discord

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Mar 22, 2007

The NCR's Chuck Colbert "reports" (if I may abuse the word) on Gregory Maguire and Andy Newman, a gay couple raising a family in Concord, Massachusetts. It turns out -- don't be shocked -- that everything is just fine.

All three children -- two boys and a girl, ages 5, 6 and 9 -- were adopted from countries in Latin America and Southeast Asia. They are by Maguire’s account "noisy, smart and obedient within a range," having settled comfortably into an all-American way of life, with interests varying from ballet and piano to soccer and computer games. They are well-liked by their friends, Maguire said, adding, "We have yet to hear or face in nine years living in Concord any resistance to us as a gay couple with a family."

OK, suppose that at some point along the way one of the kiddies should say, "I want a mother," and makes the wish known outside the family -- say, to a rather contra-Concordian schoolteacher who rephrases the child's desire as "I have the right to a mother," and finds a lawyer. What counts as the age of reason? When can the prerogative of leaving home for another family be exercised? How would the state (adept at using individual rights to permit same-sex unions and no-fault divorce) justify the refusal to let a minor citizen pursue licit individual interest -- and that in a way congruent with its pro-mother preference in cases of contested child custody?