Lemiwinks
Posted on 04/24/2006 11:23:54 AM PDT by DBeers
AMERICA'S most famous homosexual community is grappling with a perplexing situation — how to become family-friendly and still retain its legendary spirit of sexual freedom.
The Castro district of San Francisco has been a magnet for homosexuals since the 1967 "Summer of Love", drawing people from across world with its gay pride parades.
But things are changing thanks, in part, to the so-called "gayby boom", the increasing number of same-sex couples becoming parents.
In California nearly 60,000 children are being raised by same-sex couples. In addition, heterosexual families with children are choosing to live there.
The shift has resulted in tension between parents who want the more explicit window displays and posters toned down, and those determined to guard against any censorship.
Clashes between parents and shopkeepers include complaints from a lesbian mother of two about a shop with a sado-masochistic window display.
Others have complained about explicit shop displays and posters that feature naked, sexually aroused men.
"I am happy that people can enjoy a lifestyle that is denied to them back home in Kansas, but there are appropriate standards of behaviour, regardless of your sexual orientation," Jeremy Paul, a father of two boys, told the Los Angeles Times.
Some shop owners say they have removed the most provocative displays.
Mark Walsh, 50, the manager of a gay sex shop called Rock Hard, said: "There are always a few outspoken couples with children, both heterosexual and gay, who expect everything to be prim and proper.
"But this is the Castro, and anybody who moves here knows what they are moving to. We are very sexual people, and we do tend to flaunt it a little … This is the one place in the country where we can all gather and be ourselves and not have to worry."
Some areas of Castro life are adjusting, with children's menus in restaurants and a new gay family float planned for the gay pride parade.
Thom Lynch, the director of the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Centre, said the area was gradually adjusting to its changing make-up.
He had heard of some complaints, including "a woman upset about a Buddhist god with a very large penis".
William Rogers, a city official, said: "Traditionally, the Castro has been about adults, bars, sexual expression and a gay community that has largely focused on adult needs and desires.
"As more lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and queer people have children, there is an inherent tension between preserving that adult community and shifting toward a culture that includes children, and in some ways that means altering the meaning of the Castro to include the needs of children."
child abuse plague
Lemiwinks
Won't it be funny that, in order to rebel against their "parents", all these kids grow up to be god-fearing conservatives. Someone should do a study and track these kids.
Bizarre statement. I suppose that "there" refers to S.F., or the Castro district, but as it reads, it's weird.
People who obsess over sex and who are unable/unwilling to exercise any self-control whatsoever are not "adults".
Yes!! I hope someone does.
This shouldn't be a problem.
All they have to do is lower the age of consent to three.
I'm sure legal scholars in SF are working on this right now.
Gee, homosexuals flaunting their perversion is incompatible with family life. Who knew?
If you think San Francisco is bad, try Amsterdam.
Actual sign: "Saturday Night: Gay Gang Bang Night."
Hey parental homos. This is only the beginning. Just wait until they start recruiting your little precious heteros, which will begin to take place soon after the elementary school masterbation and fisting classes have begun.
Yeah, I said it.
Are you implying that Bill Clinton wasn't an adult?
Poor kids...
"...can enjoy a lifestyle that is denied to them back home in Kansas,..." A homosexual perverted lifestyle DENIED them - in Kansas, or (insert standard geographical location here). Simply...amazing.
WHY??!
"In California nearly 60,000 children are being raised by same-sex couples."
Where are these kids coming from, they're certainly not the result of a homo "sexual" union.
Oooh, Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore. What in the world are those men doing to each other?
'course, it isn't exactly difficult to find oneself to the right of the baby boomers. That's like finding oneself north of Antarctica.
"...explicit shop displays and posters that feature naked, sexually aroused men."
___________________
Anyone else want my Big Mac? I seem to have lost my appetite.
I went out a boat tour through the canals of Amsterdam 20 years ago. The tour guide pointed out to us the boat where the "world's last hippie" had lived (an American from San Francisco who moved to Amsterdam). How the guy got the title, I dunno, cause Jerry Garcia, at least, was still alive.
Anywho, the hippie apparently died while taking a bath in the canal.
I thought a lot of things about Amsterdam when I was there, but I never once thought of Amsterdam as "family-friendly."
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