What does the Catholic Church mean when it says that homosexual parenting does violence to the children? Here's an interview with a woman raised by a homosexual father: Dawn Stefanowicz, interviewed by Gail Besse, in the National Catholic Register (May 10, 2006). Excerpts:
I’m speaking as a child who was not allowed to talk about what it’s like to grow up in a same-sex household. I loved my dad, and cared about his partners who have died of AIDS, so I can’t be politically correct. I have to speak up when legislation will inevitably put children at risk physically and psychologically.
Why doesn’t the public hear from more people in your situation?
It’s an extremely sensitive subject. It took me until I was in my late 20s to begin to deal with it. I haven’t met another adult child who didn’t love their parent, and often they won’t come forward until that parent has died. Sometimes the adult child won’t talk because they fear either hurting other family members or retribution from their own families.
What are your feelings toward your dad?
I came to deeply love and compassionately understand him before he died in 1991, sharing his life regrets with me. As a child, he had been sexually and physically abused by older males. He suffered from depression, anger, suicidal tendencies and sexual compulsions.
Do any incidents stick in your mind that you feel comfortable sharing?
We went to vacation spots that weren’t typical family places. One was a gay nude beach at Hanlan’s Point, Toronto, which often was raided by police, but now it’s legally “clothing optional.” By age 10, I was exposed to a sex shop and a gay cruising area. The boundaries between private and public sex were broken. There was cross-dressing, and gender-neutral aspects. I grew up feeling very confused about my own sexuality.
Read the complete interview.
