGS and all the information, etc. being spread around by all the concerned people on the internet, this wouldn't even be a story.

Don't you feel bad for posting his picture? I mean, he's five years old. Why do that? What good is it doing? Are you really helping anyone by doing it, or contributing to his exposure and subsequent pain? That is my point.

Originally posted by westcoast

Don't you think that perhaps that very act of you posting the story and pushing all their personal information before a HUGE internet audience is, in an act itself, harssing this young boy? Don't you think that posting his PICTURE is actually perpetrating what you yourself seem so upset about?

Posting the picture humanizes the situation for me. Look at this kid; behold the evil that lurks in his tranny blood ! The fate of his sexuality has been decided ! And I fail to see how you came to the conclusion that this boy is being harassed by this thread when everyone in here is trying to defend him.

Yes, it would appear that his mother is all about making this public and doing interviews, etc. BUT...what if everyone had ignored it and simply treated as the simple story that it is? If it weren't sensationalized, it would be over, and that 5-year old boy (who is the REAL story here) would not be so emtionally harmed.

True, however, it was already sensationalized before it made it to ATS. The reason it is here is BECAUSE it was sensationalized already.

If you really want to help him, then ignore the story. It is sad the way his mother is treating him, but also the way that society is so eager to crucify the family (and by association, the child) in front of everyone to see.

Ignorance = Help?

This thread is not ripping apart the family any more than "the gays" are. Just specific members' of the family's actions are on trial.

reply to post by hotbakedtater


That was a really well put together post... Bravo..funny too!


"Shaggy: This is tied for the most terrifying day of my life!
Velma: Tied with what?
Shaggy: Every other freaking day of my life!"

mom shoulda knew better. what an odd costume a 5 year old wants to wear. my son is 3 and was all about buzz...

reply to post by westcoast


I disagree. Im happy she posted it. I was a little hesitant about the title, but then once I read it I found it interesting and even a bit enlightening. I think I learned something from it as a parent. So well done OP

I read about this somewhere, maybe boingboing. Where I read about it though there was no mention of the child being nervous and the mother acted as if she never gave it a second though until other mothers started giving her guff over it. I don't understand why the child would have such a change of heart and become nervous after already ordering the costume unless someone in his family was giving him reason to think he should be. Either way, yeah, there should be no mention of sexual preference around that kid yet he shouldn't have to worry about considering that for 10 or more years. If she is talking about that around her kid she should be ashamed as it could be confusing to the child and to have approached it as she already apparently has proves to me she is not a rational enough person to give her son any kind of proper insight on the matter. Since when does dressing up as a girl for halloween (or ever even) call your sexuality into question, especially as a kid.