Michael Jackson!

OK, no matter how you feel about Jackson personally, the man made some awesome music in his lifetime, which is why I was uber excited for this week’s episode of “Glee”… the Michael Jackson episode!

Yup, lots of cool cover songs were there, accompanied by fantastic dance numbers, but this episode bit at me on a personal level. Do you remember the last time we watched “Glee” together (and by that I mean I watched it, and you read about it here), when Finn proposed to Rachel? Well, this week we saw her answer.

Throughout the episode, we saw Rachel hemming and hawing as she tried to make a decision as to whether or not to tie her life to one man for the remainder of her time on earth. For some reason, she decided to go to her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend Quinn for advice. Because, of course, the best place to go for relationship advice is your current boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend (insert eye roll here).

This is where my issue with tonight’s show began and ended. Quinn told Rachel that she shouldn’t marry Finn. Rachel interjected with, “I know he and I haven’t lived together or anything, but, you know, I love him, and he’s the one, I know it.”

What the heck? Why are we sending a message to young people that it’s not only acceptable but also necessary to live together before marriage? No, I’m not a prude; I’m practical. Studies show that couples that live together before marriage are more likely to get divorced than those that don’t co-habitate.

Quinn also gave Rachel such awesome advice as, “We hardly know what we’re going to want in 15 years,” and “If you really want to be happy, you’re going to have to say goodbye.”

Who the heck knows where they’re going to be in 15 years? I sure don’t. One thing I know is that I will be standing next to my husband, because no matter what this life throws at us, we are a team. We are holding hands, weathering the storms, and coming out the other side, caring for each other’s wounds.

I said yes when I was 18 years old. I said I Do seven months later, when I was 19. We’ll celebrate our 10^th anniversary next July, and while it’s been quite a ride, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Do you want to know why? It’s because we don’t treat marriage as some feeling — we treat it as a commitment.

Of course there will be feelings involved, but the thing that gets you through the rough spots is that enduring commitment to one another. I hope my darling hubby doesn’t mind me sharing this, but during one pivotal fight in our relationship several years ago, he turned to me and said, “You’ve changed!”

I responded with, “You married a TEENAGER; what did you expect?”

The fact of the matter is that marriage is special, and not just about that squishy-lovey feeling. People change; they always will. I am not the same person that I was when I walked down the aisle, and my husband is not the same person who stood there waiting for me. But we’ve come to recognize that despite our differences, our shortcomings, and our successes, it’s amazing to share your life with another person.

What ticked me off about tonight’s “Glee” was that it made it seem like Rachel had to make a decision between her own life and her boyfriend. Life is what you make it, and I say that it’s much better when you face it with a partner in crime.

I adore my husband, and “Glee” made me sad that so many young people will only hear that marriage ends your dreams and ambitions. None of mine would have come true without him.

Rachel did eventually say yes to Finn when she thought she was rejected from her performance college of choice. When she got her letter saying she was a finalist, we got to see the fear in her eyes over her realization over what she had done.

Because, according to “Glee,” marriage ruins your life.

Or something.

I guess I’ll have to keep on watching and reporting back to y’all on how Glee treats the issue of teenagers getting hitched!

“Glee” was back last night after a month-long hiatus, which means that I’m back now – the morning after. Didja miss me? I missed you. And I missed “Glee” too. On what other show can I get my musical numbers and teenaged drama all wrapped in a giant bow of glorious propaganda?

There is no other.

This week, “Glee” was high on love, down on the military, and big on acceptance. Unless, of course, you actually want to join the military, in which case it’s all doom on you, and the military turns you into a drug addict and therefore your widowed mother into a liar.

Hmm… let me back up a moment.

Toward the beginning of the episode, Finn confesses to Mr. Schuester that he met with a recruiter… an army recruiter. The Glee Club coach appears troubled by the news, because you know, who joins the military unless they have to?

Meanwhile, Becky (who has Down Syndrome) decides that she had a ginormous crush on wheelchair-bound Artie and asks him out. Artie initially goes reluctantly to avoid hurting her feelings but discovers that he actually enjoys spending time with Becky. Things get sticky when Becky decides that she wants to go all the way with Artie but he doesn’t feel the same way.

