Morgan Spurlock

30 Days, Same Sex Parenting

An episode of 30 Days has made it to Hulu.com

A woman, a child of the adoption system moves in with a gay couple and their four adopted sons, for thirty days no less. Both parties expect all hell to break loose from the get go, but it doesn't happen. Not yet.

You can tell Kati can relate to Dennis and Thomas, since she has a few lil ones of her own. She's a person whom deeply cares about kids, and it's easy to tell. What LGBT rights activists are feerful of people like Kati, is that their views might be misguided and actually hurt kids in the long run. Sort of what the oposition thinks, except the other way around.

I notice how the focus isn't on the kids so much as the beliefs of the adults. Undertandably so. Kids are too young to form the own opinions, or so we think. Too me though, they seem happy. We also get to see someone who feels hurt by the fact that she was raised around a gay man. We also see adults raised by group homes within the adoption system. They say "Doesn't matter if it's black brown, green orange, we need homes to grow up in that AREN'T group homes."

There's a few climaxes, here and there. Some don't seem provoked, but others i'm not so sure.

I think back to psychology in high school and the term "equilibrium". Our brains want to be in a state of equilibrium. When our belifes are challenged, all that has been truth in our lives is being challenged, thust disturbing our equilibrium. One such is an example: when a son/daughter brings an african-american back home where his father/mother, prejudice in nature, disaprove of having "their type" around. "He hasn't stolen a thing in his life," says the child. "He just hasn't stolen anything YET". The parents equilibrium is being challenged, as well as all they hold true.

Much to opponents of LGBT Rights's chagrin, proponents draw paralels between civil rights struggles in the 60's and gay rights activism. It's hard not too. Kati says at one point something like "These are rights for married men and women only," and once it was "these are rights reserved for whites only." Isn't that a fair parallel?

Alas, I really thought that Kati was goign to come out a changed woman. Surely 30 days is more than enough for someone to realize that gays are good people and good parents. It turns out equilibrium wants to be maintained more than one would think.

I think that this particular episode illustrates the fact that no matter how you slice it, we're in this together. "I find myself having to live with this woman," says Dennis (or Thomas, i forgot which is which) "but I don't really want to". "Lets stop stepping on each others toes," says Kati.

Easier said than done.

I feel that when it's a matter of civil rights, it's not a matter of democracy but of equal rights (supposedly what this country stands for). But, i have to admit that when children are involved, it makes gay rights a special case.

As a straight male, I feel that when I have kids, I'll try my best to raise them right. What parent doesn't feel that way. But when I f***k up in parenting, I hope my mistakes are separate from my sexuality.

Ok, so lets hear it. What say yeeeeee!? An episode of 30 Days has made it to Hulu.com ... more

CarlosIsDown

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