CNN Commentator Sally Kohn: I Hope My Kid Is Gay

Writing in the Washington Post, Kohn says a gay child can be just as happy and fulfilled as a straight one.

Neal Broverman

Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.

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Neal Broverman

February 24 2015 5:30 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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Out essayist and CNN commentator Sally Kohn unabashedly admits she wants her daughter to be gay, rejecting claims by others that an LGBT child will face undue stigma and bigotry.

Kohn says her view is shaped by her own coming-out experiences, which were seamless and pain-free. She rejects the notion that a gay child would have a harder life simply by being gay:

"If my daughter is gay, I don't worry about her having a hard life. But I do worry about people expecting her to have a hard life -- helping to perpetuate discrimination that might otherwise fade more quickly. I want my daughter to know that being gay is equally desirable to being straight. The problem is not the idea that homosexuality could be a choice but the idea that heterosexuality should be compulsory. In my house it's plainly, evidently not. We've bought every picture book featuring gay families, even the not-very-good ones, and we have most of the nontraditional-gender-role books as well -- about the princess who likes to fight dragons and the boy who likes to wear dresses."

Kohn believes a gay child would be more empathetic than a straight child; she says she became more aware of the plight of others because of how her own sexuality impacted her understanding of privilege. She even acknowledges that her desire to have her daughter grow up gay is influenced by the fact that Kohn is "an upper-middle-class white lesbian living in a liberal city."