The self-described “most dangerous writer in America” came to Morgantown on Tuesday, furthering the theme of this year’s Gay Pride Week, “Family Matters.”
Leslea Newman, author of the book “Heather Has Two Mommies,” spoke out about the need for acceptance of all kinds of families — including ones with homosexual members — in the Rhododendron Room of the Mountainlair.
Newman read the entire “Heather Has Two Mommies” book to the audience of about 50. The work, which reads like a children’s book, has evoked both positive and negative feedback from communities across the nation since its publication in 1989.
“I wrote a book that became controversial,” Newman said. “I didn’t write a controversial book.”
The book “Heather Has Two Mommies” describes the life of a child with lesbian parents named Mama Kate and Mama Jane. The girl telling the story utters phrases such as, “I don’t have a daddy.” The girl’s class draws pictures of their different family backgrounds, and the book ends with the girl and her family happily walking home together.
A native of Brooklyn who grew up in a Jewish neighborhood, Newman said she never saw families like hers in the media. Feeling a need to give people like herself something with which to connect, she put her pen to paper.
Newman also said she was motivated to write the book by a friend, who suggested that someone write a book about a child with same-sex parents.
“So I did,” she said simply.
Newman said she struggled to get the book on the shelves. First, she couldn’t find any companies who would publish the book. Luckily, a friend of hers helped out, and the two got “Heather Has Two Mommies” published. Once on the shelves, however, the book was the object of criticism from various groups, ranging from angry parents to the Christian Right.
Newman said that while offended parents have a right to not want their children reading books such as “Heather Has Two Mommies,” there is one occasion that is unacceptable.
“The problem is people saying, ‘Nobody’s children should read ‘Heather Has Two Mommies,’’” she said.
The night’s program began with Newman recalling the tragic death of Matthew Sheppard, a gay Wyoming college student beaten, tied up like a scarecrow and left to die by two men. After talking about “Heather Has Two Mommies,” Newman talked of the intolerance of homosexuality in the areas of education, marriage and child custody. She closed the event by reading from a story entitled “Right Off the Bat,” from her book “Secrets.”
A line from “Heather Has Two Mommies” told the audience Newman’s opinion of the most vital thing about any family, regardless of its composition.
“The most important thing about a family is that they love each other.”