LGBT Parenting
The Kids are Alright: New Studies Prove Same-Sex Parents Rock
Published November 17, 2009 @ 08:13AM PT
Having finally accepted the fact that good Christian heterosexuals sometimes produce gay offspring (I'm talking to you, Cheney), the world must now face another social science truth: gay parents are perfectly capable of producing happy, well-adjusted, predominantly heterosexual kids. A new book by psychologist Abbie E. Goldberg, PhD., reveals that (spoiler alert!) same-sex parents don't totally mess up their kids.
In fact, studies show that girls raised by same-sex parents are more likely to want to be doctors and lawyers (30 percent more aspire to such jobs than their mom-and-dad-raised counterparts), while boys--well, boys still feel they can be anything they want. Lesbian mothers (the data on gay dads is currently limited) raise kids who play with both dolls and trucks and, in general, ignore all those years of social conditioning regarding gender roles.
Why Would Scholastic Book Fairs Ban Books With Same-Sex Parents in Them?
Published October 23, 2009 @ 09:32PM PT
You have to wonder why an organization dedicated to getting students to read would decide to make censorship such an important part of their work. You also have to wonder why one of the leading organizations dedicated to helping students learn would decide to wallop a giant blow of discrimination toward gay and lesbian families and children of same-sex parents.
But that's what Scholastic Books is doing by banning a book from its book fairs simply for the fact that the book contains a girl character who has two lesbian moms. The book in question is Lauren Myracle's book Luv Ya Bunches, a new book that wittingly covers the trials, tribulations and friendships that a group of young girls go through in school.
Scholastic offered to carry the book provided that Myracle edited it to change the fact that one of the characters has two mommies. In other words, they wanted to give the girl a heterosexual family. Myracle refused, since she actually has the chutzpah that Scholastic Books tactlessly lacks. Here's what Myracle said (h/t Mombian):
“A child having same-sex parents is not offensive, in my mind, and shouldn’t be ‘cleaned up.’” says Myracle, adding that the book fair subsequently decided not to take on Luv Ya Bunches because they wanted to avoid letters of complaint from parents. “I find that appalling. I understand why they would want to avoid complaint letters—no one likes getting hated on—but shouldn’t they be willing to evaluate the quality of the complaint? What, exactly, are children being protected against here?”
“Over 200,000 kids in America are raised by same-sex parents, just like Milla. It’s not an issue to clean up or hide away,” says Myracle. “In my opinion, it’s not an ‘issue’ at all. The issue, as I see it, is that kids benefit hugely from seeing themselves reflected positively in the books they read. It’s an extremely empowering and validating experience.”
She's exactly right. Same-sex families shouldn't be edited out of books simply to pacify a minority of anti-gay voices. It's appalling that Scholastic Book Fairs would cater to this type of thinking. This is an organization dedicated to higher learning for students. Instead, they're catering to an agenda that seeks to hide students from a undeniable reality in this world: many children have same-sex parents, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
You can take action now by signing this petition to Scholastic Books' Senior Manager of Communications (for Book Fairs), as well as their VP of Corporate Communications and President. The actions of Scholastic Books affirms a message that something is wrong with gay or lesbian parents. If you disagree -- and we hope you do -- send them a message now.
(Photo courtesy of PlayfulLibrarian's photostream on Flickr.)
Happy Family Day, LGBT Families
Published September 28, 2009 @ 01:39PM PT
Today is Family Day, a national awareness day to talk about the importance of sitting down with your kids over dinner and engaging in their lives in constructive, positive ways. The White Hosue issued a proclamation about the day, and for the first time in history, LGBT families were included in an official White House statement.
"Whether children are raised by two parents, a single parent, grandparents, a same-sex couple, or a guardian, families encourage us to do our best and enable us to accomplish great things," the White House said.
Cool. And nicely timed with this study, published in this month's Adoption Quarterly, which says yet again that children who are raised by gay parents grow up to be just as well balanced as children raised by heterosexual parents.
Or, in other words, families are good for children no matter if they're LGBT or straight. That's something experts get. And now, for the first time, it seems that it's something that the White House gets, too.
The Rise of the "Gaybe" Boom
Published August 04, 2009 @ 07:53AM PT
Twenty percent of gay and lesbian couples have children under 18, which has led researchers to come up with a term to describe this generation of kids. They're not Gen X, Gen Y, or Millennials, but rather children of "The Gaybe Boom," or "The Gaybe Boom generation."
And this generation of kids are just as well balanced and healthy as children of heterosexual parents. That's according to data collected as part of the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study, a 23-year study out of the University of California, San Francisco, which found that children of same-sex parents have an even deeper appreciation for diversity and social justice. Here's what Dr. Nanette Gartrell told ABC News about children of the "Gaybe" boom:
Most offspring of same-sex parents are heterosexual as adults. By the time our study kids were 10 years old, they demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of diversity and tolerance, and an appreciation of the destructive effects of discrimination.
The ABC News story here is an interesting read behind LGBT parenting - both from the perspective of children being raised by same-sex parents, and by parents who struggle with a culture that all-too-quickly assumes that a child has a mother and a father rather than two moms or two dads. Is the phenomenon of LGBT parenting transforming gay culture?
Perhaps, at least according to Johann Hari, a writer for the UK's Independent Newspaper. Here's his thoughts:
This is all part of a slow shift that is transforming gay culture. During the twentieth century, our battle was to find a place of our own where we could be safely different, and recover some shreds of self-esteem. After millennia of being told our difference was a sickness, we needed a moment to celebrate that difference.
But after that was achieved, our goal changed. We started to realise - once we had the space - that we are actually very similar to our straight siblings. We have the same desire for stability and home-building as everyone else. Our tune changed from "I Am What I Am" to "I Am What You Are." We wanted enough basic equality to have everything straight people have. It started with demands for marriage - and the logical next step is children.
There's a tinge of sarcasm in Hari's comments, and certainly not every LGBT person (just like not every straight person) is looking to settle down and raise a family. But the point is that for those who are choosing to have children (whether biologically or through adoption), those children are turning out just as well balanced and normal as the offspring of heterosexual parents.
In the wake of last November's fracas in Arkanasas, where the state eliminated the right of gay and lesbian parents to adopt children, it's important to reiterate that message. Children of same-sex parents, despite what the state of Arkansas thought, are not a threat.
And neither are LGBT parents.
LGBT Parents are Not a Threat to their Adopted Children
Published July 01, 2009 @ 01:36PM PT
The radical right in this country certainly does like to scapegoat LGBT parents whenever some sort of controversy comes up. Case in point, a story out of Durham, North Carolina where a very, very troubled individual, Frank Lombard, was arrested for inviting another man to travel to North Carolina in order to molest his adopted 5-year-old son. Change.org's excellent Human Trafficking blogger, Amanda Kloer, has more on the case here.
The right-wing in this country, led by Christian News Wire and the Grassroots Network of the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV Network), are seeking to take this case and use it as a means of bashing gay adoption. Because, you see, the parent in question happened to be gay. Already, here's what folks with those two groups have had to say about the Lombard case:
RPV Network: The question remains whether this pattern of child sexual abuse and male homosexuals will be seen as a validation of some studies which suggest that homosexual men are more than 40 times more likely than the general population to molest.
Christian News Wire: (With the headline, no less, of: "Lombard Demonstrates Why Gays Should Not be Allowed to Adopt") The on-line rape of his 5-year-old adopted son by Duke University's openly-gay, Frank Lombard, is no anomaly. Instead, Lombard's molestation fits the pattern that emerged in the latest review of the...literature about gay fathers.
It's downright disgusting that these right-wing organizations are seeking to turn this tragic case into a referendum on LGBT adoption. Leave it to the right-wing in this country to turn exploitation into...well, more exploitation.
Frank Lombard's case is tragic. His actions are disgusting (if they are true), as very few things are more repugnant than child molestation and human trafficking. But this is not a case about gay adoption. This is a case about a disturbed man failing on every level as a parent.
To make this a case about LGBT adoption, like Christian News Wire and the social networking site of the Republican Party of Virginia are doing, is a grotesque move of political theater. It would be like saying, "Because Governor Mark Sanford cheated on his wife, conservative Christians shouldn't be allowed to get married." (Or travel to Argentina...or whatever absurd comment you want to put here.)
Every mainstream scientific study out there asserts that LGBT people are extremely well qualified to be parents, and every mainstream study demonstrates that children who grow up in LGBT homes are just as balanced as children who grow up in straight homes.
That's important to remember, especially as radical conservative groups in this country seek to spin the Lombard case into a debate over gay adoption.
(Photo courtesy of (addict2pics)'s photostream on Flickr!)
