Mar 09

[SOURCE]

The Weekend Australian Magazine this week has an article on kids raised by gay parents.  It showcases three young adults who have been raised in same-sex households.

One of those is my very own Tomas Storer!  It’s good to see that Greg Bearup from the Australian managed to get the spelling of Tomas right, not so good with the surname.  So it isn’t Tomas Storier or Gregory Storier there are no Storier in the household.  Although we may name our pet moose Bruce the Loose Moose Storier.  We’re all very good models of Storer.

Tomas told his story from his point of view, and as a parent it’s most gratifying to be the parent of a young man who is confident and happy.  The telling of the story took a number of hours, but it boils down to a couple of paragraphs:

Tomas Storier, 18, greets me at the door of his house in Carnegie, in Melbourne’s south-east, dressed in a Batman and Joker T-shirt.

We sit down at a dining table to pick over the details of Tomas’s complicated family history.

His father, Gregory, was born into a large Catholic family in the rural Victorian town of Hamilton. Gregory married young, had two kids in quick succession, and the family moved to Melbourne.

When Tomas was two or three his father came out and his parents’ marriage ended. Tomas and his sister, Caitlin, moved in with their father and have lived with him ever since.

In that time his father has had three long-term relationships with men and has been with his current partner for the past three years. Having a gay dad has never been a “big deal”, Tomas tells me. It was something he was never ashamed of, but during his primary school years he was careful whom he revealed it to, fearful of how they might react.

He told his closest friends, and soon everyone knew. When they did, it wasn’t an issue. “I was teased and bullied in primary school, but never about my dad being gay,” he says.

He was a bright kid, into computers, dinosaurs and trains, and he was teased for being a nerd.

His family arrangement had no effect on his sexual preference – he likes girls. “I am relatively happy with the life I’ve led so far,” he says. “It would have been nice if mum and dad could have stayed together, but in that respect I am hardly unusual, to have parents who have separated.”

The next part of the article is from Jim Wallace, he is described as “one of Australia’s most vehement opponents of gay parenting” and he attempts to show the short comings of children raised in same-sex families.  He rabbits on about nature and compares same-sex parenting to the Stolen Generation.  The Stolen Generation was the forced separation of aboriginal children from their parents, it’s nothing short of disgusting to make such a comparison.  Wallace again shows himself to be the bigot.  He dismisses all the evidence that shows how the sexuality of the parents has nothing to do with the well-being of the children.  He’s ignores the countless ‘straight’ families that are in turmoil and in dire need of assistance and help.

I’m proud of both of my children.  Tomas has shown himself to be a clear-headed articulate young man who knows who he is and he bursts with confidence.

Caitlin, Tomas, Gregory and Michael.  The image that appeared in the Australian

Caitlin, Tomas, Gregory and Michael. The image that appeared in the Australian

 

3 Responses to “Tomas Tells His Story of having a Gay Dad”

  1. maria and rob says:

    Congrats to the Storers and to the Michael Barnett!

    We loved the article and you showed up the Jim Wallace’s of the world in all their stupidity!

    maria and rob
    xxx

  2. I should have brushed my hair for the photo-shoot.

  3. Geoff Barby says:

    A most natural normal kid will never be the same as Tomas. Tomas has such an individual and wonderful view of life. Wait ….. That makes him a normal boy from a normal family. Great words Tomas. Your life will forever get Storier.

Leave a Reply

*

preload preload preload