Comments Dad Camp‘s Dr. Jeff Gardere made last week on CNN (where he frequents as an on-air expert) regarding a mother who allowed her son to dress up as a female character from Scooby Doo sparked an outrage. Dr. Jeff took the woman to task for “outing” her son, and said, “It is the worst nightmare of heterosexual and gay couples to have to fathom that their child might be gay.” Soon after, Dr. Jeff spoke to the gay blog After Elton, to clarify:
“What the full statement should have been and what I always say because I do work with straight and gay parents, it is a real issue for them because they are afraid, and this is the part I didn’t say and what I should have said, and you can go back and research it and you’ll see that I’ve said it in every other place. And that is my fault and I accept complete responsibility for not saying that. Those parents, even gay parents say it, as controversial as that will sound, do not want their children to have to deal with the pain and the isolation and a lot of the emotional trauma that they have to go through as far as coming to terms with their sexuality. They know that they went through it and they prefer that their kids not go through it. And that’s what the full statement should have been.”
Additionally, Dr. Jeff repeatedly emphasized the responsibility he’s taking for his words and said that he was not out to shame the mother in question: “It was never my intention to criticize this mother. I think what she did as far as supporting her child and allowing him to express himself in anyway possible is 100 percent admirable. I think at this point in our history this is what more people need to be able to do, to step up in that way.” [After Elton via Towleroad]
Dr. Jeff reunited the Dad Camp couples to find out what’s happened since the show. Most of what’s happened is adorable: As predicted, Aaron and Shell are strong as ever and planning their wedding, Donta has become a better and better father, and, Wes — who finished with the second highest point total — doesn’t feel like second place:
He’s the world’s greatest dad. So great that he’s already taken his son to visit outer space, as this photo from their vacation shows.
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Witnessing the miracle of birth isn’t as good as witnessing a pregnant couple imagining the miracle of birth.
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Psychologist, author and regularly televised expert Dr. Jeff Gardere‘s latest venture is VH1 Dad Camp, in which he takes on the challenge of preparing six young men headed down the road to deadbeat fatherhood, for a responsible, involved approach to parenting. Dr. Jeff will be checking in with us every week to comment on each episode of Dad Camp. Below are his thoughts on Episode 8, our finale of sorts (until, of course, next week’s reunion), throwing Elliott out of the program and where the couples ended up…
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When Dr. Jeff first said this episode was about the dads pursuing their dreams, I was like …
…because their dreams could involve not being at Dad Camp. But by the end I was more like…
But they (mostly) did great. I’d trust them with my baby haircut any day!
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Psychologist, author and regularly televised expert Dr. Jeff Gardere‘s latest venture is VH1 Dad Camp, in which he takes on the challenge of preparing six young men headed down the road to deadbeat fatherhood, for a responsible, involved approach to parenting. Dr. Jeff will be checking in with us every week to comment on each episode of Dad Camp. Below are his thoughts on Episode 7, which was all about the couples’ dream futures…
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Psychologist, author and regularly televised expert Dr. Jeff Gardere‘s latest venture is VH1 Dad Camp, in which he takes on the challenge of preparing six young men headed down the road to deadbeat fatherhood, for a responsible, involved approach to parenting. Dr. Jeff will be checking in with us every week to comment on each episode of Dad Camp. Below are his thoughts on Episode 6, including sex in a reality TV house, the couples’ dates and Candace and Austin’s early departure.
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