I haven't discussed this with Fiona & Sophie yet, they are too young. I have had many conversations with my step-daughters who are now grown. They know many of my gay friends and don't judge them because of their sexual orientation.

I teach grade 7 & 8 (just got moved) and I would love to show this. I will check with principal, I think the swearing might be an issue, but maybe I'm wrong.

Josh is so right on! His attitude is unlikely to change in the teen years and hopefully if he sees someone being harassed because of their sexual orientation he will stand up and say something.

I watched this clip about a week ago, and loved it. Oh my goodness, LOVED!! Haven't talked about any of this with my 6 year old son yet, but I hope it will be as un-amazing as it was for your son.

Good work, lady.

I showed this to my 11 year old son tonight. Told him that I'd posted on Facebook that I thought it should be required viewing for every grade 6 kid. After he watched it, I asked if he agreed. I was surprised (and taken aback) when he said he didn't think it was appropriate for kids his age. I pressed him and asked why, and he replied, "well some of the people used swear words".

Like Josh, the message just wasn't a big deal...but the swear words were a little too much for the "little old lady" in my 11 year old boy's body! He finally acknowledge that he thought it was perfect for grades sevens...or eights...

My daughter is just six, but because I think shaping attitudes and having these talks is something that needs revisiting, we have had a bit of a talk on a couple of occasions, usually prompted by something.

Once, we were going to visit a pair of gay friends and I explained that they lived together because they love each other and that yes, two men or two women can love each other, too.

Another time, she told me she was going to marry her best friend because she loved her so much, so I got to tell her that if they both still feel that way when they grow up, they can certainly do that.

I think letting them know early on that it's fine and normal and part of the world around them is a good foundational start.

Thanks for posting this. I had not seen this one.
I've watched other versions of this campaign with my kids and we talked a lot about gender and sexuality issues during the Prop 8 in the US which my kids thought was bizarre. The first wedding my kids went to was one of our community's first same sex weddings and the idea that the marriage of their friends' mum would have been voted as "illegal" stunned them.
I am grateful that we have lots of diversity in our lives, and that for my kids the idea of respectful acceptance is so natural and fundamental that it is startling to them that people would think otherwise.

I love this video so much - I've watched it a number of times ...and wished I was a man so Rick Mercer would fall for me. I'm going to bookmark it and show it to my sone when the time is right. Good for you Jen and I love his response. If only they'll stay that way. I truly hope so.

I've chatted with my boys about it. At 6 and 8 they're probably a bit young for the video but I feel kids aren't ever too young for the message of tolerance. We didn't dwell on it or make a big deal about it but I let them know in no uncertain terms that bullying isn't ever okay and that who a person chooses to love is totally and completely up to that person to decide. They got it. Hope it lasts.

"I had recently read this heart wrenching blog post about judging a child and it touched my heart. I wanted my son to see this video and know that many people from various backgrounds in a wide range of professions living in Canada are Muslim/Jewish/Christian. I wanted him to be aware of what religious tweens and teens go through as they struggle with who they are and are so harshly judged by others. I wanted him to realize that, chances are, at least a few of his friends will be Muslim/Jewish/Christian and may already know they are. I wanted him to know that some of the people we know are of faith. I wanted him to think about them as individuals with lives and loved ones. I wanted him to see the person instead of how they are labeled. I wanted him to see that they loved and were loved back. That they deserve happiness as much as he does."

Tolerance. It goes both ways. Not everyone will agree. But we can choose to agree to disagree. Otherwise this whole article is hypocritical. Which wouldn't surprise me. The new breed of tolerance seems to be less "accept that people are different" and more "accept what we believe or we'll lable you as a hater." Yeah, there's tolerance for you. Disgusting.

Hit enter too soon...

As for our kids, we will teach them that we should treat everyone with love and respect, even though many will treat them badly simply for having faith. As a former bisexual woman, I know about the lies of the lifestyle. I know about the agenda to gain acceptance. I know about the desire to persecute those whose faith doesn't line up with this lifestyle. It can be denied, but those people are either delusional or liars.

