Adoption Rights for Gays and Lesbians
             Just a few years ago, most children grew up in a "traditional" or "nuclear" family, which refers to the conjugal household consisting of a husband, a wife, and their dependent children, whose relationships are traditionally recognized by the American family law. Yet, in today's society, fewer and fewer American households are daresay "traditional" families. The constant societal changes have brought about the rise of "alternative" or "nontraditional" families, many of which include group living, unmarried cohabitation and single-parent families---all of which are mutually interdependent households, but not recognized as so by the American family law. As part of these "alternative" or "nontraditional" families, in the past decade we have begun to see a sharp rise in the number of lesbian and gay men forming their own families through adoption, foster care, artificial insemination and other means. So why are lesbians and gays still being repressed? Why are they being denied the right to adopt? Why is it that there are still countless states across the United States who however hold very stringent laws regarding lesbians, gays and adoption? Living in a society like the one we live in today, very healthily promotes diversity and acceptance, yet, unjustly contradicts itself and sanctions the same advocacy material---but, contrary to popular belief and assumptions, gays and lesbians can be equally as good at parenting as heterosexuals.
             Through the chaos of myths and stereotypes, gays have come a long way at battling a society that can at times be cruel, insensitive and intolerant. Amongst the myths and stereotypes is the present notion that lesbians and gay men are unfit to be parents. Yet, in looking at and evaluating all of the research to date, the same unequivocal conclusion about gay parenting has been reached, th...