9-pound, 5-ounce Susan Juliette Beatie was born a few weeks ago. That name likely means nothing to you. But it means a whole helluva lot for Thomas Beatie, the man who gave birth to her.

In case you haven’t yet heard the story - and that would be surprising, given that it’s been a feature in many magazines, newspapers, and TV shows - Thomas Beatie was born a woman, but legally became a man ten years ago, opting for top surgery (removal of the breasts) and testosterone treatments. He did not, however, mess around at all with his reproductive organs because he knew he wanted to have a child one day.

“It’s not a male or female desire to have a child. It’s a human desire,” Beatie said in an interview on Oprah. And after a perfectly normal pregnancy, Beatie got his wish.

Of course, something like this is bound to spark off huge debates about “naturalness” and morality. Take a look at some of the comments I’ve found:

“I think if he wanted to have a baby, he should have stayed a woman, this is nothing but, a drama queen wanting attention. What is this going to prove to his unborn child?”

“This is not a man, it is a woman who is pretending to be a man. She has a vagina, not a penis or any facsimile there of, she cannot produce sperm she is a woman who wants to look like a man.”

“THIS IS STILL BIOLOGICALLY A WOMAN!!! SHE still has her womanly parts!! If this person wanted to truly be a man SHE would have had the complete sex change.”

“The person in question is very much a FEMALE, with female reproductive organs in place. So nothing much worth making a noise…. Females do get pregnant…. don’t they ?”

And, straight from the MSNBC newsroom: “I’m gonna be sick. I am going to be sick … If he’s the mother, who’s the father?” and “That was not only stupid and useless, but, quite frankly, disgusting.”

I’m not going to lie: it’s extremely difficult to find any positive quotes about this except from the parents themselves and, well, Oprah.

Now, from my perspective, as a supporter of the whole gay marriage/parenting thing, I have no doubt that Beatie and his wife (as they are legally married as a man and a woman) have the potential to be wonderful parents. However, I’m wondering how this is going to affect the gay parenting movement in the long run. I’m also a little confused as to how a woman who feels as though she is inherently a man, and has gone through lengths to create a pseudo-masculine body and become legally recognized as a male, considers giving birth to a child as not having any effect on her supposed male inclinations. Men - that is, men who were born male - do not naturally have a supposed need to carry and give birth to children; at least, this is the case with every man I have known.

I don’t know; I guess I’m just a little befuddled by this whole thing. I’m glad the child is healthy and that the parents are ecstatic about the new addition to their family, and, contrary to many right-wing fanatics, I’m sure the child will grow up and mature into a properly-functioning adult, but even in this relatively open-minded era, this all seems a bit too ‘out there,’ even for me.

I had the pleasure of meeting Lauryn from the latest installment of A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila on Saturday night over at The L Bar in Sayreville. Incidentally, I didn’t approach her; she plopped herself down at my table and said, “I’m hiding from my ex,” in kind of a stage whisper.

Those of us at the table immediately started saying things like “you look really familiar” until she finally admitted to having been on the show.

She seemed cool enough; we were in the basement of the club, which is pretty loud, and honestly she seemed a little embarrassed that we had all watched the show. Turns out her opinion of Tila is pretty much the same as mine, and I’ll leave it at that.

I still haven’t managed to run into Jay - aka “JERSEY!,” aka one of the most hilarious characters - but then again, I’m not so sure we frequent the same places, him being a straight, hard-drinkin’, good ol’ boy from north Jersey after all. Honestly, I just want to hear him say “JERSEY!” in real life anyway.

I’ve been stressing out this week, and working quite long hours, organizing myself after my boss’s departure from the company, and preparing myself for the day-long marketing coordination meetings that have been held the past two days.  All of the people involved are extremely intelligent and on top of their game, so I had to make sure I was on the ball with everything.  Whew.  This was just a planning session for the summer, but, man, there is a lot going on the next few months.  Looking forward to those long hours and trips out to Portland and San Francisco!

