Gay Parents Better Than Straight Parents?

[Mayhem]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/16/gay-parents-better-than-straights_n_1208659.html

Gay marriage, and especially gay parenting, has been in the cross hairs in recent days.

On Jan. 6, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum told a New Hampshire audience that children are better off with a father in prison than being raised in a home with lesbian parents and no father at all. And last Monday (Jan. 9), Pope Benedict called gay marriage a threat "to the future of humanity itself," citing the need for children to have heterosexual homes.

But research on families headed by gays and lesbians doesn't back up these dire assertions. In fact, in some ways, gay parents may bring talents to the table that straight parents don't.

Gay parents "tend to be more motivated, more committed than heterosexual parents on average, because they chose to be parents," said Abbie Goldberg, a psychologist at Clark University in Massachusetts who researches gay and lesbian parenting. Gays and lesbians rarely become parents by accident, compared with an almost 50 percent accidental pregnancy rate among heterosexuals, Goldberg said. "That translates to greater commitment on average and more involvement."

Gay adoption recently caused controversy in Illinois, where Catholic Charities adoption services decided in November to cease offering services because the state refused funding unless the groups agreed not to discriminate against gays and lesbians. Rather than comply, Catholic Charities closed up shop.

Catholic opposition aside, research suggests that gay and lesbian parents are actually a powerful resource for kids in need of adoption. According to a 2007 report by the Williams Institute and the Urban Institute, 65,000 kids were living with adoptive gay parents between 2000 and 2002, with another 14,000 in foster homes headed by gays and lesbians. (There are currently more than 100,000 kids in foster care in the U.S.)

An October 2011 report by Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute found that, of gay and lesbian adoptions at more than 300 agencies, 10 percent of the kids placed were older than 6 — typically a very difficult age to adopt out. About 25 percent were older than 3. Sixty percent of gay and lesbian couples adopted across races, which is important given that minority children in the foster system tend to linger. More than half of the kids adopted by gays and lesbians had special needs.

The bottom line, Stacey said, is that people who say children need both a father and a mother in the home are misrepresenting the research, most of which compares children of single parents to children of married couples. Two good parents are better than one good parent, Stacey said, but one good parent is better than two bad parents. And gender seems to make no difference. While you do find broad differences between how men and women parent on average, she said, there is much more diversity within the genders than between them.

"Two heterosexual parents of the same educational background, class, race and religion are more like each other in the way they parent than one is like all other women and one is like all other men," she said.

Much more at the above link.

 

[PirateKing]

I wonder if Santorum knows what it's like to have an absent parent. Or maybe he's just pulling this out of his gaping santorum-filled asshole.

 

[squallumz]

anyone wanna be my gay dad?

 

[PirateKing]

anyone wanna be my gay dad?

I doubt many of the members here are looking to be dads.

 

[squallumz]

I doubt many of the members here are looking to be dads.

but what about GAY dads?

 

[PirateKing]

but what about GAY dads?

Why would you want a gay dad when you can have a prison dad?

 

[Petra]

Squally, I'm sure Pirate and Stan can be your gay sugar daddies.

 

[Rattrap]

Ah, good find. I posted some more research/links agreeing with this conclusion in this thread over here.

Just another hole in the arguments of the religious social conservative. :thumbsup:

 

[draken]

Ah, Catholic Charities adoption service, denying children a chance at a loving home, how charitable of them.

 

[Will E Worm]

but what about GAY dads?

No, they do not make good parents.

 

[Sam Fisher]

Ideally, a child needs a mother and a father. Not, a mother and a mother. And not, a father and a father.

 

[Rattrap]

Ah, here we go again.

No, they do not make good parents.

False. Evidence shows otherwise. See OP and my link to said evidence. Or Google. Hell, do anything other than stick your fingers in your ears while chanting 'Not listening not listening not listening!' I know you've got a reputation for that, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

Ideally, a child needs a mother and a father. Not, a mother and a mother. And not, a father and a father.

By what criteria do you mean 'ideally'? Because by many of the commonly accepted criteria for a child's success, two mothers or two fathers are just as good as a heterosexual couple.

 

[Hondarobot]

Is Sam Fisher mentally retarded? I don't want to discriminate, so I'm just asking. . .

What kid actually cares about their parents gender or sexual orientation? It's a somewhat complicated issue, and I do know a few people raised by same sex couples who have issues with the situation. I also know several hundred people raised by conventionally gender-paired parents, and many of them have issues as well.

There are also rumors that blacks and whites are raising children, just so you know. If the gays and the "cross racial" people team up, there could be "Mulatto Bisexuals" in the future!

:surprise:

 

[Mayhem]

Anyone who thinks you can pre-fabricate a happy home is full of shit. The neighborhood I grew up in was right out of the TV shows of the time. Mainicured lawns and hegdges, upper middle class, two (heterosexual) parents per household. 2 suicides, 3 bonafide drug addicts, criminal and punk behavior on a daily basis. So tell me, how was this possible by your uber-Christian templates?

 

[Supafly]

anyone wanna be my gay dad?

How about an absent-online-curious-dad?

And as a bonus, we both are into Dungeons&Dragons

 

[Crazy4theBrat]

Are gay parents better than straight parents? I guess it depends on how you think a child should be "reared".

 

[Ace Boobtoucher]

I dunno, the majority of kids that I've met who've been raised by gays have been over the top, self-entitled bastards. Then again, almost anyone under 25 is a self-entitled bastard. I guess the only difference would be in which hole they had their pacifiers placed when they were babies.

 

[squallumz]

How about an absent-online-curious-dad?

And as a bonus, we both are into Dungeons&Dragons

i dont know. go ahead and roll a d20 and lets see if you beat my passive perception. im not looking to get raped..

 

[Will E Worm]

Ah, here we go again.

False. Evidence shows otherwise. See OP and my link to said evidence. Or Google. Hell, do anything other than stick your fingers in your ears while chanting 'Not listening not listening not listening!' I know you've got a reputation for that, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

Incorrect.

HUFFington is just blowing smoke up everyone's :booty:

 

[Rattrap]

I know we've done this dance before, Will, and I want you to know I don't take issue with ignorance - well, not much, at least. I do take issue with those who put effort into staying ignorant.

Incorrect.

HUFFington is just blowing smoke up everyone's :booty:

Here, I'll save you the trouble of clicking on my link:

This is a fair question to ask. Fortunately, it has been asked, researched and studied, and the resounding answer is: No, it does not take a heterosexual couple to adequately raise kids. Almost 30% of households with kids in the US in 2008 were single-parent households anyway[SUP]1[/SUP]. But more to the point, every study done has shown that children of homosexual couples perform just as well as their heterosexually-parented counterparts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_parenting (for an overview)
www.law.utas.edu.au/reform/docs/AdoptionEasyPrint.pdf (see Part 2, page 5)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100831091240.htm

Hell, the only place I could readily find on the internet with something to say on the contrary was the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian organization absolutely dripping with bias and discredibility. So worry not; as far as the facts are concerned, gay couples raise kids just the same as hetero ones.

[sup]1[/sup]www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2011/tables/11s1336.pdf

Find me a credible source that says otherwise or for once accept that you're wrong. Or plug your ears and shout 'lalalalalala' as usual.