Rob Watson

I can not help but be in awe of the horrible force that homophobia still exerts in our world. It is the force that inspires a mob to destroy a teenage girl, it is the power that drives a family to abandon a daughter at a time when she needs them most, and, worst of all, it is a hatred that through its destruction can turn the brightest, most unconditional love a human being can experience in on itself and into a dark and evil grief that devours every iota of life... [ Read more → ]

On Mother’s Day mornings, my son, Jesse, leads the way in bringing me breakfast in bed with flowers. He got the idea on his own three years ago at the age of seven. “You do everything their mothers do,” he explained at the time. “This is your day, too.” So with that, I would like to send you an open Mother’s Day Card for all LGBT parents, including gay, bisexual, and transgender dads. I offer this up as a Father’s Day Card for all lesbian, bisexual, and transgender moms, as well... [ Read more → ]

I have a confession to make. As much as I loathe clichés and generalizations, there is one that I live up to with incredible gusto. I typify the gay guy who doesn’t do sports. Not even a little bit. From the pains of never getting picked for teams in PE to the days of racking up huge Trivial Pursuit momentum only to be demolished by the final Orange pie question (for those too young for the original Trivial Pursuit, that was the “sports” category), I am the ultimate sports nerd... [ Read more → ]

I have a lovely friend. She is a transgender woman who lives in Nigeria. Her dream, at present denied her, is to be a professional dancer and actress. In her heart and in her spirit, she is both. As I think about her, I imagine the words and music from the song “Mirror and the Music” from the show A Chorus Line encompassing her as she goes to sleep each night... [ Read more → ]

I really don’t know why I can’t seem to see these things coming. I blog about them. I write about prejudices, I have argued with countless anti-gay people, and I have diligently parented to the best of my ability. And yet, these situations emerge and again, I am caught like the proverbial deer in the headlights, unsure which path to take, and positive that all choices lead to certain destruction... [ Read more → ]

Jokes are supposed to be funny. They always start with a set up and then build to a crescendo where the plot twists and the listener bursts out laughing. Last week a “joke” went viral, but no one was left laughing. The “joke” was an article titled, “Parents put 16-year-old daughter up for adoption after learning she is gay." ... The piece was written as humor…satire… but none of the 72,000 who shared it took it that way. They believed it to be real. Who could blame them? [ Read more → ]

My 10-year-old son Jesse had big plans Easter morning. His desire to rise early was not to go searching for the Easter basket the mystical bunny was likely to have left him, it was to make French toast as a surprise for me, his dad. That special pleasing Dad bond is an important one for many young boys. Jesse was not alone in that objective. Three thousand miles away, another boy, Nolan Cranford was preparing to please his dad. Unlike my son, Nolan’ endeavors did not involve syrup and buttery niceness. The way to his dad’ heart was to shout at exiting Church goers and condemn them to hell... [ Read more → ]

I relate to the Portman family on many levels. Like Will Portman, I am also the son of a staunch Republican dad to whom I came out. My dad is older than Rob Portman. He adheres very much to the viewpoints of Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh and Fox News. Rob Portman presumably knows all those people personally. Like the Portmans, we too had our political theory versus family integrity moment... [ Read more → ]

As a gay dad, and a professional, I thought it would be fitting to do what one should, as a matter of courtesy, when someone gets a new job. You send a note of congratulations. So, on behalf of my family, including my two 10-year old sons, I am doing just that. Our note includes a suggested five point plan based on the principles that I have used with my sons, and that they have found effective... [ Read more → ]

Last week was extraordinary. The issue of same sex marriage was discussed more intelligently than ever before. In depth thought and information, including an outstanding synopsis by the American Sociological Association, appeared as amici briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court. One of these was from 278 employers and organizations arguing from a pro-business perspective. These industry leaders stated that for them to “attract the best employees and colleagues” they must “offer robust workplace benefits and a workplace ethos of transparent fairness.” [ Read more → ]

One thing that I have learned as a parent to two 10-year-old boys — sometimes while a child sometimes says he wants one thing, he secretly may be hoping that he doesn’t get it. Their voices quiver as they ask for it, while their eyes say “get me out of this mess, Daddy!” That is kind of what is happening these days with the GOP and the Supreme Court and their former favorite wedge issue, the denial of marriage equality to LGBTQ people... [ Read more → ]

In these modern times, it is funny how we forge interesting and new kinds of relationships through media, social and otherwise. We gain unique attachments to people we have never met, some of whom we interact with on Twitter or Facebook, and some of whom we have never interacted with at all. I have such a pseudo-relationship with former first lady Laura Bush. This week our relationship, which had moved into a rather warm and appreciative state of late, took a turn for the worse. [ Read more → ]

Some of those fighting marriage equality these days want you to believe that there is only a single possible right way to create a “real” family. That way, they suggest, is by means of unprotected, unplanned, procreative sex. Or, as Nan Hunter observes, “accidental procreation,” which then warrants 1500 protections and benefits by means of a "bribe (for) heterosexuals “ to get married. And only the biologically created family deserves marriage, they argue, and all the rewards to stay together... [ Read more → ]

Same-sex marriage is before the Supreme Court and the anti-gay community is out in force.  Propaganda-like amicus briefs from the anti-gay community seem to be papering the walls of the Supreme Court on a daily basis. Nan Hunter, on The Nation, observed that the briefs... [ Read more → ]

The officials are calling the impending death of young Jadin a “suicide”. It was not a suicide; it was the destruction of something innocent, something beautiful, something of supreme contribution exposed to an environment that valued it not at all. The facts support their word perhaps. No argument. A 15 year old boy took a rope to a playground and without assistance from any visible being, hung himself. [ Read more → ]

I always figured there were certain hateful statements my sons would make, especially ones that say I am inadequate. Such statements would come out in the future during some teen age angst scrapple where I was laying down the law and they were going for my vulnerable jugular. My sister told me once, “If your kids don’t shout out that they hate you at least a few times, then you aren’t doing it right.” Up until now, no such shout out has occurred... [ Read more → ]

George Bernard Shaw once described straight parenting a having “no test of fitness.” — yet, LGBTQ parents are beyond the “test.” ... In the present time, motivated gay people, thrilled for the opportunity we thought was denied us, are becoming parents. Higher percentages of us are adopting needy kids than our straight counterparts. A comparison between us will be unfair to a percentage of straight parents of today participating in the status quo who will come off badly. There are ten factors that make this so... [ Read more → ]

The Pope has stated that gay families pose a “crisis” in which “the key figures of human existence likewise vanish: father, mother, child – essential elements of the experience of being human are lost”. Meanwhile, I was taking my gay family on a trip to Disneyland. On the day we went, so did 40,000 other people. I thought about what the Pope could see if he had been there with us. We were as any other family in the park — we were photographed together, kissed and hugged each other when moved to do so, held hands, and laughed a lot... [ Read more → ]

Last weekend, I set off to do my Christmas shopping. As a single gay Dad, time to do such an activity is scarce. I also have to admit, my heart is a bit distracted over the shopping endeavor this year. The night I went out, it was pouring rain, which fed into the “weather outside is frightful” milieu, but still meant the idea of shopping sucked... [ Read more → ]

The fact is that 20 sets of parents got the call I most fear, and that without warning the precious looks, kisses, hugs, innocent conversations and happiness that are my heart and soul treasures can abruptly end and be removed, forever. This event was terrorism because so many of us feel the searing pain of the poor families who are facing the reality of their loss. I wish to my soul that I could spare them the pain they feel, I wish it more than any other thing this Christmas, and take little solace in the fact that I get to hug my boys and take them in my arms still. [ Read more → ]