What does it mean to grow up with two mothers or two fathers instead of a mother
and 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 children
of gay and lesbian singles or couples. Their presence is raising public and private debates
in courtrooms, schools and places of worship around the country, offering a new twist to
the 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 documentary
profiles the sons and daughters - ages five to twenty-three years old - in five diverse
families who are facing the usual highs and lows of growing up, developing their own
feelings about their parents' sexuality, and encountering a wide variety of reactions from
relatives, classmates, teachers, and neighbors.
Five families have opened their homes and speak frankly about the issues that face
American families that don't fit the traditional model. The featured households come
from a variety of socioeconomic, racial and ethnic backgrounds and live in different
These young people have a lot to say about our culture and the evolving American
family. By inviting us into their homes, they challenge us to explore our own
...