Sally Kohn, a CNN contributor and progressive activist, says she hopes her 6-year-old daughter will turn out to be gay.
Kohn, who has previously described herself as a “butch lesbian,” copped to the preference in an opinion piece for the Washington Post.
“I’m gay. And I want my kid to be gay, too,” wrote Kohn, who also contributes to The Daily Beast.
Kohn defended her position, arguing that it’s normal for parents to want their children to follow in their footsteps, whether it involves extracurricular activities, political outlook or sexual orientation.
“More often than not, we define happiness as some variation on our own lives, or at least the lives of our expectations. If we went to college, we want our kids to go to college. If we like sports, we want our kids to like sports. If we vote Democrat, of course we want our kids to vote Democrat,” wrote Kohn, who lives with her partner Sarah Hansen and their daughter Willa Hansen-Kohn in the “liberal bubble of Park Slope, Brooklyn.”
Kohn made it clear in the essay that though she ultimately wants her daughter to be happy whatever her sexual orientation, she plans to do everything she can to encourage her daughter to avoid adhering to gender norms.
“When my daughter plays house with her stuffed koala bears as the mom and dad, we gently remind her that they could be a dad and dad. Sometimes she changes her narrative. Sometimes she doesn’t. It’s her choice,” Kohn wrote.
The activist highlighted her dilemma with a story about how her daughter recently developed a crush on an older boy who rides her school bus.
“Time will tell, but so far, it doesn’t look like my 6-year-old daughter is gay. In fact, she’s boy crazy. It seems early to me, but I’m trying to be supportive,” Kohn exclaimed.
When Kohn’s daughter said she wanted to buy the boy presents and a card, the essayist asked another student’s mother for advice on what to do.
“Bet it wouldn’t bother you so much if her crush was on a girl,” the mother told Kohn.
“She was right,” Kohn wrote. “I’m a slightly overbearing pro-gay gay mom. But I’m going to support my daughter, whatever choices she makes.”
Kohn has displayed a penchant for making controversial statements.
In an essay for CNN last summer, she argued that using the word “illegal” to describe undocumented immigrants was like calling an African-American “the n-word.”
An in an essay at The New York Times last month, which Kohn advertised on her website as “Butch Lesbian Mom Takes Daughter To Princess Makeover,” the pundit lamented that her daughter gravitates towards dolls and dresses rather than jeans and sports.
“Even in the midst of our hyper-liberal and hyper-diverse neighborhood with girls and boys of all kinds on display every day, it happened,” Kohn wrote. “Did I do something wrong? Is feminism mysteriously skipping a generation? Meanwhile, I have to bribe her to wear jeans.”
