Google alerted me to this article: Got milk? Indonesian mayor says infant formula leads to homosexuality. I hardly know where to begin with this. It’s one of those things where you kind of just sit and stare in shock.

I’m not going to get into the breastfeeding debate. We know that breastfeeding is optimal for babies for many reasons. However, we also know that there are many reasons why mothers can’t or choose not to breastfeed their babies. That choice should be informed and should be the mum’s alone.

Okay, let’s say the mum decides not to breastfeed. That has no bearing on what the child’s sexuality will be. That’s decided before birth. Sorry mums, you can’t do anything to change the fact that your child is going to prefer partners of the same or opposite sex, or both. You can certainly make them feel ashamed of their innate preference, you can maybe even drive them to hide it or deny it from themselves. That’s not going to change their sexual identity nor is whether or not you breastfeed them.

It’s crazy to think that this is even an issue. Sometimes I see things like this and realise that even though we live in such a globalized society somethings are very very different in other parts of the world. It makes me feel so fortunate that I live in a country where the big debates are whether craisins should be considered fruit or candy or if paleo/vegan/low-carb is the best or worst ever diet. Where there’s still a long way to go regarding discrimination but no one (please oh please don’t prove me wrong) would tell mums that choosing not to breastfeed their babies will “turn them homosexual”.

Seeing the article, I feel this strange combination of great fortune and deep sadness. Great fortune to have been lucky enough to have been born to educated parents in Canada. Deep sadness knowing that most people are not so fortunate.