Sue gives Artie good advice (kudos!) by saying that if he doesn’t want to go out with Becky again, he should treat her like a regular person and tell her. She points out that Becky just wants to be treated like everyone else, and Artie of all people should know that.

Artie tells Becky that while he enjoys her company, he’s not ready to move into a physical relationship, and then she and Sue watch Lifetime and share a pint of ice cream. Normal girlness achieved.

Before we get back to the military bashing, let’s take a minute to talk about Will Schuester and his OCD girlfriend Emma. Their relationship has gotten to the point where they’re thinking about marriage, so Will goes to Emma’s parents to ask for her hand.

Let me interject here to mention that in past episodes, Emma’s parents have been portrayed as insane racists, keeping their distance from non-gingers. That’s right; they can’t stand associating with people that don’t have red hair. Moving on.

Emma’s crazy parents come over, and her mom makes a comment about the Christmas tree still being up. “Just be grateful comrade Obama still allows Christmas,” responds Dad. Because, of course, the anti-Obama characters are the ones that are cracked in the head. Whatever.

Emma’s parents don’t give their blessing (probably because Will isn’t a redhead) and begin to nitpick her OCD flaws. Again, anyone that would oppose Obama is the same type of person that would viciously criticize his or her own child.

Despite the lack of blessing, Will proposes to Emma with much fanfare, and she accepts. Squeee! I love weddings, especially musical ones.

Now let’s talk about the military thing, which is a big issue for me because I think our armed forces are freaking amazing, and I thank God every single day for the brave men and women that serve in order to keep my family safe from the bad guys.

I already mentioned Finn’s confession to his teacher that he was considering joining the army. The next time the subject was broached on the show was during an intervention set up by said teacher with Finn’s mom and stepdad. Finn says that he just wanted to follow in his dad’s footsteps, who he had been led to believe died a hero in Iraq a decade earlier.

Finn’s mom reveals that his dad didn’t die in Iraq as a war hero but in Cincinnati as a drug addict. Apparently he had been dishonorably discharged and was so traumatized by the war that he couldn’t get his act together. She had lied to Finn all those years because his dad “was so much more than the last few months of his life.”

This part bugged the crud out of me. I will not deny that war is hell or that PTSD is a real thing, because both of those things are true. But “Glee” wasn’t tackling the issue of how to help veterans return to normal life. The only message seemed to be: join the military and your life will be ruined.

And then the episode ended with Finn proposing to his girlfriend Rachel.

Yes, they’re both high schoolers.

I can’t wait to see what happens as the rest of the season unfolds…

It’s time for the Christmas episode! Yay. I’m one of those people who deliberately does not listen to Christmas music or do Christmas-y things eleven months out of the year, because I love to save up the specialness for December. Needless to say, I was excited to sit down and watch the kids of McKinley High serenade me with highly choreographed musical numbers.

I was expecting more of a ‘holiday’ themed episode rather than a ‘Christmas’ one, because, you know, political correctness; I was just hoping that they wouldn’t mock the Christian culture. They can have their Santa and Rudolph, so long as they leave the Baby Jesus alone.

But they didn’t. Nope, of course they brought the baby in the manger into the mix, because would it be “Glee”if it weren’t controversial? So what controversial atrocity did they commit regarding the birth of the Messiah? One of the kids read an account of it, straight from the book of Luke.

Someone probably forgot to tell the writers that Luke is in the Bible.

Furthermore, the reading was used as a turn-around moment during which the characters realized how selfish they were acting in their own pursuits of fame and/or Christmas gifts. The whole ‘peace on earth and good will towards men’ is what really seemed to get them, rather than the whole savior aspect, but that’s not really surprising given the Christless state of much of Christianity today.

At least it got the kids to stop acting like whiny brats and actually do something for people other than themselves. Baby steps, I guess.

The rest of the episode consisted of an incredibly bizarre Christmas special for the local PBS station in Lima. Seriously, it was like they were trying to recreate “The Burns and Allen Show,” except with the gay guys singing a romantic duet, people showing up in Star Wars costumes, and I didn’t see it, but I’m pretty sure there was a crack pipe in there somewhere. Or maybe I just felt like I was on crack while I watched it. It was totally weird.