That said, it needn't be complicated. We believe in something greater than people. So when we are told to choose between what we believe and what people want us to believe, we stand for what we believe. We don't belittle, we don't bully, we don't "hate," we aren't "phobic," we don't treat people badly because of who they sleep with. But we don't agree with the way they live their lives. Our kids will learn these things. And if that's a threat to others, then it's others who need to check their egos and agendas and see if they're truly treating those around them who disagree as they want to be treated.

Thanks for posting this, Jen.

We've never discussed any type of sexuality, because I always wanted it to be a non-issue. I was raised in a very religious, very intolerant home (my parents thankfully are completely different now), but being gay was absolutely sinful and unacceptable. Both of my aunts, on both sides of the family, are gay. For years, I wasn't allowed contact with either. I remember first having a girl-crush in eighth grade, and truly believing I was going to Hell for it.

I'm trying to raise our family in the opposite vein. My son and daughter have been exposed to many gay couples growing up (including my aunts), but we don't sit down and talk about it-- the same way I don't plan on talking about an interracial couple friend. It's just two people in love, so we address them like that. We talk about my aunt's girlfriend the same way we do about my uncle's girlfriend. I know they're both aware that some men like men and some women like women, and some men like women and some women like men, and some people like everyone, heh; but we've never given labels. It's just who they are.

We DO talk-- have talked, will continue to talk-- about bullying. THAT is what's unacceptable over here.

A week ago, my son accepted an award at school next to one of his best friends. The other boy reached out and held his hand the entire time they were on stage. Afterward, I tried to ask him casually about it ("Hey, I saw you holding hands with Stone up there."), and he just looked at me, confused: "Yeah. I didn't think there's anything wrong with that." And there isn't, and I'm glad he felt that way, too. Nobody called them names. Nobody batted an eye.

I know it's still elementary school, but it gives me hope for the next generation. That movie broke my heart.

I am not going to get into this because, honestly Paula, I think you missed the point. So, I will simply state this, feel free to believe what you want, I do and I hope others will respect that. However, the issue here is not about one's private thoughts but about the public shaming and intolerance of others and in this particular case, a child. I am not commenting on a particular lifestyle but instead helping my children to rise above judgment to a place of acceptance and love.

Let's all be free to live according to our beliefs and values but respect the fact that others have their own. There is nothing more liberating for adults or children then to feel free to be who we are. Live and let live.

While I don't disagree with you Paula that tolerance goes both ways, I have not ever heard of a young religious person in NA committing suicide because they were relentlessly and publically teased/harrassed, outed in school, or had their personal religious beliefs degraded on youtube videos. Have you?
Religious beliefs are a choice. Sexuality is not.
Religious teens often have a community of faith that surrounds and upholds them.
Many gay teens in particular feel incredibly alone.

We recently had the most amazing young man (17) come to speak to our homeschooling group about which is inclusive and multi-faithed. His talk was on engaging youth in volunteer work. Among his MANY accomplishments: one of 5 international students selected as a British Change Maker, overseas volunteer to build schools for developing nations, local fundraiser for Amensty International Stop Violence against women program, exchange student to study enviromental issues in Costa Rica, student council president of his school for 2 years, organizer of a full day full school program of volunteering workshops, presentations and activitism which according to his principal changed the entire atmosphere of the school, and the only student ever elected to the school board'sequity and inclusive education committee for his work on inclusiveness for people of different faiths, races and gender identities.

Not one of the Christian homeschoolers in our group came to hear him and they were clear about why. His activist work also includes President of the Gay-Straight Alliance group in his school which had previously been rocked by anti gay bullying and which he is working hard at overcoming. I can't tell you how saddened and disappointed I was that this one issue (which was not the focus of the talk) unfortunately became a distraction the evening.

Our kids need us to model listening to each other about this problem and as parents we need to commit to making sure all our kids know that it is ok to be who they are. I think this video and this conversation are incredibly important and that we NEED to start this process by trying to get that message to the kids who are most often and most harshly judged by things they can't change. Unfortunately today that group is our GLBT teens and children.

Whether you agree with the homosexuality or not is not the point. The point is that as parents, regardless of our worldviews, we need to make this world a safe place for our all kids.

