The consensus from a flurry of recent studies has been that children raised by same-sex couples are no worse off than kids raised by straight parents. In the August issue [Vol. 14, Issue 3] of the journal Applied Developmental Science, University of Virginia and George Washington researchers who studied preschoolers adopted at birth by lesbian, gay male and heterosexual couples concluded that the sexual orientation of the parents has nothing to do with the psychological health of the child. It's the quality of the parenting that counts.
Other studies have found that children raised by gay or lesbian parents show more empathy for social diversity and are more likely to defy gender stereotypes in their play and job aspirations.
Where kids suffer, then, is not being raised by gay parents, but in grappling with teasing, gay slurs dropped in casual conversation and the social messages that their families are less valid than others.
“The reason that kids of LGBTQ parents need support isn’t because they have gay parents, it’s because they have gay parents in a homophobic society,” said Fakhrid-Deen, who from 2001-2008 ran the Chicago chapter of COLAGE, Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere, a national organization that connects the kids of gay parents so they can share their experiences.
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Competent Parenting Doesn’t Require “Traditional Marriage”
• New Studies: Gay Couples as Committed as Straight Couples
• One Catholic Gay Parent Who Isn’t Leaving the Church
• Stephanie Coontz on the Changing Face of “Traditional Marriage”
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