This is a phrase you hear a lot from the right. It’s simultaneously an indictment on gay and lesbian parents and the whores who have babies outside of holy wedlock, and an endorsement of Christianity, old school family values, and traditional gender roles. I think it’s a favorite of conservatives because it says an awful lot—mostly self-righteous and judgmental—in only four words.
In a country where 1 in 5 children lives in poverty, 1 in 5 children doesn’t get enough to eat, and 1 in 4 children goes without healthcare, I can’t help but feel that maybe the focus here is a little off. Where are the rallying cries against child hunger and poverty, against children who don’t have access to basic healthcare?
- Kids Need Food
- Kids Need Shelter
- Kids Need Healthcare
When we as a country aren’t even meeting children’s basic needs, you have to wonder about the folks who think the real issue is that some women are having sex without the church’s blessing or that some families have two moms or two dads instead of one of each. Especially when many of those are the same folks who actively argue we should end programs like food stamps, public housing, and Medicaid—the lifelines that keep many families just barely afloat—because those freeloaders don’t deserve a penny of their hard-earned money. Especially when the religion they claim leads them to make the “kids need both parents” argument has far more to say about helping the poor and the needy and the evils of amassing personal wealth at the expense of others than it does about what kind of families children need.
If you think whether a child comes from a home with both a father and a mother is more important than whether a child has a safe place to sleep and goes to bed each night with a full tummy and in good health, I can’t help but think your priorities are probably more about making you feel superior and protecting yourself and your interests than with any sort of concern for children.