February 24, 2015
I'm Gay and I Want My Kid to Be Gay, Too, Says Sally Kohn
Winnie McCroy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Sally Kohn is a political commentator for CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. She is also a lesbian. And she recently wrote in The Washington Post that she would be disappointed if her six-year-old daughter didn't grow up gay.
The UK Daily Mail reports that the 37-year-old Kohn, who lives in the "liberal bubble of Park Slope Brooklyn," just wants her kid to follow in her footsteps.
"I'm gay. And I want my kid to be gay, too," said Kohn. "If we went to college, we want our kids to go to college. If we like sports, we want our kids to like sports. If we vote Democrat, of course we want our kids to vote Democrat."
Although the six-year-old, Willa Hansen Kohn, when at age 2 tickled the blogosphere explaining the Bush tax cuts while wearing a pink feather boa and a leopard-spotted coat, is precocious, she is likely not going to end up like mom.
"Time will tell, but so far, it doesn't look like my six-year-old daughter is gay. In fact, she's boy crazy," admitted Kohn. She said that while she and her partner, Sarah Hansen, a philanthropy advisor, remind their daughter when playing that her stuffed koala bears could be a dad and a dad, their daughter doesn't always change the narrative.
"My partner and I certainly didn't teach our daughter to like pink and ruffles and such. And I can't fathom some genetic or biological nodule that predisposes my girl to like dolls while little boys like trucks. Baloney," said Kohn. "Even in the midst of our hyper-liberal and hyper-diverse neighborhood with girls and boys of all kinds on display every day, it happened. Did I do something wrong? Is feminism mysteriously skipping a generation? Meanwhile, I have to bribe her to wear jeans."
This self-described "butch lesbian" said that she wanted to tackle the concept that no one would 'choose to be gay,' writing in the Washington Post that "It's more widely acceptable to be gay in America today, but that's not the same as being desirable."
Kohn celebrated being a lesbian, saying, "I've never for a single second regretted being gay, nor saw it as anything other than an asset and a gift," and bemoaned the social expectations that "heterosexuality should be compulsory."
Although it doesn't appear that young Willa will follow her mom's footsteps, maybe the article will put an end to Right Wingers accusing gays of recruiting.
Winnie McCroy is the Women on the EDGE Editor, HIV/Health Editor, and Assistant Entertainment Editor for EDGE Media Network, handling all women's news, HIV health stories and theater reviews throughout the U.S. She has contributed to other publications, including The Village Voice, Gay City News, Chelsea Now and The Advocate, and lives in Brooklyn, New York.