According to a June 28 article by Mercury News reporter Sean Maher, this years' San Francisco Gay Pride Parade featured a large contingent of children who were celebrating alongside their adoptive parents:

"I feel like I've seen twice as many children as I saw last year," said Joseph Bowik, who fathers two children with his husband, David Bowik.

The Pride Family Garden, a small park cordoned off near City Hall to give parents a respite and an area for their children to play, saw more than 600 families last year, a record that appeared set to be broken during this year's parade, organizer Meredith Fenton said. ...

The Bowiks described their adoption process as complicated and difficult, but "100 percent positive."

The article indicated that concerns over the federal Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of Proposition 8 (which rescinded the right of same-sex couples to marry in California) may have led to an increased family presence in this year's Pride Parade.

"Children of gay parents grow up watching their parents fight to be treated equally, and I think it makes them more understanding of the fight for acceptance," 18-year-old Diane Castillo, who was raised by her mother and her mother's partner, told the Mercury News. "It's a great thing. You learn not to take anything for granted."

Labels: same-sex couples

Posted By: Aspen/CRC