Our House
What does it mean to grow up with two mothers or two fathers instead of a motherand father? What happens when your mother or father leaves a heterosexual marriage for a same sex union? Until recently, these questions rarely, if ever, arose. But today, there are an estimated 2 million gay and lesbian parents raising between 3 and 5 million children. Many of these children were born into heterosexual marriages where a parent has since come out; recently, an increasing number are the adopted or biological childrenof gay and lesbian singles or couples. Their presence is raising public and private debatesin courtrooms, schools and places of worship around the country, offering a new twist tothe struggle to define "family values." According to a journal found in Psychological Journal, February 2000, OUR HOUSE was a special about children with one or more gay parents that aired on PBS earlier that same year. The article was a frank, insightful exploration of the award-winning What does it mean to grow up with gay or lesbian parents? The one-hour
Both girls struggle to reconcile the Mormon Church's condemnation of homosexuality andtheir love for their father, who is currently single, but dating. 5 children is only one of the many, many families that our children grow and thrive in. Jessica insists that she prefers having two dads, and dreams of the day that her dads will get married. There is no evidence to suggest that the children of lesbian and gay parents are less intelligent, suffer from more problems, are less popular, or have lower self-esteem than children of heterosexual parents. In an affluent Long Island neighborhood, Daniel, 13, Jessica, 9 and their younger brother and sisters live with their adopted fathers Rob and Jon. To complicate matters, Saveon and Sandor both have to cope with their father's open disapproval of their mother's sexuality. These young people have a lot to say about our culture and the evolving American family. In Greenwich Village, New York City, Ry, 17, and Cade, 19, live with their mothers, Sandy and Robin, who conceived the girls through donor insemination. RESEARCH OVERVIEW OF LESBIAN AND GAY PARENTING All of the research to date has reached the same unequivocal conclusion about gay parenting: the children of lesbian and gay parents grow up as successfully as the children of heterosexual parents. FAMILY STRUCTURE Myth: The only acceptable home for a child contains a mother and father who are married to each other. In rural Arkansas, Ryan, 15 and Cary, 23 live with their mothers Vickie and Sophia, who were married five years ago. The reality of today is that the traditional definition of the married, heterosexual couple with 1. The featured households comefrom a variety of socioeconomic, racial and ethnic backgrounds and live in different regions of the United States. In fact, not a single study has found the children of lesbian or gay parents to be disadvantaged because of their parents' sexual orientation.
Common topics in this essay:
GAY PARENTING,
STRUCTURE Myth,
HOUSE HOUSE,
FAMILIES Five,
Journal February,
Sandy Robin,
Vickie Sophia,
Rochelle Pat,
Gay Lesbian,
Jon Jessica,
gay parents,
lesbian gay,
lesbian gay parents,
children lesbian,
children lesbian gay,
gay lesbian,
heterosexual parents,
children heterosexual parents,
mother father,
live mothers,
acceptable home,
children heterosexual,
acceptable home child,
children gay,
gay parents grow,
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Acceptance Essays
