Sorry Princess, the Handsome Princes Are in Another Castle - Getting It On!

Even though it's been 25 years since the release of the classic, gay-themed children's book "Heather has Two Mommies", there's still a general uproar when a children's book mentions homosexuality in any way. True to form, the release of Jeffrey Miles' "The Princes and the Treasure," a fairy tale intended for elementary school children, has inspired rants and raves on both sides of the issue.

In the book, the two hottest princes in the kingdom, Gallant (the scrappy one) and Earnest (the shy, bookish one), are on a mission to save the beautiful princess. She's been kidnapped by a horrible old woman who is probably a witch. )The book has been criticized for having an anti-woman message, but I honestly can't think of any fairy tales that don't have either an evil witch or a damsel in distress.) As Earnest and Gallant continue on their rescue mission, the dashing and handsome fellows fall in love - not with the princess, but with each other! At the end of the story, they get married without having to endure a lengthy court battle. Now that is a fairy tale!

Why do gay-themed books for young children bring about so much controversy? After all, one of the main concerns people have when faced with public displays of homosexuality is how to explain it to their kids. And when a children's book comes along that intends to help parents do just that, it's criticized rather than celebrated. One Amazon reviewer for "The Princess and the Treasure" asks, "How am I supposed to explain to my kids why some families don't follow God's law?" As if the Bible doesn't have its own, difficult-to-explain mysteries, such as a virgin birth and a man rising from the dead.

My personal favorite gay-themed kids book is "Daddy's Roommate," which was released in 1991 and continues to be one of the most controversial children's books in the United States. In the book, a boy's parents get divorced and a new man, Frank, moves in with his daddy. Frank and Daddy do everything together. They live together, work together, eat and *gasp* sleep together, the way any other couple would. "Daddy's Roommate" has a great message and it isn't heavy handed. It teaches kids that there are many different kinds of love, all of which are equally worthy of respect and validation.

In the end, I hope books about every type of family will continue to be made available for children. Going through childhood without seeing families like yours represented in books and movies is hard on any kid. I imagine knowing that some people want to ban books about families like yours is even worse.