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GREG MARZULLO
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Flowers, brunches and even jewelry are all standard gifts for mom on her special day, but Josh Kennedy-Noce, a fourth grade student at Francis Scott Key Elementary in Northwest D.C., did one better for his two moms—he wrote an essay taking a stand on gay marriage and families.
During the first week of April, Josh came home and told one of his mothers, Kristy Kennedy, that his school was partaking in the Global Harmony for Personal Excellence essay contest, an annual essay-writing contest for D.C. public school students ranging from the fourth through ninth grades. This year’s theme is about injustice.
"I asked him ‘What do you think is an injustice in your life,’" says Kennedy, 39. "He said, ‘How about that you and mom don’t have that paper from the government? The fact that you can’t get married.’ I was really kind of shocked."
Kennedy’s partner of 13 years, Ginger Noce, says she was inspired by her son’s choice and the way in which he expressed his thoughts about their family.
"It was heart warming," says Noce, 44. "There are kids like ours who can change the world."
JOSH’S ROAD FROM his birth in Russia to life in the United States was a sad one.
"My birth parents were blinded in an accident at the factory where they worked," Josh writes in his essay entry. "When I was about 10 months old, my birth parents took me to an orphanage because they couldn’t take care of me. They tried for over four years to find a way to bring me home but couldn’t make it work."
That’s where Kennedy and Noce stepped in. In June of 2000, the couple went to Russia to adopt children. They moved from their home in Old Town Alexandria to Northwest D.C. because Noce says the couple didn’t want to raise children as a lesbian couple in Virginia.
The couple adopted Josh and Zach from the same orphanage, although the two boys are not biologically related. At the time, Josh was four and Zach was 13 months old.
Two years later, Noce and Kennedy returned to Russia and adopted Madison, when she was 15 months old, and in his essay, Josh has his own way of couching the adoption of his younger sister.
"Since my moms are such loving parents they decided to go back to Russia and get us a sister," he writes.
David Landeryou, the principal at the children’s school, reflected a similar sentiment about the love shown by Noce and Kennedy toward their children.
"When you’ve got supportive parents, it’s going to be a successful family," says Landeryou. "That’s a tribute to Ginger and Kristy and their parenting."
BOTH NOCE AND KENNEDY expressed surprise at the concentration and vigor Josh put into his essay.
"He typed it out in two days which is very unusual for him," says Kennedy, who works a regional sales manager for a retirement community. After getting out of the shower one morning, Kennedy says Josh beckoned her over to his laptop.
"I went over there and read [the essay] and could not believe what he had written," says Kennedy. His position on the validity of gay families came through loud and clear.
"My moms don’t have legal documents from the states as proof that they are married even though they had a commitment ceremony," Josh writes. "My family is the same as everybody else’s. The only difference is that I have two moms."
Josh’s strong words have inspired Noce to remain open about her sexual orientation, she says. Her job as a national program manager for FedEx/Kinko’s forces her to travel frequently, and although she and Kennedy are out in D.C. in all aspects of their lives, casual conversation in airplanes can be cause for some anxiety.
"You get into general conversations," Noce says. "People say, ‘By the way, what does your husband do?’ There’s that moment where you consider, ‘Is it important or not important that I’m forthcoming with a stranger?’"
After an especially travel-heavy week chock-full of these interactions, Noce says she came home and read her son’s essay.
"His openness and honesty — being forthcoming with people he didn’t know — that was very powerful," Noce says. "There is nothing wrong with us."
Josh’s sense of his family as a normal one comes through strongly in his essay.
"My family deserves the same rights as everybody else," he writes, and his essay, although not a winner in the contest, is proving powerful to friends of the family as well as total strangers.
Kennedy and Noce say they’ve passed Josh’s essay around to friends via e-mail, and in turn, those friends have passed it on to others.
"He’s started his own little movement," Noce says, adding that both she and her partner are still deeply touched by the central message of Josh’s essay.
"I am happy that I have two loving parents that love me for who I am," Josh writes. "All you need is love and compassion to make a happy family."
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