Glee is off until January, so I will wish you all a very merry Christmas, turn off the cable, and pop “White Christmas“ into the DVD player because it’s that time of years and Bing, Danny, and Rosemary make me exorbitantly happy, and totally would’ve kicked glee club butt at regionals.

Last night on “Glee,” it was all about enjoying the best years of your life, which for some strange and odd reason the writers on the show seem to think happen during high school. Hey kids! Don’t believe “Glee.” It gets better, I promise.

Remember Sam? The kid whose family lost everything, and then the big bad banks came kicked them out of their house? We haven’t seen him since last season, but the Glee Clubbers decided that they needed to get him back in order to win their upcoming competition. Rachel and Finn took a road trip to talk to Sam about coming back, and to his parents about letting him stay with friends so that he could be a part of the club again.

They found him stripping in a nightclub.

Yeah, that happened. Apparently the only way to help his family make ends meet was to spray paint himself with body glitter, shake his booty, and let the ladies cram dollar bills down his teeny tiny pants. He tells Finn and Rachel that he tried getting a real job at Dairy Queen, “but it paid minimum wage and 2 free Blizzards.”

I feel bad for Sam, I really do. I feel even worse that “Glee” would sanction the idea that a bad economy not just excuses bad behavior, but demands it. Thankfully, his parents agree to let him go back to McKinley High, and he’s allowed to be “just a teenager” once again.

In another plot line, Mike tells his girlfriend Tina that he’s going to abandon his dream of becoming a dancer to go to medical school, because his father wants him to. So Tina, with all of her teen-aged wisdom, goes to Mike’s dad and begs him to watch a video of Mike performing in the school musical. Mike’s dad explains that there will be heartache, limited opportunities, etc., in the extremely competitive world of the performing arts.

He obviously hasn’t heard that Obamacare passed and artists can now feel free to pursue their dreams rather than doing pesky things like working jobs that actually pay in order to pay the bills.

Eventually, Mike’s dad does watch his son perform, and embraces him and tells him to pursue his passion, and that he and Mike’s mom would do everything in their power to support him. I hope he also told him to have a back-up plan, because the term starving artist is a cliche for a reason.

Following up on last week’s scandalous hookup between teacher Shelby and student Puck, Quinn decides that she is going to tell on them to get Shelby fired. Shelby is the adoptive mother of Quinn’s biological daughter Beth, and she’s been trying all season to get her back. She finally has the perfect, diabolical plan! Shelby will be fired, and the baby will be handed right back into Quinn’s waiting arms. The girl is loony tunes.

Anyway, Rachel convinces Quinn to talk to Shelby first, which she does. She tells Shelby she knows, and that she’s going to tell and get her baby back. Shelby sighs and tells her to enjoy her youth, because it doesn’t last forever. She tells Quinn to go enjoy the last few months of her senior year. All of a sudden, Quinn is cured of craziness, and she single-handedly unites her quarreling friends.

Talk about a dues ex machina.

I can’t say that I disagree with part of the premise of last night’s show: Enjoy being young while you can. But I don’t believe that teenagers should enjoy their youth so they have something to hold onto in the old age of their 20s and 30s. Every stage of life has its own unique beauty to be appreciated.

Even high school has some high points. But telling kids that’s the best they’ll ever have it is bunk. Don’t believe “Glee,” kids! I promise that there is life after high school.

Wow. So much to talk about in last night’s episode of “Glee.” You know I watch it all for you guys. Well, also because it’s wildly entertaining, and any time I can turn something interesting or fun into part of my job, I’m in.

Since the beginning of the season, there have been two election stories going on: the one for a congressional seat, and the one for senior class president of McKinley High.

The congressional race between evil cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, an unnamed pizza magnate, and gay guy Kurt’s dad Burt came to an end last night when Burt won the seat. But that’s not what I want to talk about.

The high school election came to an end as well, and I do want to talk a little bit about that. The main contenders were the aforementioned Kurt and the stereotypically blonde Brittany. Brittany was the frontrunner since she kept passing out pixie sticks and empty promises to the electorate.

