April 3, 2015
British TV Actress Says Being Raised by 2 Moms 'Ruined My Life'
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 2 MIN.
J.K. Rowling may have to take to Twitter to talk some sense into one of the actresses starring in a British miniseries based on the author's novel "The Casual Vacancy."
Hetty Baynes, 58, wrote a piece for the Daily Mail, claiming that being raised by two mothers in the 50s and 60s "ruined my life." Her article is in response to British broadcaster Mary Portas, who has a two-year-old son with her partner, who recently said that, for her, "motherhood is better without men."
The actress said that having two mothers growing up in the 50s and 60s was "scandalous" and that after her mother left her father, her mother's new partner Mary became the "man of the house."
"Mary described us as 'we three.' They held hands, kissed on the lips and behaved just like man and wife," Baynes wrote. "I was not raised to question it - this was a normal, happy childhood, with the inevitable ups and downs, but plenty of love."
Still, the actress said all "unconventional parental relationships end up being hotbeds for resentment and jealousy that cause irreparable long-term damage to children."
Baynes said that when she was 15 she developed clinical depression and anorexia.
"It was almost as if I carried their shame and acted it out in a self-destructive way," she wrote in the Daily Mail.
She said because two mothers raised her during a time where homosexuality was frowned upon, it led to a "life of confusion and lack of emotional security."
In conclusion, the actress wrote, "So by all means roll the dice, ladies and gentlemen, but don't kid yourself about the fact you are taking a chance with an innocent life."
Baynes plays Maureen Lowe in the TV adaptation of "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling's 2012 book "The Casual Vacancy." Rowling has been a longtime supporter of LGBT rights and same-sex marriage and recently made a splash after responding to a fan on Twitter who said they "couldn't see Dumbledore," a main character in the "Potter" series, as gay.
It's pretty safe to say its likely Baynes' remarks aren't going to sit well with Rowling.
Baynes' article comes a few weeks after Heather Barwick, 31, made headlines after publishing an article for the conservative publication the Federalist, saying that she's against same-sex marriage even though a lesbian couple raised her.
"Gay community, I am your daughter. My mom raised me with her same-sex partner back in the '80s and '90s," Barwick writes. "I'm writing to you because I'm letting myself out of the closet: I don't support gay marriage. But it might not be for the reasons that you think. It's not because you're gay. I love you, so much. It's because of the nature of the same-sex relationship itself."