What an awesome and encouraging video!! This is for everyone to see and share with their children. Kids are bullied for any reason, as soon as there is a perceived weakness, someone picks on you.
Parents, schools, communities should be teaching kids not to bully...I know for a fact that they talk casually about it and worry more about the "dress code" in our school...but there is NO excuse for hurting someone!! This should be a top priority and parents need to be educated.

Karen - we will have to agree to disagree on that whole matter.

Your son being introverted is definitely programmed into his genetics, sexuality has yet to be proved that it is.

REGARDLESS, I agree with your last statement, we need more love and respect in this world and that is what I will be teaching my child.

We are talking about identical twins though. Identical twins have the same eye color, hair color, etc. otherwise they are classified as fraternal twins. Identical twins have the exact same DNA. If they can't even be identical twins with different eye color, they definitely can't be identical twins if they have two different sexualities (if sexuality is genetic).

Your comment made me do some quick research, thats what I found, lol :)

I'm back reading comments here... I want to be respectful, so I won't say much more than I'm surprised and saddened by some attitudes that are still common... I don't see where what someone does behind closed doors as a consenting adult is anyone else's business at all... oftentimes this "lifestyle" is genetic. Some may choose... there's a sliding scale, I think. But really, let people live their lives. People are just people. Everyone has a life. In the end, it just ain't no thing but a chicken wing.

By the way, I live in a very cool, arsty, funky, diverse city where same-sex couples come from all over the world to marry, and I really, really dig that.

Actually, Unimpressed, the genetic correlation statistics for introversion and homosexuality in twin studies are similar - somewhere between 30 - 50% in meta analysis. However there is a higher environmental component/bias at play with introversion than there is with homosexuality which would suggest there is a stronger genetic tie for homosexuality than introversion/extroversion.
Unfortunately for your argument you can't have it both ways.

Wow --Awesome video..Wish i had that when i was young, to know REALITY..

To all the haters and dis-believers...Homosexuality exists naturally in the wild kingdom of animals, where religion is not..so is divorce, multiple partners, one time only encounters...But very few species with life long partners..THIS IS THE TRUE NATURE and DNA of all Humans..

I really do not understand how ANYONE can say that being gay is a LIFESTYLE choice, as if someone wakes up in the morning and says...oh! I'll wear my red sweater today, and while, I'm at it...I'll be gay today too.

Jen great video to post and certainly something that needs to get said. ....and sorry....but I have to comment as I have read comments and wanted 2 throw my .02 in......

I hate to sound like a total kill-joy here...but I don't think anyone can claim to be friends with a gay person and feel that is a this is a "lifestyle". Sorry - but if you really know a gay male or woman in any way where they would open up their feelings and experiences or their story to you - one would realize that this was the way that person was born.

I do believe now with acceptance and tolerance growing (compared to say the 1950's for instance) many youths are "testing the waters" with things that quiet possibly did not even seem possible for questioning youth years ago. ......also I think because so many men and women who are gay have tried to date straight at some point in their life (usually because they wanted to NOT be gay) it might seem like a person just up and changed. In the end you cannot change who you are attracted to.

Ultimately one can hide, suppress, and try to *fit in* and be a certain way only so long. In the end you either wind up with a gay person seeing the *light* and being who they are and coming out ....or deciding to get married and be what they are **expected** to be by their religions, their parents, and society. Living a life that is a lie.

If more people thought they could really be free of all discrimination to be who they were inside we would have a very interesting landscape of sexuality and gender.....

Only when one can completely accept another human without any strings attached and unconditionally then one can claim to be accepting.

Until that point, one is just tolerating "those" people...and one certainly cannot call them self a friend to some one in the LGBT community.

As for genetics, all I can say is there are many mysteries in the human body. I am not a scientist but I can pretty much guarantee that if my daughter grows up to be a lesbian someday I am going to fully accept her and love her unconditionally as I always have. I could care less if it has to do with her DNA, her soul, or her heart. She will be who she is.

Holy crapola! Dudes....this is 2010 in Canada. Wow.

