My 18-year-old daughter came home from college this week in tears. It seems somehow her car bumper had been dented. Halfway through the sobs and the three possible scenarios – none of which were her fault, nor did she have any “real” idea how it happened – I had a thought: I think I used that same story on my mother back when I was 17 and driving her new car. “But, Mom, I don’t know how it happened. Really!”

Before you condemn me or my daughter, think back. I’m sure you’ve told one or two of those stories to your parents or guardians.

After reassuring her that a car can be fixed or replaced, and that all that matters is that no one was hurt, we discussed the lessons of lending your car to the crazy guy that lives in the dorm room next door. I think she got it.

Knowing this week’s cover story is about the boom in GLBT families, I started to think back to when my daughter was 3 or 4, and what the landscape – or should I say playground – looked like in San Diego, and it made me smile.

I remember only one parenting group, Moms and Me. It wasn’t until years later that they changed the name to Moms and Me and Dads Too. Two lesbian pioneers come to mind: Carolina Ramos and Judy Schaim. Judy had teenage and pre-teen daughters and Carolina had a son about a year or two older than my daughter, Tatiana. These were the only two other same-sex households that I knew of.

Compare that with Family Matters of today, which has 1,500 members in San Diego County. Look at the photos on our cover and read the feature story to hear more heartwarming stories from our community’s families.

On April 16, show up at Trolley Barn Park at 2:00 p.m. and see hundreds of kids who are being raised by same-sex families participating in the annual GLBT Community Children’s Easter Egg Hunt. Watch two dads walking to the event with a kid on one of their shoulders and another kid running ahead, or two moms with three or more kids in tow. A far cry from Judy Schaim, Carolina Ramos and the few other parents laying down the groundwork for Family Matters and today’s many kid- and family-friendly events.

Speaking of kids being raised in same-sex households, I’ve got some statistics for you. Think straight households have a corner on family values? Think again. Children raised in same-sex households have their first sexual experience on average six months later then their peers raised in heterosexual households. Children raised in same-sex households have their first drug experience on average six months later than children raised in heterosexual households. And the teen pregnancy rate among young women raised by same-sex couples is much lower than it is for those raised by heterosexual parents or guardians. How’s that for family values?

Looking back, I’m sure most parents would say raising a child is the most of everything: It’s the most fun, the most worry, the most time consuming, the most painful and the most joyous experience in their lives. I wouldn’t change a minute of the 6:00 a.m. soccer games in San Marcos on Sundays, the week off of work for the chicken pox, her first date, almost having a heart attack merging onto Interstate 8 from the 805 on-ramp the first week she had her driver’s permit, or the recent dent in the front bumper that Tatiana, “isn’t quite sure” she knows how it happened.

Don’t forget that a fashion show benefiting Family Matters takes place this Sunday. The show will take place at the Abbey, located at 2825 Fifth Ave. in Hillcrest, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

And when you see all of us GLBT parents walking down the runway with our kids, excuse us for beaming. We’re a proud group.

Michael G. Portantino

Publisher