we live in a world where our children suffer because we made mistakes. we live in a world where everyone else thinks they can do better with your child, where they think they know whats best. we live in a world where people have children when they turn out to not be as capable of being a parent as they thought, we live in a world where we glorify the death of a child as a reminder that bad things happen.

where parents lose their kids because they made one tiny mistake, where parents who do nothing but abuse their children, and get away with it till their child is dead.

and when that child is dead, we mourn, that's normal. but when we carry it on as a war cry for 9 years, it turns his death meaningless. i don't care about the dead kids... there's nothing more we can do for them now. instead we should be focusing on those that are still alive, focus on those that are in foster homes, homeless, abused, or malnourished. bad things happen... parents die, and leave a child. but that child should not become another number in the system, he should have a family to go to. we shove our kids in homes, and sometimes they never find a family. and sadly, sometimes those families are only using them for personal gain...

there are couples everywhere who seek adoption... but there is a problem.

gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender families, are often barred from being allowed to adopt. we are prevented from giving a child a new home, we are not allowed to give a child a happy life, because according to religion, we are not capable of raising a child. according to religion, we are unable to provide an emotionally stable environment.

what religion does not know, is that our definition of an emotionally stable environment includes unconditional love. me and my partner Sirene Tokala... we do not have a child. but both of us agree, if our child told us he wanted to be something, we would support him. however, parenting isn't all that simple.

if my child wanted to be a drug addict... i'd say no.
if my child wanted to preach against gay rights, i'd say no.
if my child wanted to kill others, i'd say no.
if my child intentionally hurts animals for fun, i'd say no.
if my child wanted to hate women, i'd say no.

you will then look at me and call me a hypocrite... because even though i promised to support my child, i will not support him if his actions hurt others.
you might also call me a failed parent, because my child has interests that would be dangerous, or violent.

it takes more than two people to raise and influence a child in his growing years. as he grows, he will encounter your every day behaviors, some good, some bad. this does not mean i've failed as a parent, this means we've failed as a society, to teach kids the right thing to do.

so please... mourn the children we have lost... but do everything in your power to make sure the children of today, don't repeat the same mistakes that caused another child to die.