We held the meeting at the Molly Pitcher Inn in Red Bank this morning, finishing out the offsite with a casual lunch on the beach in Sandy Hook.  It was nice and relaxed, the best way to end a meeting, and though I was told I could take the rest of the day off, I figured I’d get a head start on next week by coming into the office for a couple of hours.

Also … happy Pride month, for those of you who celebrate!  Had a mostly fabulous time at New Jersey Pride last weekend.  The weather could not have been better, a vast improvement over last year’s torrential downpours, and surprisingly Circuit wasn’t too mobbed for the after-party.  Good times.

Poor Sirbrina Guerrero. First Tila nixes her from the altogether entertaining A Shot at Love II on MTV, and now she’s getting attacked at a Seattle Mariners game.

ABC News reported last week that Sirbrina and her ladyfriend were reprimanded by stadium officials after they “exchang[ed] pecks” in the stands and a mother attending the game with her young son complained. According to Safeco Field, “staff will proactively intervene to support an environment where guests can enjoy the Safeco Field experience free from unacceptable behavior, including … displays of affection not appropriate in a family setting.”

Funny how no one says anything when straight people participate in PDA.

The article said, “Washington passed a law in 2006 that specifically bans discrimination of same-sex couples in any public setting,” but I’m not seeing that in place here if a bit of ‘affectionate kissing’ leads to an ultimatum: stop kissing or leave the park.

I just don’t understand why it’s been so cold/windy/rainy lately. This doesn’t seem like nearly-summer weather at all!  I’m hoping that today is warmer.

I am officially twenty-five years old now. Time to grow up and start being responsible, I guess. And what timing, too, with my boss leaving the company this coming Friday! Things have been crazy-busy at work this week as we try to transition, in the smoothest way possible, all of his responsibilities to me, our CEO, and our PR firm. I am now 100% in charge of trade shows and web events, and will have a large piece of lead generation development along with my usual day-to-day activities. It’s going to be time-consuming and stressful, and I’m looking forward to it immensely.

Meg took me to a Yankees game last Thursday as my birthday present.  Though the first, well, eight innings were rather uneventful, the last inning was fantastic, which included a hissy fit from the coach as well as a last-second line drive that pushed the Yankees 2-1 over Baltimore.  And I hate the Orioles, so that was totally cool with me.  It was also Fleet Week last week, so there were people in military uniforms everywhere - total flashback to that Sex and the City episode (and I am so excited for the movie, by the way).  We ended up getting off the subway early to walk twenty blocks through Times Square, just to experience the city a little more, and ran into a drunk homeless guy who planted a wet kiss on my cheek (I washed my face three times later that night) and grabbed onto me and Meg, whispering, “Do you guys want to taste some chocolate?”  (He happened to be black.)  Frightening.  Meg looked like she was ready to punch him.

I went down to Virginia this past weekend to celebrate my birthday alongside my dad, who shares the same. After cooking a massive, heart-attack-inducing breakfast with her boyfriend for everyone, my sister took us to Top Golf in Alexandria, which has a driving range that actually scores your shots so that you can play versus other people. I officially have forgotten anything I learned from those golfing lessons I took back in high school, but at least the weather was beautiful and everyone had a good time. We had a BBQ later in the day on the grill that my sister and I bought for Dad, and PS, cayenne pepper in a burger is amazing.

My sister had her own barbeque at her house on Sunday and we pretty much just chilled there all night. In all, it was a low-key weekend, which is precisely what I needed, and the weather was just amazing.

I’m hoping to make an appearance at New Jersey Pride this weekend in Asbury Park.  Meg’s working until three that day, and our friend Chris is at school up in Connecticut, so unfortunately the Tripod will not live the excitement together of two years past, but it should still turn out to be a good time regardless.

Plus, my best friend from junior year of high school, AK the Swede, is coming for a visit next week!  So excited.  I haven’t seen her since February of 2002.  She’ll be in New York City for the weekend, and then head down to Virginia to stay with her host family from when she was an exchange student with AFS.  I’ll undoubtedly go down to Virginia again when she’s there so that we can have a mini-reunion with our mutual high school friends.

Speaking of high school, Madison is number 151 on Newsweek’s list of the top public high schools in the country, down from 141 last year.  Still, that’s not bad!