Gay Parents

  The issue of gay rights has been at the front of the political debate recently. One aspect of the debate is whether or gay couples should be allowed to adopt and raise children. The issue of parenting is a major focus of mine and so the issue of gay parenting is also a issue I take great interest in. There seems to me to be no reason why homosexual couples should not be allowed to have and adopt children if they choose to.

  An article in the Journal of Marriage and Family written by Charlotte J. Patterson, points out that although there are a few differences between homosexual parents and heterosexual parents the affects on the children are slight and in most cases none factors. Children of homosexual couples are well developed socially and psychologically. They also have just as much interaction with adult members of both sex and with grandparents as do there counterparts raised by heterosexual parents.

  Since there is little differences between children raised by homosexuals and heterosexuals let me take some time to break down the arguments for not allowing homosexuals to adopt and why the social research does not agree with them.

1. Children need both a father and a mother to properly develop. This is one of the most common arguments against allowing homosexual adoptions. It however, could not be further from the truth. All current research shows that children raised by homosexual parents grow up to be just as well adjusted as children from heterosexual parents. This argument was seen to be correct before any research had been done on children of homosexuals but now that there is empirical data we know it to be false.

2. Children raised by homosexuals are more likely to be homosexual themselves. This is one of the most outrageous arguments, because not only is it false but even if it were true I do not belive it would be a valid argument. Even if children of homosexual parents were more likely to be gay that alone would not be enough to say that homosexuals should not raise children. Many people are homosexual and live perfectly happy and productive lives. The fact that it is not true makes it all the worse of an argument. Fact is there is no statistical difference between children of homosexual and heterosexual couples being gay themselves.
3. Some areas of life cannot be legislated for and must be left to individual conscience. A sufficiently large minority simply find gay parenting ‘wrong’; the practice therefore should not be enforced on all. This is a simple one to respond to. We legislate all the time against a minority of the people. We legislate immigration issues even though many see it as wrong, we legislate abortion (especially at the state level) even though a minority see banning it as wrong, and we legislate gun control, even though so see any legislation restricting guns as wrong.
4. Homosexuals are more likely to abuse their children. This one took me a while to find any evidence one way or the other. However the facts are against it. This argument stems from an old anti-gay argument that being gay leads to pedophilia. The fact is the vast majority of heterosexual parented homes are loving nurturing environment. Homosexual parents are no more or less likely to be abusive in any way.
5. Homosexuality is unnatural and there for should not be given the same privileges as heterosexual couples. May I remind anyone using this argument that 30 years ago this same argument was used against inter-racial couples, and has since been widly accepted as wrong. I would argue that the same is true in this case. People making this argument are grasping at straws and using anything they can think of to force their own bias on others.

  All in all I think that the bulk of facts is on the side for homosexual adoption and parenting. There is no long term effects on the children and no statistical difference between children of homosexuals or heterosexual.