France Plans to Ban Words 'Mother' and 'Father' From Official Documents: Should the U.S. Do the Same?

I happen to support gay civil unions but see no reason to therefore ban references to my Mom and Dad as my mother and father.
If you read the article accompanying the poll question, it actually indicates that "mother and father" be replaced by the word "parents" in legal documents. It does not say that the French are proposing to ban the obvious fact that children must have biological parents of opposite gender.

It just kind of doesn't make sense. Let people call people what they wish.

rediculous!

How asinine. As if you could by government fiat ban words. Plus, the only normal set of parents is a father and a mother. I don't support absurdity.

http://qph.cf.quoracdn.net/ma...

This political correctness has gone far enough. If the gay people don't like the words 'mother & father,' too bad.

"This political correctness has gone far enough."

I've never met a single gay person who doesn't like the words - and those politicians in France who are proposing this idiocy are probably heterosexuals.

You're correct in stating that a person would have to be an idiot to list two persons of the same gender on a birth certificate. There is no reference to birth certificates in the proposed French ruling, so ... why does your posting bring it up?

Mainly because in my search for more information about this, birth certificates were brought up. Also, when talking about a child, parents and legal documents, birth certificates, a legal document naming the parents, certainly fits into the equation. If they are excluding birth certificates, then my post is moot.

Yep - and if they're not excluding birth certificates then they'll need to explain how a child can come into existence without a mother and father. That's a bit farfetched even for the French :)

In my brief research, I've noticed that the romance languages don't even have neuter nouns and I'm unable to find the singular noun 'parent' in French, Italian or Spanish. The plurals default to masculine (les parents; i genitori; los padres) as a function of grammar and the appropriate male or female singular is used for one parent so that the gender is obvious. If someone is more knowledgeable of French usage, I'd be glad to learn.

France: Stupidity's New Home.

Now that the election in the USA is over, I'm not so sure that's accurate anymore.

What a crock....Respectfully, of course.

Of course not...

But, what do I know?...

I don't support same-sex marriage.

Those who do should not have a problem with this - even in the U.S.A.

No country should.

Way to go, you maniacs. Grow a generation of confused children for the preferential treatment of 2% of society that can't reproduce and will never stop complaining.

Hi Katherine - This poll question is a strawman. The French are not trying to ban use of the words 'mother' and 'father' at all. They're simply saying that the word 'parents' needs to be used in some official documents because they are proposing to legalize gay marriage thus the inevitability that 'mother and father' would not apply in some documents.

They're changing what is normal to abnormal, and vise versa.

Oops - Katherine has blocked me. Some folks just can't deal with fact.

what the hell does this have to do with gay marriage

I do.

You do know what I was doing right? I was helping you prove your point.

Yes, I do.

Good just needed to be sure. Sorry about that. I'm paranoid that people won't understand what I was doing and be completely stupid about it.

It's perfectly clear to me.

First, we all thank France for helping us secure our independence. Now, we have to question their cerebral acuity ... Respectfully, of course.

Absolutely not! That is asinine! Mo one should go France again!

Right, Mo should holiday in France, while the rest of us go elsewhere.

Mo Go and then stay there! Like Mrs Arrafat! Correction from mo to no! Or change mo to mooshel!

I understood the entry. I just couldn't resist the temptation to mess around with it ;-)

I know you did! i liked it! There are other slower people around, they need learnin!

LOL

All I have to say is this.

Like the meme.

This coming from someone who is for same-sex marriage, I say no. A father is a male parent and a mother is a female parent. If little John has two gay parents, he has two fathers. If little Heather has two lesbian parents, she has two mothers. See? This has nothing to do with the same-sex marriage thing, this has to do with using words properly and how they're supposed to be used.

Hi Jack - I'm also in support of same-sex marriage and also said No to this poll question. But then I read the article and see that FanOreilly is just instigating a strawman debate here. The proposed French ruling is not seeking to ban the use of the words 'mother' and 'father' in all official documents; they're simply seeking to use 'parents' in documents when appropriate since their proposed acceptance of same-sex marriage will make it necessary to recognize that not all family units consist of opposite-sex partners.
It cannot be ignored that the biological parents of little John and little Heather cannot be of the same gender. Clearly, there is no suggestion by the French that birth certificates should be fashioned to pretend otherwise. I think FanOreilly enjoys creating controversy.

Maybe so.