The high schoolers spoke; they wanted pixie sticks – just like so many people in 2008! The people spoke, and they wanted pixie sticks and unicorn dust. That’s why Barack Obama is our president. I really hope that the people watching “Glee” understand that candidates that promise magical powers are never able to deliver.

What I really want to talk about is sex and relationships.

Sex is special, okay? It connects you to another person. It can create a human being. It can pass along infectious diseases. No matter how you look at it, it’s a big deal.

So when Puck and Shelby hooked up, I was aghast! Puck is a high school student (an 18-year-old, after that whole “Desperate Housewives” debacle), and Shelby is a teacher at his school and the adoptive mother of his baby by classmate Quinn Fabray.

Adding to the appalling situation were the circumstances in which they ended up bumping uglies. Baby girl Beth had fallen and cut her lip, and Shelby called Puck from the ER because she was freaked out. He came immediately and was such a man about the situation. He demanded that Beth get proper treatment, and he comforted Shelby.

You know, because all high school bad-asses are really noble underneath it all.

What. Ever. I went to high school. I fell for the bad boys. Thankfully I didn’t get too involved with them, because guess what? High school bad boys don’t have hearts of gold. They have notches in their belts – or whatever the standard unit of measurement is these days for sexual exploits.

“Glee” is doing a disservice to teenage girls that watch the show by portraying Puck as some knight in shining armor. I don’t even want to know how many girls will get their hearts broken by believing that their bad boy is a noble Puck that just wants to have a family and raise his daughter.

Oh yeah, the kids all performed Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl,” which has less to do with homosexuality than with embracing promiscuity. Actual lyric from the song: Hope my boyfriend don’t mind it. You shouldn’t cheat ever, no matter the genders involved.

“Glee,” the therapists of America thank you. Your business will be booming in a few years thanks to this spoon-fed prime-time drivel.

Hello everyone! Didja watch “Glee” last night? Come on, admit it … I know you did. It’s the show we all love and love to hate at the same time. There’s singing! There’s dancing! There’s propaganda!

What’s not to have a love/hate relationship with?

This week, the show opened with Puck fantasizing about Shelby, which isn’t awkward at all, until you realize that she is not only his teacher but also the adoptive mother of his baby daughter with classmate Quinn. Oh yeah, and Quinn is trying to frame Shelby as a bad mother to get baby Beth back, and Puck kissed Shelby in a previous episode.

Amidst the baby mama drama, Kurt’s dad Burt is running against Sue for congress. Actress Jane Lynch has openly stated that her character, Sue Sylvester, will be playing a candidate “more right-winged than Michele Bachmann.”

Which means that we have to take her campaign against (small business owner and proud father of a gay son) Burt to be what Hollywood liberals believe conservatives to be. It’s actually rather disturbing.

Sue releases a campaign ad smearing Burt as a baboon. Last year, Burt almost died and needed heart surgery, so now Sue is playing off of that by saying that he possibly got a baboon heart transplant. Because conservatives are always going around calling Democrats animals. Or something.

The kicker that got me to that banging-my-head-on-the-wall level was the subtitle of the fake commercial: PAID FOR BY ANGRY WHITE PEOPLE TO ELECT SUE SYLVESTER.

Back to the baby mama drama …

Quinn (birth mother of Beth) wants to steal her baby back from Shelby and has planted fake evidence in Shelby’s home in order to get CPS to take Beth away. Of course, she’s unaware that her baby daddy, Puck, is now in love lust with adoptive mom Shelby and has disposed of the planted “evidence.”

In another plot line, Mean Girl Santana has been bad mouthing Finn all over school. Finn finally has enough and very calmly responds, “Hey Santana? Why don’t you come out of the closet?”

In case you were wondering, Santana has recently discovered that she is more attracted to other girls than she is to boys. Finn continues to dig in, telling Santana that she’s a coward because she’s too afraid to come out openly in love with Brittany (which she is) because Brittany might not love her back.

Now here’s where the most interesting part of the episode happened. Burt, Sue, and Glee Club director Mr. Shue call Santana aside. These three? What could be going on? Sue HATES Burt and Mr. Shue. Why would all three be together?

It seems that a third party candidate overheard Finn’s accusations against Santana and has now created an ad targeting Sue, because how dare she run on a family values platform and promote a lesbian to head cheerleader at the same time?

