If I were talking to her directly, this is what I would say:

My father was an alcoholic and sex addict who cheated on my mom with basically anything that moved, female or male. He molested me (female) as well as my younger brother. Was he bisexual? I don’t know, but I doubt it. And anyway, his sexuality, whatever it was, was completely irrelevant.

The real pain, both mine (and yours, it sounds like) comes from the fact that, at that time (again, 1960s-1970s), ANY addiction was treated as shameful, not to be discussed in public or outside the family. That was what killed people and harmed their families — the unacknowledged, untreated addiction (be it to alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, whatever). The dysfunction and pain caused by addiction of any type is what devastates children who are stuck in the situation.

I know that going to rehab has become almost a joke in this society, but I’d almost rather have it that way, than go back to the 1970s when everything was swept under the rug.

Stop blaming gay people, dear. They are NOT all your father. And be thankful for that. Your father is gone, he can’t hurt you any more. Time to let go of the pain and rage and frustration. Counseling worked wonders for me. It can help you too — and without demonizing any one group of people.

Dawn Stefanowicz is welcome to tell us of her unhappy childhood, but she has NO RIGHT to try to turn the law against my family. I will fight her to the end of my strength to keep her and her ilk away from my family.