Writer, activist and CNN political commentator Sally Kohn is feeling the heat after penning a Feb. 20 column in The Washington Post titled "I’m gay. And I want my kid to be gay, too."
Kohn, who joined CNN last year after a stint at Fox News and lives in Brooklyn, New York, writes:
...Being gay opened my eyes to the world around me. Learning that not every gay person had it as good as I did helped me realize that a lot of people in general didn’t have it as good as I did. I wouldn’t be a politically engaged human being, let alone an activist, writer and TV personality, if I weren’t gay.
I want my daughter to know that being gay is equally desirable to being straight. The problem is not the idea that homosexuality could be a choice but the idea that heterosexuality should be compulsory.
Acknowledging that her 6-year-old daughter has already expressed an interest in boys, Kohn goes on to note, "All I ultimately care about is that she has the choice and that whatever choice she makes is enthusiastically embraced and celebrated."
Calling herself "a slightly overbearing pro-gay gay mom," she then concludes, "I’m going to support my daughter, whatever choices she makes."
Check out Kohn's full Op-Ed here.
As a number of media outlets have pointed out, Kohn's piece quickly drew a flurry of angry comments both on the official Washington Post site and on social media.
Young Conservatives columnist Derryck Green felt similarly, noting, "I doubt very seriously that Kohn would fully support her daughter if she grew up to be an evangelical Christian who had conservative leanings. I promise you, Kohn’s open-mindedness, support and tolerance would end shortly prior to that."
Meanwhile, Richard Socarides, who served as a senior adviser to former President Bill Clinton, supported Kohn's words, tweeting:
Kohn, who shared similar sentiments regarding gender norms in a New York Times piece titled, "Daughter to Disney: I'll Take the Tiara, You Keep The Prince," seemed to acknowledge the backlash over the column on Twitter, noting:
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