It's Her Body - Get a Life

Now that Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Veep Dick "Straight Shot" Cheney has had a baby, the right wing is all a-twitter. See, Mary is planning to raise her child, a son named Samuel David, with her life partner, Heather Poe. The right wingers have a huge fascination with what other people do with their genitals and who they do it with. Have y'all noticed that?

Anyway, a sampling of websites on the far right turned up a lot of indignation over Mary's decision.

Concerned Women for America posted this: "Unfortunately, Ms. Poe can never replace little Samuel David's other parent his dad. This child will be purposely raised without the unique loving male role model and authority figure that only a father can represent. One wonders if Ms. Cheney has ever contemplated what her childhood may have been like if she had been denied her own father."

Umm. Let's see. Mary Cheney had a male daddy and she turned out to be gay. Ninety-nine percent of the gays I know were raised in a traditional family. I think Concerned Women for America has a bit of thinking to do about gender roles and the effects of gay parenting.

Concerned Women goes on to say that there is but one natural order for the family and that's to have a male influence in the home.

Gosh... What about all the kids in this world who are raised in a home with a mother and grandmother, no man present, because Daddy got killed in the war?

Oops. My bad. Those are STRAIGHT women raising those babies so it doesn't count as a bad thing.

What I think is really tragic about the situation is that Samuel David's role model for a male figure might be Dick Cheney. Grandpa Dick might take the boy hunting when he's old enough to balance his first Remington Youth Model 1100 and go afield. I sure hope one of the gamekeepers teaches the boy hunter safety, and not his pawpaw.

But I digress. Mary Cheney has given birth to a healthy boy, she is going to bring him up in a home where two people (who happen to be women) love and respect each other. It is her body, her child, her choice.

Everyone else butt out, okay? You clearly need a better hobby. And you Concerned Women, spend less time fretting about other folks' sex lives. Please.. your interest is kind of.... icky.

Gita M. Smith is a journalist living in Alabama. Her blog may be seen at http://www.Myspace.com/gitahandley