On Homosexual Couples And Their Children

I was recently presented with an interesting question.

What do I think about gay people raising kids?

My initial reaction was, "why the hell not?" However, since I always try to analyze things and ACTUALLY look at data instead of the limited knowledge that I have or my parents had/gave me, I decided to investigate it a bit.

Gay people are treated pretty poorly in our country. It's pretty bad for something that is innate in people (despite what religious people will tell you otherwise).

The traditional view of gay couples is that they are somehow unfit for children. Allegedly the kids are losing out because they don't have that traditional mother and father figure in their household. This all stems from the various studies that show that kids who only grow up with one parent end up worse off than those with two parents. So the extension of the argument would be that since children of gay couples are missing one of the key parental roles, then they will magically end up as kids who only had one parent.

That doesn't really make any sense though. You just can't change the variables to your liking and then assume the worst possibility. How do you know that children raised by gay couples don't end up BETTER off because of various factors? To find out, we have to look at the actual data as opposed to the ignorance that is being passed around in America.

Looking at the actual data, children of gay couples end up BEING THE SAME as children in traditional households. According to an article (citation below) from 2006:

Does parental sexual orientation affect child development, and if so, how? Studies using convenience samples, studies using samples drawn from known populations, and studies based on samples that are representative of larger populations all converge on similar conclusions. More than two decades of research has failed to reveal important differences in the adjustment or development of children or adolescents reared by same-sex couples compared to those reared by other-sex couples. Results of the research suggest that qualities of family relationships are more tightly linked with child outcomes than is parental sexual orientation.

So as it turns out, two decades of research shows that there is no negative effect on children. This is not just one article that shows the lack of an effect. This is two decades of research. Therefore, the idea that children of gay couples are somehow worse off is a complete myth that is being propagated by religious conservatives. So if there is no negative effect on children, why do gay couples have much difficulty in adopting children? How does that make any sense to anyone?

Citation:
AU: Charlotte J. Patterson
TI: Children of Lesbian and Gay Parents
SO: Current Directions in Psychological Science
VL: 15
NO: 5
PG: 241-244
YR: 2006
AD: University of Virginia

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There is also an interesting philosophical side of the issue.

Let's say that children of gay couples ended up slightly worse off in their lifetime. Maybe 10% worse off by whatever metrics you use. The difference is small, but statistically significant.

Here's the thing. Even in this situation, if I give you the point that gay people shouldn't be able to adopt children, then you open yourself up to many other issues.

What if I started showing you studies that show kids with teenage parents end up worse off, or kids who grow up in the ghetto end up worse off? What are you going to do with them? Are you going to tell people that they can't have kids if they are teens or live in the ghetto? Where do you draw the line? Why do you not let gay people raise children, but then let teen parents have their kids? Really, what is the difference if children of teen parents end up just as worse off as children of gay parents? Why are gay people being targeted?

Think about it.