Gay Parenting

*Cracks knuckles* Time to get back at this bad boy.
So the break from school was delightful. Full of friends, family, BF, and BF's friends and family. Not much rest but very much fun. But that's neither hardly gay, and not medical at all, so let's get to the good stuff!

A talk that I went to today reminded me of one of my favourite (or least favourite, depending on how you look at it) topics: gay parenting. It's my fave/least fave because there are SO many dreadful misconceptions about gay parenting, but it is a great feeling to set the record straight. Shall we? Let's shall. :)

So, since gay marriage is such a hot topic, some really bright fella (is it "fellette" if it's a woman?) decided to actually, you know, take a look at gay parents to see if they're actually blood-thirsty, neglectful, abusive, Cinderella's-stepmother-like nincompoops, as many anti-gay marriage activists would have us think.

Turns out, that idea is completely false.

Who could've guessed? ;)

Indeed, it seems that lesbian couples are actually slightly better at parenting than heterosexual couples. Isn't that just FABULOUS? ;) Apparently more research has been done on lesbian couples raising children than gay male couples, but from what I've heard they don't seem significantly worse off than lesbians or heterosexual couples.

In fact, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and pretty much everyone who knows a gay person agree that gay couples are just as good at parenting as straight couples.

That's why public policies, like the constitutional amendment banning adoption by unmarried couples (i.e. gay couples) in Arkansas (they couldn't even get married if they wished to), make me so upset. It's not based on any sort of sound reasoning at all. And worse still, it deprives orphaned children of finding stable families to live with long-term.

The frosting on the cake with this case, though, is that single people are still allowed to adopt. Cuz, you know, one person raising a kid on their own is fine--but if their partner moves in (adding additional financial and emotional support) then it's no longer a household fit for a child.

LOVE the logic. ;)