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PaperclipPerfector  5d ago (text post)   2037 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 31, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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When a gay couple has a baby, how rude is it to ask which one is the biological parent?

I think it depends how phrase it and how well you know the couple. Maybe don’t say it like “So, whose sperm was it?” when you’re holding the baby.

Is there a reason you want to know though?

Is there a reason you want to know though?

What a weird question. Child legitimacy and family lineage has followed us around for millennia fueling scandal and intrigue. I mean, this hypothetical child will be born a bastard. Taking an unnatural approach such as two men bringing in a child to the household is bound to cause tensions in a culture that has only recently begun insisting this is perfectly okay.

I mean, this hypothetical child will be born a bastard.

A troublesome prospect if the child wants to inherit his noble father’s land and title. But AFAIK the adoptive parents are what matters legally so if the gay couple is married, I don’t think it counts as a “child out of wedlock”.

Although does anybody care about this in any developed western country? My parents weren’t married and that’s the case for >50% of children where I live. Nobody will seriously use the word “bastard” in that way unless they’re a medieval history enthusiast.

Taking an unnatural approach such as two men bringing in a child to the household is bound to cause tensions in a culture that has only recently begun insisting this is perfectly okay.

I think we’re a bit past the point of worrying about what’s natural and what’s unnatural in our hyper connected post industrial society where we’re utterly reliant on thinking rocks. Homosexual penguin couples have adopted and raised chicks (although eventually divorced), so if anything gay adoption is more natural than antibiotics and social media.

A troublesome prospect if the child wants to inherit his noble father’s land and title.

Genuinely funny, haha.

Were you feigning confusion so that you could start talking about gay penguins? You do remember a time when homosexual couple were controversial…right? Are you 9 years old?

It’s perfectly intuitive why someone would be curious about another’s parents if it were obvious both biological ones weren’t around. To the extent it’s not intuitive to you, you’ve been trained to forget.

You do remember a time when homosexual couple were controversial…right? Are you 9 years old?

Actually that’s a very good point. I’m not 9 years old but I was around that age when gay marriage was legalised where I live, and I genuinely don’t remember gay couples being controversial unless someone was talking about the Middle East or the Bible Belt.

Are you a millennial or from a more conservative region? This definitely could be a generational divide thing.

Were you feigning confusion so that you could start talking about gay penguins?

The gay penguins came later, I was mostly trying to say that homosexuality and gay adoption is a lot more natural than all the man made horrors/wonders beyond our comprehension that we’ve invented. A good portion of the population literally wastes hours every day watching AI hallucinated videos in a borderline trance, and a surprisingly large minority has a sycophantic chatbot as their only friend and even lover.

Also the penguins were bi IIRC. Even penguins suffer from bi erasure, alas.

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