You know, I once had a business partner and friend who was religiously and politically conservative. He didn't have any problem with me being gay, but I got nervous when I started dating a new guy. Since I hung out at my friend's house a lot, should I bring my boyfriend over? I knew my friend wouldn't care, but what about his kids? What would he and his wife say to their kids?

But they made a point of asking me to bring my boyfriend over, so I did.

One day their 6-year-old son asked why. Why are you spending so much time with so-and-so? You used to come over here by yourself.

I didn't know what to say, but my friend stepped in immediately. "Joe is Jim's boyfriend. Just like Steve is your Aunt Suzy's boyfriend."

The 6 year old was not traumatized. He smiled, said "Oh, cool," and went back to his Legos.

I thought about that (and wrote about it) when Alabama PBS banned that Arthur episode. I kept thinking about it when Florida passed the Don't Say Gay law.

There's nothing nothing confusing or traumatizing about little kids learning that some romantic couples are same sex. It's just a thing that exists in the world, and a fairly common thing at that.

Those parents in Alabama and Florida who objected to their children knowing about how the world works actually want the world to work differently. They want gay couples to be forbidden to marry, and they want us to be ashamed of ourselves, to be uncomfortable bringing our Plus Ones to social events.

It was never about the children. It's always been about trying to hurt LGBTQ people and push us as far back into the closet as possible.

But as my conservative friend demonstrates, fear for children is much ado about nothing.