Because Feelings Trump Facts, Even In Domestic Cases

Knoxville attorney K.O. Herston recently published a blog post about how Tennessee changed their Permanent Parenting Plan forms from documents that identified a "Mother" and "Father" to "Parent 1" and "Parent 2."  

I thought this to be a fine change in the wake of the Obergefell decision by the Supreme Court.  There's nothing wrong with also changing the forms to "Parent 1" and "Parent 2," as opposed to "Mother and Father."  It recognizes the ever-evolving familial dynamics between people in the State and lets people who are going through a divorce know that the State recognizes this distinction.  

Turns out recently the Administrative Office of the Courts reverted back to the old wording of "Mother" and "Father because some people got their feelz hurt and decided that it was a good idea to complain until the Courts changed things back to the old "Mother" and "Father" designations on the PPP forms.  Apparently it's now offensive to even suggest that there might be two mommies or two daddies on a piece of paper, or even maybe broach the notions that the "traditional" nuclear family is an ideal.  

These people have no right to complain about anyone else moaning when their "feelings" get hurt over "microaggressions," "implicit biases," or any combination of the new Political Correctness thereof.  Moreover, I respectfully submit that these complainers have no right to start talking about being "bullied," "persecuted," or "silenced" because of their beliefs.  You don't get to start complaining about your own feelz being hurt because a piece of paper says something and then turn around to another person who's not been able to marry the person they love because they happened to be the same sex and dismiss their feelings as invalid.  

I take no stance on political correctness.  I take a big stance on personal freedom.  I thought the designation of "Parent 1" and "Parent 2" is far better than the alternative, just because it places the Court's forms in a neutral ground and realizes that relationships have evolved since the days of the nuclear family dynamic.  To keep insisting that we MUST see every family going through a marital dissolution designate a "mother" and "father" despite the martial relationship being contrary to those designations, I think, is disingenuous on a moral and intellectual level.  And it ignores facts.  

I hope Tennessee turns things back to "Parent 1" and "Parent 2" for the sake of being more current with the times and at least in sheer recognition that there's a different family dynamic now than just "Mother" and "Father."  Regardless of my personal beliefs on the issue, I tend to think that the best course of action than to worry about the backlash from institutions which believe it's morally wrong and detrimental to children without producing concrete evidence supporting their position.  

Because absent that, it's just outrage trumping facts, and we've got enough of that already.