Huh. My first thought on this was, “Why is Sue involved, and acting like she cares? Isn’t her character supposed to hate the gays?”

My second thought was, “Do Hollywood liberals believe that the only way we can unite is over the gay community?”

And my third thought was, “Earlier in the episode, did Kurt refer to dodgeball as modern day stoning?”

Because he totally did. Note to teenagers everywhere: Dodgeball won’t kill you. Stoning will.

Hey everyone! I can’t tell you how much I’ve wanted to write this review for y’all. Do you know why? Because teenage sex! And homosexual sex! And does it get any more controversial than teenage homosexual sex?

If it does, then I don’t want to know about it.

Anyway, this week’s episode of “Glee” was set to the music of “West Side Story,” which emulates perfectly the forbidden love of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Seriously, who doesn’t love a good Pyramus and Thisbe story?

As was dramatized in previews and therefore on the Internet… this week was a week of firsts. First time to shock us? No. First time to push the barriers? No.

But it was the first time that two of the couples on the show had sex.

Cutie pie Blaine has been dating Kurt for a while, pushing the bounds of appropriateness on network television for a season or more. At the same time, Rachel and Finn have had an on-again-off-again relationship that has weathered the storms of teenage pregnancy (Finn’s girlfriend was pregnant with his best friend’s baby), identity issues (Rachel’s biological mother Shelby has been in and out… oh, and, by the way, is the adoptive mama of Quinn’s baby), and general teenaged messiness.

There are probably eight thousand things I could grab onto in this episode, but personally, there’s only one hook for me.  No, it’s not the gay thing… I’m sure much has already been said about that.

For this prude chica, it’s all about the teen sex.

Gay, straight, lesbian, or bi, when did it become appropriate for teens to have sex with each other on prime time TV? Is this really the message that we want to send to our kids? That teenage relationships are as mysterious and wonderful as Shakespeare made them out to be?

No!

Teenage sex leads to depression and other crappy stuff. Why is Hollywood trying to romanticize teenage relationships? Yeah, two couples (one gay, one straight) on the show gave themselves to one another, but will they be together in ten years?

Probably not.

Gay or straight, Hollywood should not be romanticizing sex amongst teenagers.

The hit show has something special up its sleeve for next Tuesday’s new installment, according to a breathless post at Entertainment Weekly’s PopWatch blog.

“The First Time.” It’s without a doubt one of Glee‘s best installments ever and features two popular couples on the show having sex for the first time.

The couples losing their virginity? Finn and Rachel and…Kurt and Blaine! Yep, the couple — who was featured on the cover of EW’s Gay Teens on TV issue – finally decide to take the next step in their relationship.

Hey, if it can distract us from worrying about Kim Kardashian’s post-divorce woes …

Before the first commercial break, we got our first glimpse of liberal snark when cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) went on the air to expose the exorbitant amount of taxpayer money that the glee club wastes, like, teaching kids to sing and have self-confidence and crap. Thankfully, Mr. Schuester (Matthew Morrison) pointed out in a subsequent scene that the cheerleading squad gets $4,000 a month for pompoms.

I guess teenage boob jobs are on the rise.

Here’s the thing:  Sue is running for congress, and she’s apparently running on the Tea Party ticket. No, they’ve never mentioned it on the show, but Jane Lynch has mentioned that her character channels Tea Party Patriot Michele Bachmann. And because Michele Bachmann and other Republicans hate children, puppies, and rainbows, Sue has managed to cut the funding for the school’s musical.

Then YAY capitalism! A group of parents come together with local business owners to fund the musical for the high school kids, which is really how kids’ programs should be funded … by the parents.

Meanwhile, Quinn Fabray (Dianna Argon) wants her (biological) baby back, so she puts a plan into action to frame adoptive mother Shelby (Idina Menzel) of child abuse. She enlists the help of baby daddy Puck (Mark Salling) while they babysit their progeny (nothing weird about that situation) to plant fake evidence to prove that their child’s adoptive mother is abusive.

