Pediatrics Report on Gay Parents: Two Thumbs Up

By: PM
Published On: 8/10/2006 8:14:42 PM

This may be of interest to those who plan on advocating the defeat of the anti-gay amendment which will be voted on this fall. A July 2006 report in the medical journal Pediatrics has interesting and helpful things to say about gay parents.  It states:

+óGé¼-ó +óGé¼+ôChildren born to and raised by lesbian couples seem to develop in ways that are indistinguishable from children raised by heterosexual parents.  http://pediatrics.aa...
+óGé¼-ó +óGé¼+ôIn fact, growing up with parents who are lesbian or gay may confer some advantages to children. They have been described as more tolerant of diversity and more nurturing toward younger children than children whose parents are heterosexual. +óGé¼-¥ 
+óGé¼-ó +óGé¼+ôMore than 25 years of research have documented that there is no relationship between parents' sexual orientation and any measure of a child's emotional, psychosocial, and behavioral adjustment. These data have demonstrated no risk to children as a result of growing up in a family with 1 or more gay parents.+óGé¼-¥
+óGé¼-ó +óGé¼+ôGay and lesbian people have been raising children for many years and will continue to do so in the future; the issue is whether these children will be raised by parents who have the rights, benefits, and protections of civil marriage.+óGé¼-¥ 

  Any concerned about protecting children should read the proposed anti-gay marriage amendment carefully.  Here+óGé¼Gäós the critical language: 

  "This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage. Nor shall this Commonwealth or its political subdivisions create or recognize another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage."

Does that mean, for example, that once a heterosexual couple is divorced a woman could never get a court to order a deadbeat dad to pay his child support?  Or get a court to modify a custody decree?  After a divorce, the ex-couple fits the definition of +óGé¼+ôunmarried individuals.+óGé¼-¥  Child support and custody decrees in fact seek +óGé¼+ôto approximate the design +óGé¼-ª of marriage.+óGé¼-¥  And if the fears of this retired lawyer prove correct, it will take years to undo the mess because we+óGé¼Gäóll have to re-amend the state constitution.

 

Comments



Thank you so much for this post (Doug Garnett-Deakin - 8/10/2006 9:41:43 PM)
I have many gay friends, and family, and know from their relationships all of this to be true, but it is so nice to see in reputable, socio-scientific publications. I know I've gone back and forth on this with some of the conservatives who for some reason think this is a "debate" site, but the Virginia amendment and the Federal Marriage Amendment are articles to codify hate. Two of my friends, together for 10 years with a child, have to hear from society that their life is "wrong" plain and simple, though they are both professionals (doctors no less!), stable, in love, tax paying (much more so than I am judging from their McMansion!) and raising a beautiful and caring son. My God, in this day and age how can you say to loving people like this- sorry you were born the way you were, but the way you are is wrong and should be spelled out in our laws as such. Both amendments are at base shameful, shameful, shameful.


You should post this over as dkos too (Doug Garnett-Deakin - 8/10/2006 9:51:02 PM)
And other national sites.


Charlotte Patterson (Kathy Gerber - 8/11/2006 4:04:11 PM)
Just a quick note to acknowledge excellent work done by the home team:

http://www.apa.org/p...



Thanks for the citation. Another point --- (PM - 8/11/2006 9:48:07 PM)
Thanks for that APA citation.

I cannot remember the citation, but a few weeks ago one of the more well known blogs had an article in which the author looked at the biographies of some of our most notable evangelical leaders.  What a horror.  Over-the-top abuse.  And this group criticizes gay parenting. 

Here's one reference I did find, to Falwell's upbringing, at http://lippard.blogs...  Go to the link for other amazing stories on Falwell's upbringing.

From Strength for the Journey: An Autobiography by Jerry Falwell (1987, Simon and Schuster), pp. 49-50:

There were times that Dad's pranks bordered on cruelty. One of his oil company workers, a one-legged man he nicknamed "Crip" Smith, complained about everything. Dad and Crip's co-workers got tired of the old man's bellyaching and decided to take revenge. One morning Crip called in sick and Dad volunteered to send by lunch to his grateful but suspicious employee. Dad and his chums caught Crip's old black tomcat, killed it, skinned it, and cooked it in the kitchen of one of Dad's little restaurants. They called it squirrel meat and delivered it to Crip on a linen-covered tray. When Crip returned to work the next morning, Dad and his co-conspirators asked him how he liked his meal. They knew he would complain even about a free home-cooked lunch, and when Crip called it "the toughest squirrel meat" he had ever eaten, they were glad to tell him why.

  Bordered on cruelty?



Let's Write Some Letters (lauralib - 8/12/2006 5:03:11 PM)
The Connection Newspaper chain that covers northern Virginia just had an editorial against the "Hate Amendment."  http://www.connectio...

Let's write in some letters in the next few weeks showing our solidarity with the gay community.  If you go to http://www.connectio... you can see where to send the letter.  It has many different local editions, so pick the one that serves your area, e.g., centreview covers Chantilly and Centreville.