Heathers

A generation or two weaned on such public school textbooks as Heather Has Two Mommies may be passing their final exam on such texts. “Most tweens and teens (59%) now feel that ‘gay or lesbian relations are OK, if that is the person’s choice,’” the Harris poll reports.  “This is a huge increase since 1989, when only 31% believed that ‘homosexual relations are OK if that is the person’s choice’ (a slightly different question).”

“Conversely, only 30% of 7^th -12^th graders now believe that gay and lesbian relationships are never acceptable because it is unnatural compared to 56% who felt this way about homosexual relations twenty years ago.” Coincidentally, that’s when Heather made her debut.

“Originally self-published in 1989, Heather Has Two Mommies became the first title in Alyson’s newly formed Alyson Wonderland imprint in 1990,” the Amazon page on the book tells us. “The simple and straightforward story of a little girl named Heather and her two lesbian mothers was created by Newman and illustrator Diana Souza because children’s books that reflected a nontraditional family did not exist, but a firestorm of controversy soon ensued.”

“Attacked by the religious right, lambasted by Jesse Helms from the floor of the U.S Senate, and stolen from library shelves, it was an uphill battle for Heather. Thanks to the overwhelming support of booksellers, librarians, parents, and children, however, Heather Has Two Mommies has sold over 35,000 copies, launched a minor industry in providing books for the children of gay and lesbian parents and, as attested to by a recent New Yorker cartoon, become part of the cultural lexicon.”

They didn’t even mention teachers. As Hillsdale professor Michael Bauman noted in 2006, Joe Fernandez, then the school chancellor for New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, approved the book for use in the school system there, the nation’s largest.

Interestingly, girls are more likely than boys to view homosexuality favorably.

“Girls (59%) are much more likely than boys (38%) to believe that their friendship would not change if they discovered that ‘a good friend of yours of the same sex is involved in a gay or lesbian relationship,’” Harris reports, noting later that “Similarly girls (65%) are more likely than boys (54%) to believe that ‘gay or lesbian relations are OK if that is the person’s choice.’”

Harris conducted its poll of  “3,263 students in grades 3 through 12 of whom 1,833 are in grades 7 through 12, who were surveyed using online and school-based interviews between October 2, 2008 and January 23, 2009” for the Girl Scouts. Given the rather pronounced left-wing shift in views on social issues, it is rather surprising that teen and tween attitudes have moved, albeit slightly, in a pro-life direction on abortion.

“There has been a modest drop in the minority of tweens and teens (25%) who believe that ‘abortion is all right, if having the baby will change your life plans in a way that you will find hard to live,’”   Harris reports. “In 1989, 33% felt this way.”

Nevertheless, “Those who believe that ‘abortion is all right, if having a baby will change your life plans’ increases from only 18% of those aged 11-12 to 31% of those aged 16-17,” Harris found.

Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia.