lonelywombat
March 15th, 2014, 16:13
Two Gay Dads And Their Diving Champ Son
There are 7 photos on this Huffington Post site
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/1 ... de=3513433 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/14/diving-champion-gay-family_n_4949631.html#slide=3513433)
This weekтАЩs installment of the Huffington Post Gay Voices RaiseAChild.US Let Love Define Family series highlights the intersecting journeys of a single gay man, who adopted from Cambodia in 2000, his athletically gifted son, and тАЬPapi,тАЭ who became the boyтАЩs second father.
Fifteen-year-old Jordan WindleтАЩs diving career has taken his family from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Indianapolis, Indiana, to Durham, North Carolina. But JordanтАЩs first move was from Cambodia, where his father Jerry Windle adopted him when he was 18 months old. In 2000, Cambodia was among a number of nations that still allowed single men to adopt. Today, all international adoptions are closed to single men and women, mostly to filter out LGBT people, though single and openly gay people are welcome to adopt in most regions of the United States.
Now 48, Jerry, who served in the Navy during тАЬdon't ask, don't tell,тАЭ always knew he wanted to be a parent and that he would pursue it through adoption. While studying education and military science at Oregon State University, he learned about the tens of thousands of Cambodian children who were orphaned during and after the time of the Khmer Rouge and felt a heart connection to their plight. Five months after he made his initial call to pursue his dream, he flew to Cambodia to meet the child, whose Cambodian name Pisey translates to тАЬlittle darlingтАЭ in English. His son was waiting at the orphanage gates in the arms of his nanny, clutching a keychain photo of his father-to-be.
тАЬI purposely wanted to adopt a toddler versus an infant,тАЭ explained Jerry. тАЬAs a single father working full-time, it would be difficult raising an infant but, more importantly, my heartтАЩs desire was to provide a forever family to an older child, who would be less likely to be adopted.тАЭ
The first person to recognize JordanтАЩs diving talent was Tim OтАЩBrien, the former head coach of the Fort Lauderdale Diving Team and son of Dr. Ron OтАЩBrien who was Greg LouganisтАЩ Olympic coach. At the time, Jordan was seven and the family lived in Fort Lauderdale. Today, Jordan is a three-time junior national champion, a silver and bronze medalist in U.S. National Championships, and an Olympic hopeful.
The Windle family expanded six years ago when Jerry met Andr├йs Rodriguez, now 31, while the two were playing softball. At their first dinner together, when Jerry broke the news that he had a son, it didnтАЩt faze Andr├йs. In fact, being someone who valued family, Andr├йs was intrigued. The three dined together several times to get to know each other. One evening at dinner, Jordan, who was then nine, looked over at Andr├йs and asked, тАЬAre you going to be in our family?тАЭ to which Andr├йs replied, тАЬI think so.тАЭ Jordan then said, тАЬCan I call you Papi?тАЭ and Andr├йs replied, тАЬSure.тАЭ Jerry and Andr├йs have been together ever since.
Much has changed since Olympic champion Greg Louganis, also adopted and now a close family friend, was immersed in the diving world and forced to remain closeted in order to pursue his craft. Back then, he faced rampant homophobia throughout the sports world, including his teammates. Today, a number of divers at the junior and senior levels are openly gay, but some remain closeted. For Jordan, his parentsтАЩ sexual orientation was never an issue. In fact, several college divers come out to him specifically because they knew he had openly gay parents.
тАЬWhen people ask me what it is like to be straight and to have gay parents, I tell them тАШItтАЩs great!тАЩ They love me and support me, and I love them,тАЭ said Jordan. тАЬWe are a family.тАЭ
JordanтАЩs peers do not display homophobia for the most part -- it is the parents who present the most obstacles. When Jordan was asked to be the Grand Marshall of the Indianapolis Pride Parade alongside his dads in 2012, some diving parents accused the Windles of having an тАЬagenda.тАЭ They did not want their son diving with Jordan at the 2012 Olympic Team Trials if he participated in the parade. Undeterred, Jordan followed his heart and the other boys' parents ultimately did not take any action.
тАЬPeople in sports have asked me, тАШDo you have an agenda?тАЩ тАЭ Jerry said. тАЬI tell them, тАШYes, I do have an agenda. That loving families can raise loving families.тАЩ To me, as well as Andr├йs, family is everything. As Greg Louganis says, regardless of your sexual orientation, love is love, period.тАЭ
Coached by Nunzio Esposto, Jordan practices 30 to 40 hours a week with the Duke Diving Team at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, while maintaining honor roll status as a freshman at International Connections Academy, a private online, virtual school.
тАЬMy greatest hope for Jordan is that he finds happiness throughout his life, and that he has the opportunity to pursue his dreams,тАЭ said Jerry. тАЬIf itтАЩs in JordanтАЩs future to go to the Olympics representing the United States and win a gold medal, that would be amazing. If he could do that and be a good citizen and role model, I feel Andr├йs and I have done our job.тАЭ
Jordan has recorded an тАЬIt Gets BetterтАЭ video and wrote a childrenтАЩs book with Jerry called тАЬAn Orphan No More... The True Story of a Boy.тАЭ Jordan believes sexual orientation should not deter prospective parents from building a family.
тАЬIf they really do love their children,тАЭ said Jordan, тАЬtheir children will absolutely love them back.тАЭ
Jerry and JordanтАЩs book тАЬAn Orphan No More... The True Story of a BoyтАЭ is available at www.thediversclub.com (http://www.thediversclub.com), the Windle familyтАЩs online store that sells JerryтАЩs exclusively designed products celebrating the support of diving to help raise funds for diving clubs across the United States. The Windles will donate $5 to RaiseAChild.US from every book purchased when the buyer types тАЬRaiseAChild.USтАЭ in the "order notes" box. Jordan will autograph every copy purchased through the fundraiser.
Corinne Lightweaver is Special Projects Manager at RaiseAChild.US, a national organization headquartered in Hollywood, California that encourages the LGBT community to build families through fostering and adoption to serve the needs of the 400,000 children in the U.S. foster care system. RaiseAChild.US works with foster and adoption agencies that have received training in LGBT cultural competence through the Human Rights Campaign FoundationтАЩs тАЬAll Children тАУ All FamiliesтАЭ initiative. Since 2011, RaiseAChild.US has run media campaigns to educate prospective parents and the public, and has engaged more than 2,000 prospective parents. For information about how you can become a foster or fost/adopt parent, visit www.raiseachild.us (http://www.raiseachild.us) and click on тАЬNext Step to Parenthood.тАЭ
There are 7 photos on this Huffington Post site
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/1 ... de=3513433 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/14/diving-champion-gay-family_n_4949631.html#slide=3513433)
This weekтАЩs installment of the Huffington Post Gay Voices RaiseAChild.US Let Love Define Family series highlights the intersecting journeys of a single gay man, who adopted from Cambodia in 2000, his athletically gifted son, and тАЬPapi,тАЭ who became the boyтАЩs second father.
Fifteen-year-old Jordan WindleтАЩs diving career has taken his family from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Indianapolis, Indiana, to Durham, North Carolina. But JordanтАЩs first move was from Cambodia, where his father Jerry Windle adopted him when he was 18 months old. In 2000, Cambodia was among a number of nations that still allowed single men to adopt. Today, all international adoptions are closed to single men and women, mostly to filter out LGBT people, though single and openly gay people are welcome to adopt in most regions of the United States.
Now 48, Jerry, who served in the Navy during тАЬdon't ask, don't tell,тАЭ always knew he wanted to be a parent and that he would pursue it through adoption. While studying education and military science at Oregon State University, he learned about the tens of thousands of Cambodian children who were orphaned during and after the time of the Khmer Rouge and felt a heart connection to their plight. Five months after he made his initial call to pursue his dream, he flew to Cambodia to meet the child, whose Cambodian name Pisey translates to тАЬlittle darlingтАЭ in English. His son was waiting at the orphanage gates in the arms of his nanny, clutching a keychain photo of his father-to-be.
тАЬI purposely wanted to adopt a toddler versus an infant,тАЭ explained Jerry. тАЬAs a single father working full-time, it would be difficult raising an infant but, more importantly, my heartтАЩs desire was to provide a forever family to an older child, who would be less likely to be adopted.тАЭ
The first person to recognize JordanтАЩs diving talent was Tim OтАЩBrien, the former head coach of the Fort Lauderdale Diving Team and son of Dr. Ron OтАЩBrien who was Greg LouganisтАЩ Olympic coach. At the time, Jordan was seven and the family lived in Fort Lauderdale. Today, Jordan is a three-time junior national champion, a silver and bronze medalist in U.S. National Championships, and an Olympic hopeful.
The Windle family expanded six years ago when Jerry met Andr├йs Rodriguez, now 31, while the two were playing softball. At their first dinner together, when Jerry broke the news that he had a son, it didnтАЩt faze Andr├йs. In fact, being someone who valued family, Andr├йs was intrigued. The three dined together several times to get to know each other. One evening at dinner, Jordan, who was then nine, looked over at Andr├йs and asked, тАЬAre you going to be in our family?тАЭ to which Andr├йs replied, тАЬI think so.тАЭ Jordan then said, тАЬCan I call you Papi?тАЭ and Andr├йs replied, тАЬSure.тАЭ Jerry and Andr├йs have been together ever since.
Much has changed since Olympic champion Greg Louganis, also adopted and now a close family friend, was immersed in the diving world and forced to remain closeted in order to pursue his craft. Back then, he faced rampant homophobia throughout the sports world, including his teammates. Today, a number of divers at the junior and senior levels are openly gay, but some remain closeted. For Jordan, his parentsтАЩ sexual orientation was never an issue. In fact, several college divers come out to him specifically because they knew he had openly gay parents.
тАЬWhen people ask me what it is like to be straight and to have gay parents, I tell them тАШItтАЩs great!тАЩ They love me and support me, and I love them,тАЭ said Jordan. тАЬWe are a family.тАЭ
JordanтАЩs peers do not display homophobia for the most part -- it is the parents who present the most obstacles. When Jordan was asked to be the Grand Marshall of the Indianapolis Pride Parade alongside his dads in 2012, some diving parents accused the Windles of having an тАЬagenda.тАЭ They did not want their son diving with Jordan at the 2012 Olympic Team Trials if he participated in the parade. Undeterred, Jordan followed his heart and the other boys' parents ultimately did not take any action.
тАЬPeople in sports have asked me, тАШDo you have an agenda?тАЩ тАЭ Jerry said. тАЬI tell them, тАШYes, I do have an agenda. That loving families can raise loving families.тАЩ To me, as well as Andr├йs, family is everything. As Greg Louganis says, regardless of your sexual orientation, love is love, period.тАЭ
Coached by Nunzio Esposto, Jordan practices 30 to 40 hours a week with the Duke Diving Team at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, while maintaining honor roll status as a freshman at International Connections Academy, a private online, virtual school.
тАЬMy greatest hope for Jordan is that he finds happiness throughout his life, and that he has the opportunity to pursue his dreams,тАЭ said Jerry. тАЬIf itтАЩs in JordanтАЩs future to go to the Olympics representing the United States and win a gold medal, that would be amazing. If he could do that and be a good citizen and role model, I feel Andr├йs and I have done our job.тАЭ
Jordan has recorded an тАЬIt Gets BetterтАЭ video and wrote a childrenтАЩs book with Jerry called тАЬAn Orphan No More... The True Story of a Boy.тАЭ Jordan believes sexual orientation should not deter prospective parents from building a family.
тАЬIf they really do love their children,тАЭ said Jordan, тАЬtheir children will absolutely love them back.тАЭ
Jerry and JordanтАЩs book тАЬAn Orphan No More... The True Story of a BoyтАЭ is available at www.thediversclub.com (http://www.thediversclub.com), the Windle familyтАЩs online store that sells JerryтАЩs exclusively designed products celebrating the support of diving to help raise funds for diving clubs across the United States. The Windles will donate $5 to RaiseAChild.US from every book purchased when the buyer types тАЬRaiseAChild.USтАЭ in the "order notes" box. Jordan will autograph every copy purchased through the fundraiser.
Corinne Lightweaver is Special Projects Manager at RaiseAChild.US, a national organization headquartered in Hollywood, California that encourages the LGBT community to build families through fostering and adoption to serve the needs of the 400,000 children in the U.S. foster care system. RaiseAChild.US works with foster and adoption agencies that have received training in LGBT cultural competence through the Human Rights Campaign FoundationтАЩs тАЬAll Children тАУ All FamiliesтАЭ initiative. Since 2011, RaiseAChild.US has run media campaigns to educate prospective parents and the public, and has engaged more than 2,000 prospective parents. For information about how you can become a foster or fost/adopt parent, visit www.raiseachild.us (http://www.raiseachild.us) and click on тАЬNext Step to Parenthood.тАЭ