Rosie's Story (20/20 background; Dads are Missing)

ABC News ^ | March 14, 2002 | Rebecca Raphael

[gobucks]

"I don't think America knows what a gay parent looks like: I am the gay parent," the entertainer tells ABCNEWS' Diane Sawyer in her first in-depth interview about her sexuality.

O'Donnell has three adopted children — Parker, 6, Chelsea, 4, and Blake, 2. — and says she is in "a committed, long-term life relationship" with her partner of about four years, Kelli Carpenter.

She talked about her experiences as a gay parent publicly for the first time with Sawyer, hoping to bring attention to the issue of gay adoption and a Florida law that prevents gay couples from adopting.

‘I Totally Think I’m Gay’

There's no earth-shattering coming-out story, O'Donnell says, just a realization that dawned on her in a private moment.

"When all my friends in high school, my girlfriends, were going out to bars and picking up men and fooling around on the beach," she says, "I would get Diet Coke and I was the designated driver. So it was never like a priority for me. I never thought about it."

When she was 18, she thought about it. "I remember driving my car when I got my permit," she says. "I was alone and I was like, 'I totally think I'm gay.' Like I says it out loud in the car."

She first fell in love with a woman a couple of years later; but she also had male lovers.

"It took me a while to understand and to figure out all that things that made me me, where I was most comfortable, who I was, and how I was going to define my life," she says. "And I found the coat that fit me."

Her sexuality never has been and is not now "a big deal" for her, she says. "Part of the reason why I've never said that I was gay until now was because I didn't want that adjective assigned to my name for all of eternity. You know, gay Rosie O'Donnell."

O'Donnell, who lost her mother when she was 10 and describes her father as "not very available," says being gay was not that big of an obstacle in her generally difficult childhood.

[Trillian]

I feel so bad for their kids. They're purposely denying them a father out of their own selfishness. Rosie had an abusive father and a mom who died early in her childhood. I think we all know why she's now a lesbian.

[gg188]

but she also had male lovers.

EEWWWWWWWW!

[gg188]

I didn't want that adjective assigned to my name for all of eternity

Too late; "fat" was already there.

[tuckrdout]

"Rosie over dinner tells her (lover's) Southern Baptist parents conservative she wants to have sex with their daughter"

Where did you read that? I missed it in the article.

[utahagen]

I think it was very interesting that Rosie said deifnitively that she and Kelly would be together for life, but that Kelly said, "I hope so" when Walters asked her the same question. The married people I know who are committed to each other for real would never say, "I hope so" when asked if they'd be together forever; they'd say, "Yes!".

I predict that a couple of years down the road, Kelly will want to walk away with her one, biological child and half Rosie's fortune. And she'll at least get the money. After all, as Rosie insists, the two are "married".

[Essie]

I can't agree with you more. We are a nation of narcissists. It is all about me, and I don't care about you. If Rosie truly loved her children, she would know that they need a father and a mother. But the children are window-dressing, so that she can pretend that she is living a normal life. The kids needs are irrelevant. It's all about Rosie.

[Devil_Anse]

Her friends in high school... "going out to bars... picking up men..."

Sheesh, what high school did this lame pig go to? Yes, some kids in high school drink, but they usually have to go out in the country or to some hidden place to do it... since when are they all able to just walk into bars and order something? High schoolers??

Picking up men?? Yes, some high schoolers sleep around, but seems to me most of them sleep around among themselves. How many high school age girls were out there "picking up men"? A la Aileen Wuornos? What the--? Does this mean that her female fellow high schoolers were out there streetwalking? Most high school girls don't just pick up strangers. If they want to be promiscuous, they've got plenty of horny boys to cultivate. Boys--not men. Fatso is dreaming.

Meanwhile, she is "totally committed". Never mind her previous female lovers--she freely admits to flings with MEN. Now, she says she was driver's-permit-age when she decided she was homosexual. Presumably the affairs with the men came AFTER THAT. Surely she, with her new-found homosexual identity, did not mean for any of those men to be her life's partner. Translation: SHE CHOSE PROMISCUITY.

I know it's a terrible shock to all that a homosexual person chose promiscuity. I'd like just once to meet or hear of one that HASN'T engaged in promiscuity. Hasn't happened yet.

Minor point: she said she had her driver's permit, but she was alone in the car. I thought when you had a permit, you never drove alone?

Notice that her children, to whom she is supposedly devoted, are little things, no older than 6. Yeah, that's the easy part. Let's see how devoted to them she is when they're teenagers or young adults. She'll be gone... oh, yeah. No mention, I see, of the child she adopted and has already "given back".

Wish list: that Fatso would shut up.

[Devil_Anse]

You got that right!

And I believe there is a higher proportion of narcissists in the homosexual population, than in the heterosexual population. Much higher. Narcissism is very common among them, IMO.

[Devil_Anse]

Where is real Dad for the 4 kids?

I see you counted 4. I see 3 mentioned in the article. But I think your count may be the correct one. I think she has already failed one adopted kid--and "gave her back".

The woman is a lunatic. The Emperor has no clothes!

[happygrl]

Let's call gay marriage for what it is .... the harvest of weak fathers.

That's a gutsy analysis.

But it fits the situation of every gay person that I have known.

[happygrl]

the child she adopted and has already "given back".

?????

!!!!!

Sigh.

[Devil_Anse]

it fits the situation of every gay person I have known

Me too!

Aw, but don'tcha know, that's just "anecdotal evidence"! Yeah, we're supposed to discount everything we perceive with our own senses.

[Knuckle Sandwich Combo]

"It took me a while to understand completely surround myself with enough fellow liars who tell me I'm great and to figure out all that things that made me me finally destroy my soul, where I was most comfortable embrace my corrupters, who I was live a total lie, and how I was going to define my life keep the lie going until I die," she says. "And I found the coat God hating, distraction filled, delusional identity that fit me ... (but I'm still absolutely miserable ... go figure!)."

[TheSpottedOwl]

Very interesting article.

[agrace]

It was in the ten minutes I saw of the tv interview that Kelly Carpenter had with Diane Sawyer last night. Kelly said that she told Rosie not to bring up their relationship with her parents when she met them for dinner and instead she came out with "I want to have sex with your daughter."

[agrace]

There was a story some months ago about how Rosie had taken in a child with such severe behavioral issues that reportedly the child was a danger to herself and the other kids in the house.

[thoughtomator]

No, both result from fathers being chased out of families.

[gobucks]

The role model part is critical too , indeed, I agree. Oh yes, they keep those off TV, esp at ABC too.

[Hildy]

As soon as they got married I posted this: "there's another 10 million down the drain."

[gobucks]

Actually, Rosie's 'partner' Kelly recently was inseminated by an absent father, deliberately. So, the latest is natural to Kelly and makes number 4.

Kelly said last night neither She nor Rosie will ever have any more natural kids....


Kelly, Rosie ... thanks for THAT favor at the least.