Keeping My Children Home from Beauty and the Beast Does Not Make Me a Homophobe

My little princess at Disney World's princess tea

I'd like to start this post by saying that neither I nor the Catholic Church is "homophobic." My belief, one held by devout Catholics and explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, is that homosexuality in and of itself is not a sin. The attraction to another person of the same sex, while disordered, is no more a sin than a man's attraction to a woman who is not his wife. The sin comes with action. A man being attracted to another man is not in and of itself sinful. Engaging in behaviors that are unnatural and immoral or living in a way that goes against God's law is where the sin comes into play.

I love many people who choose to live in ways that are not in line with my moral beliefs. Likewise, I am not perfect. I make mistakes and commit sins. Don't we all? Some sins are more outwardly visible and that's where we have an obligation to acknowledge the wrongness of the behavior especially where it concerns our children.

Having expressed that, here's my point. I've been really looking forward to taking my children to see the new Beauty and the Beast live action film since I first heard whispers of it coming to film. It was with a heavy heart, that I read an interview with the director where he was gleefully promoting LeFu as Disney's first openly gay character. Not only that, but it would have its first overtly gay scene. To say the least, it was disappointing. 

I decided to share my concerns on Facebook even though I mostly try to keep Facebook a politically free zone (My friends are laughing at that one!). I was thinking I might not be the only one unaware. That's when things got dicey. I had a lot of responses: why wouldn't I want to expose my children to different viewpoints or did I think my kids would "catch it?" (No, I do not think so for the record, but I certainly "caught it" for  voicing a different opinion.) 

I thought I should clear some things up. My children are given to me as a gift from God. As such, I have a responsibility to protect them as they grow, especially to protect them from things I believe they're not ready for. And, I do not believe my 8, 5, and almost 3-year-old are ready to face the reality of homosexuality. I have discussed with them the morality of same sex marriage. But, I have not put them in a position where they would be knowingly exposed to men kissing men, women holding hands etc. Have they been exposed to these things? Yes, before I canceled cable (because we didn't watch it, not for this reason actually), there were occasional instances of shows that portrayed same sex relationships. I usually turned them off, but to say my children had never seen them would be inaccurate. I go to the store and on occasion I have seen openly gay couples. My children have not commented on them so I'm not sure they've noticed. I go to restaurants and sometimes have a noticeably effeminate waiter. I believe these things are unavoidable and a good teaching experience. If my children ever asked, I would be honest with them and explain the beliefs of the church. The eight year old has already had some questions and I've answered them as appropriately as I could at that time. 

But, this is where I find the situation different. To take my child to a movie I know has a homosexual agenda is a known danger. I say danger because in my eyes it is dangerous to expose my children to something immoral without addressing it, and I feel my children are too young to understand the morality of the situation. Right now, my children don't really have a sexuality as defined by the desire to have sex with anyone. Right now, they like playing dress up and cars (and, yes, sometimes the boy dresses up as Anna and the girls play with trucks. They're little and don't see these things as girl or boy behaviors and that's okay!). So, why would I knowingly expose them to something that is outside natural law? The answer is, I wouldn't and I won't. 

This brings me back to Facebook. Why bother having these kinds of moral and religious debates? Well, that is a point. In this case, I was simply trying to alert other concerned parents to the possible moral conflict in the movie. It turned into a bit of a debate, but I'm okay with that. 

I don't mind a friendly discussion on Facebook, or anywhere for that matter, and I'm happy to share my beliefs, experiences, and opinions. I know this kind of topic tends to get heated, because so many feelings are all intertwined with it. Not really for me though. I have solid beliefs based on the teachings of the Catholic Church and, in this case, those beliefs are being challenged. I'm even okay with that. What I'm not okay with is a movie based on a delightful children's fairy tale being perverted into a crusade for the homosexual agenda. 

You may say it's just a short scene in a movie; It won't hurt your children. You can expand their horizons. But, to me, taking my children to see Beauty and the Beast would not be expanding their horizons. Instead, it would be exposing them to a perverted world they're not ready to meet. You may think I'm crazy or intolerant or sheltering, but, they're my children.

In the end, will they remember not getting to see the newest Disney movie, or will they remember that they had parents strong enough to go against the grain? I hope one day they will appreciate how we prepared them for this world we live in -- and understand that, sometimes, the best choice is just to stay home.