Parents Of Cross-Dressing Children Appear On The Today Show

A blog post written by a mother about her son dressing in drag for Halloween has spawned a national discussion about gender identity in children.

Mom Of The Year

In a blogpost titled My Son Is Gay, a mom talks about letting her five year-old boy dress in drag for Halloween. You should read the entire beautiful story for background and context. An excerpt:

So a few weeks before Halloween, Boo decides he wants to be Daphne from Scooby Doo, along with his best friend E. He had dressed as Scooby a couple of years ago. I was hesitant to make the purchase, not because it was a cross gendered situation, but because 5 year olds have a tendency to change their minds. After requesting a couple of more times, I said sure and placed the order. He flipped out when it arrived. It was perfect. Then as we got closer to the actual day, he stared to hem and haw about it. After some discussion it comes out that he is afraid people will laugh at him. I pointed out that some people will because it is a cute and clever costume. He insists their laughter would be of the ‘making fun’ kind. I blow it off. Seriously, who would make fun of a child in costume?

Read the rest to see what happened.

RELATED: Sometimes I'll skip posting a human interest or non-political story if I'm a couple of days late on it and I'm sure you've seen it on the other gay news blogs. This story, however, has generated more "Why haven't you blogged THIS?" emails than probably anything in the history of this here website thingy. As you wish!

Quote Of The Day - David Frum

"Halloween is overwhelmingly an adult holiday. This year, for example, Americans spent an estimated $800 million on costumes for children, $1 billion on costumes for adults. Where did that adult dress-up party begin? As best we can tell: in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood. In the 1970s, that neighborhood emerged as the heart of a new home-owning, bourgeois, coupled gay community. A local variety store had long sponsored a Halloween street festival for kids. In the 1970s, the street festival transitioned into an adult party of lavish costumed theatricality. The 'Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence' -- a troupe of transvestite nuns -- got their start here.

"The Castro Halloween party spread to other gay neighborhoods in the 1980s: Greenwich Village, West Hollywood, Key West, Florida. In 1994, University of Florida anthropologist Jerry Kugelmass published a book on the new trend, Masked Culture, describing Halloween as an emerging gay 'high holiday.' And after a while -- the straights imitated. From the spread of disco in the 1970s -- to the habit of paying money for sparkling waters such as Perrier -- culminating in Halloween, gays have incubated and developed major cultural trends. Straights adopt, and then ungratefully forget whom they are adopting from." - Conservative columnist David Frum, writing for CNN.com

Open Thread Thursday

What are your favorite scary movies, classic and recent? I always loved the dystopian stuff like Omega Man and more recently, 28 Days Later. Could never get into the campy slasher flicks like Freddy Krueger and Halloween.

Elvira For Scissor Sisters

"Ew, I wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot pole. Luckily they'd only touch me if I had a ten-foot pole."

Photo Of The Day - Antoine Dogson

Yesterday was NYC's Halloween Dog Parade in Tompkins Square Park. Hit the link for more hilarious/humiliating photos. (I'm guessing the Breakfast At Tiffany's entry is owned by a gay man.)

Open Thread Thursday

Are you dressing up for Halloween this year? Snooki, Steven Slater, Lady Gaga, Chilean miner? Bad boy angel with wings? Naughty nurse? Or something from the Village People milieu?

Elvira Is Not A Witch

(Tipped by JMG reader Josh)

Teabagger Halloween

Featuring Andrew Shirvell, Carl Paladino, Michele Bachmann, Christine O'Donnell, and Sharron Angle. Created by JMG reader Centexman.

Jersey Shore Halloween

This year's hot costumes? I'm betting on Steven Slater and that super-annoying Progressive Insurance woman. The Walgreens on my block is already all Halloween. Boo.