The Rise of the "Gaybe" Boom

by Michael A. Jones

categories: LGBT Adoption, LGBT Parenting, LGBT Rights and Politics, LGBT Youth

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.