Back on the political front, gay guy Kurt Hummel’s dad decides to run as a write-in candidate against the malevolent Sue Sylvester. As he says, “Some chick in Alaska did it last year, and her name was way harder to spell than Hummel.” I thought this reference was odd, as most Glee watchers probably have no idea who Lisa Murkowski is, or why the reference to the write-in campaign might be funny.

This is where I was almost tricked by Hollywood, you guys. Burt Hummel had me cheering for him with an eloquent speech about the importance of the arts, and how we need to keep funding schools to keep those programs alive. The truth of the matter is that there is more than enough money for arts programs, but that money is wasted.

Hollywood wants you to believe that evil Republicans want to kill beneficial educational outlets (like glee club), but that’s simply not the case. We want to shut down tenure, which allows sex offenders to remain on payroll. Heck, we Republicans are all for firing the pedophiles in order to fund the glee club!

Of course, then Coach Sue goes on a rant about how The Arts steal money from Special Ed kids… or something.

Towards the end of the episode, Puck goes back to Shelby’s house and he starts hiding all the stuff that Quinn had planted earlier, because he totally cares. Every teenage father wants what’s best for his baby, right? Puck even sings the baby song, which doesn’t at all romanticize teenage parenthood to the multitude of teenagers watching the show without their parents’ permission knowledge.

Then the episode ended with Puck kissing Shelby. Dun dun duuuun!

See y’all next week!

‘Glee’ prides itself on teaching tolerance, acceptance and general “be nice to one another” behavior. The obligatory TV drama is ever-present; however, the messages are typically admirable and authentic – that is, except the one about adoption.

This season has cheerleader Quinn (Dianna Agron), who placed a daughter for adoption a year prior, vowing to take back “custody” of the child, and angrily telling the baby’s adoptive mother to stop acting like her “real mother.” Not-so-coincidentally, the baby’s adoptive mother is Shelby (Idina Menzel), who we now know is the biological mother of Lea Michele’s Rachel (one of Quinn’s peers). The teaser for later episodes shows Quinn with a bottle of hot sauce in-hand, devilishly vowing to “PROVE she’s an unfit mother” in her quest to get the baby back.

This storyline, while perfectly dramatic for TV purposes, perpetuates some of the most harmful myths about adoption. It is perfectly appropriate to show Quinn struggling with the decision she made; that is a side of adoption that is rarely exposed and it is great to shine more light on it.

However, the stereotype of the young birth mother who comes unhinged a year after the adoption and becomes hellbent on getting the baby back is, for the most part, a myth.

Furthermore, the vast majority of adoptions in the United States are open to some degree. This was touched on briefly through Quinn and Puck visiting their daughter, but so much more could be done to shed light on this very important point. Even the use of the word “custody” in Quinn’s rant isn’t entirely accurate, as custody of an already-adopted child is not in question, at least not in a legal sense.

Finalization of an adoption means that a child is as much a part of the adoptive family as they were of the biological family they were born into.

As a member of the adoption community myself, I noticed that message boards, blogs, and Facebook were abuzz the day after the episode with talk of how adoption was being portrayed. Adoptive parents, adoptees and birth parents alike said that they felt birth mothers were being portrayed badly through Quinn’s downward spiral. Adoptive parents shifted uncomfortably in their seats, and some adoptees were downright frightened. One adoptive mother in particular posted that her pre-teen child (who was adopted in childhood, not infancy) was scared by the episode and the idea that her birth mother could appear and take her back.

I kept thinking of a 14-year-old girl in small town America facing an unplanned pregnancy. She is the epitome of ‘Glee’s’ target demographic; she’s scared, young and impressionable, and she’s desperate for a resolution to her situation. Perhaps she knows she wouldn’t be allowed back in the house with a baby. The idea that she could see this show and – because she desperately wants to – could believe that adoption works the way it is depicted on the screen would be an injustice to her and her baby alike. What she took away from the show was that one phone call after the baby’s birth: a picture-perfect couple who would come get the baby, her life would go back to normal, and everyone would live happily ever after. And then she could get the baby back later when she felt she was ready to be a parent.

That, for me, was the last straw. I had to DO something. I started a petition on change.org, asking ‘Glee’s’ Executive Producer, Ryan Murphy, to produce a public service announcement about the realities of adoption. It is not an anti-Glee crusade; I’m not asking them to scrap the storyline or even to change it. I’m asking them to point people to reliable resources where they can get accurate information about how adoption really works. When I started the petition, I was expecting my closest friends and family to sign it, and then for it to shrivel up and die.