Well I'm here to weigh in on the twin argument. Monozygotic (MZ-identical) twins share the same nuclear DNA. However, their mitochondrial DNA is heavily influenced by the environment which is different for the twins, even in the womb (similar but not identical environment). Mitochondrial DNA is only identical at the moment that little zygote splits. I really have no idea if this is relevant to homosexuality but it does demonstrate that MZ twins are not, in fact, identical (thus the preferred term, monozygotic).

MZ twins have the same genotype, but not the same phenotype.
Phenotype = genotype + environment + random expression.

I have done a little research tonight and from what I can gather (I'm not a geneticist by any means) is that, as Karen (a fellow twin mom), has said, homosexuality within identical twins runs about 50% depending on which study you look at. That means that if one twin is gay, the other is 50% of the time. If it were entirely genetic, then it would be 100%, but not all of our traits are entirely genetic, environment almost always plays a role.

Interestingly, in fraternal twins (Dizygotic, DZ), they were both gay 22% of the time. There is a much stronger correlation for MZ.

So, like many, many traits in humans, it would appear that genes & the environment play a role. The environment does not merely mean how we are raised. It includes many factors that influence how the brain is hardwired early on: Nutrients received inutero (not often equal in MZ twins), other factors inutero such as exposure to hormones, position in the womb, etc. The twins would have different birth experience (sometimes even one vaginal one C-section), and be exposed to different (and similar) environmental factors for the rest of their lives, think appetite, viruses, toxins, illnesses, accidents, etc. There is also random gene expression to account for, random, not identical.

The point is, it is not a choice, the brain is hardwired by a combination of genes and the environment. Scientists may not be able to pinpoint it exactly, but I don't think you would find many who would suggest that sexuality is a choice.

This is my summation of what I have read. I will see if I can get a few doctor friends to weigh in here (one has twins himself).

Jen - thank you for bringing this into my home! It is amazing and powerful and I watched with my kids. One of the people is an old friend of my family so I was really glad to see it and see him speaking for himself . Thank you!

Wow - just finished reading all the comments and well WOW. A few things jumped out at me.

Whoever had issue with the word 'tolerance' - I LOVE THAT COMMENT - I had never thought of that before...but so smart. that's why I read blogs - I feel educated.

Whoever said that it's a lifestyle choice, one that they disagree with BUT they have many LGBT friends. I'm fascinated - good thing your friends are open minded to your opinions on that. I know people who are awful to their kids, this is a lifestyle CHOICE and one that I don't agree with - so I can't be friends with them. I'm a single choice mom - there are people who don't agree with that LIFESTYLE CHOICE and I can't be friends with them as they obviously don't respect me. So wow - good for your friends - but I'm not surprised - most of my gay friends are the most level headed people that I know.

I have fraternal step brothers. One is gay and one is not. And who the hell cares. Here's what I just don't get about the whole entire thing. I don't give a crap about who either one of them is sleepign with or in love with. I don't care who anyone is. all I care about it is that I'm not sleeping with anyone right now...(sorry just trying to lighten this up).

I just wish this was not an issue. It's inane to me.

People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid. Soren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855) ...........

Erin, I don't think kids are ever too young to teach about acceptance. Obviously you have to have a different approach for a toddler than for a 12-year-old, but still. My daughter is two and a half, and she has a board book called, "Daddy, Papa, and Me," that we read from time to time. Then we talk about how there are many different types of families: some have one parent, some have two, some have a mommy and a daddy, some have two daddies, or two mommies, some kids don't live with their parents, and they have other family or friends taking care of them. The important thing about families is that, no matter who your "parents" are, they love you and care for you. My daughter may be a little young to fully understand the concepts I'm teaching to her, but starting to explain early will set the foundation for later learning and, hopefully, respect and acceptance. :)

My brother is gay and he is my sons' most adored uncle. When we talk about him and his partner, my boys think nothing of it. Sometimes....here is a classic from my record book:

One child of mine at age 9 said "So mom, do you think Uncle John and his partner kiss?" I said "I think so" and my son said "Do they love each other?". And I said "I don't know". And my son said "Oh mom, that's gross, why would you kiss if you don't even love each other???"

Maybe a more tolerant world is in our future....as long as we love each other.