Why Dolly Parton Doesn't Regret Never Having Kids
— -- Don't you dare pass judgment in front of Dolly Parton. The country singer says she'll have none of that, especially when it comes to people judging someone's sexual orientation.
When asked about Dollywood - a Tennessee theme park owned by the 68-year-old singer - and how it attracts both church groups and a large following from the LGBT community, Parton told Billboard magazine, "It's a place for entertainment, a place for all families, period."
She continued, "It's for all that. But as far as the Christians, if people want to pass judgment, they're already sinning. The sin of judging is just as bad as any other sin they might say somebody else is committing. I try to love everybody."
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Parton added that she loves her fans from the LGBT community.
"They know that I completely love and accept them, as I do all people," she said. "I've struggled enough in my life to be appreciated and understood. I've had to go against all kinds of people through the years just to be myself. I think everybody should be allowed to be who they are, and to love who they love. I don't think we should be judgmental. Lord, I've got enough problems of my own to pass judgment on somebody else."
Parton, who released her 42nd studio album "Blue Smoke" this year, also touched on the fact that she doesn't regret not ever having children.
"No. I used to think I should regret it. Early on, when my husband and I were dating, and then when we got married, we just assumed we would have kids," she said of her 48-year marriage to Carl Dean. "We weren't doing anything to stop it. In fact, we thought maybe we would. We even had names if we did, but it didn't turn out that way."
Parton added, "Now I say, 'God didn't mean for me to have kids so everybody's kids could be mine.' I'm very close to my family -- five of my younger brothers and sisters lived with me and Carl for many years -- and we're very close to our nieces and nephews. Now that Carl and I are older, we often say, 'Aren't you glad we didn't have kids? Now we don't have kids to worry about.'"