What happened instead has blown me away.

Within a couple of days, there were more than 100 signatures, and the wonderful staff at change.org contacted me to ask how they could help me with it. Together, we began to spread the word. Less than two weeks later, more than 1,700 people have signed the petition. I have received countless messages of support, not only from fellow adoptive parents but also from adoptees and, best of all, birthparents. People on all sides of adoption agree that a PSA would be a positive addition to the dramatic – but maybe not realistic – storyline playing out on ‘Glee.’

Of course, not all of the feedback has been positive. I have received various nasty messages, mostly from people who had negative experiences with adoption many years ago. One accused me of “refusing to believe adoption is not all rainbows and puppy dogs,” which is particularly humorous, considering our family went through a whole lot of adoption-related negativity and heartache before being blessed with our precious child.

Another informed me that I am the equivalent of a drug dealer or a person who uses prostitutes because I adopted my son, thereby creating demand for more babies for “trafficking.”

Some insist that adoption is nothing more than the act of coercing a woman to “give away” or even to sell her child so that an agency can get rich off desperate adoptive couples. And still others beg and plead with me to open my (presumably closed) mind and understand that the best gift I can give my child is the opportunity to wonder about his birthfamily and ask questions.

None of them have bothered to ask me about our adoption; if they had, they would know that it is very open and that my son already has a great relationship with his birth mother.

They assume that if our son hadn’t been adopted that he would be with his biological family living happily ever after. They don’t realize that he would have gone straight into the already overloaded foster care system and stayed there, possibly permanently. They also assume that I plan to lie to him about how he came to exist in this world and why he is a member of our family.

Not the case at all. But they never bothered to ask.

So to all those who have decided to attack or dismiss me based on their own assumptions and without even trying to understand, I say: I do realize it’s “just a TV show.” This is why I’m not asking for it to be scrapped, only for them to tack on a quick message during a break pointing people who are interested in adoption toward good resources for accurate information.

I do realize “kids shouldn’t be watching this show.” It’s funny how many people assume I started the petition because MY child was the one that got scared of being taken back by his birth parents. My kid is still just beginning to grasp ‘Yo Gabba Gabba,’ so don’t you worry about that.

I do realize that I’m “oversensitive.” Well, maybe. Wouldn’t you be? We’re talking about human beings here, not library books. We’re talking about an adopted child being distraught at the thought of being taken from their FAMILY. If it was a child potentially being taken from their birthfamily (that is, without any history of abuse or neglect), would you take issue with that? Is it simply biology that makes it okay to take a child from the only life, home and family he or she has ever known?

I do realize that “it’s our job to raise our kids, not a TV show’s.” But tell that to all of the wonderful parents who have done everything right whose kids still pick up ideas and habits from things they saw on TV. A few examples of this would be tastes in music or movies, fashion, driving skills, speech habits, how to treat fellow human beings and animals, that smoking cigarettes is cool, and that drinking until you pass out is harmless. It certainly is not a TV show’s responsibility to raise any child – quite the opposite. It just wouldn’t hurt for children to be exposed to some truth alongside the embellishment thereof.

I do realize that “TV shows aren’t obligated to be accurate.” Sure, that’s why TV is so often an escape from reality. However, this show constantly takes on REAL problems that REAL kids have. Everything – from homophobia to racism, sexism, and bullying – have been covered on ‘Glee.’ And the show has done an excellent job examining these topics and helping kids deal with them productively. Yet when it comes to adoption, it falls short of the standard it has set so high for itself. Whether we like to admit it or not, some kids trust this show because of how honestly these issues have been treated. Unless they know better already, they may not think to question this depiction of adoption, which is unfortunate. The show has a unique – and very valuable – opportunity to really educate people about the true nature of adoption.

I have had moments during which I’ve wondered if I did the right thing by starting this petition. However, every time I see the vote count (currently more than 2,600 people have signed it) and compare it with the number of “haters” (about 20), I realize I did the right thing.

After all, they call it the lunatic fringe for a reason.