Lbian and gay parentg: Theoretil and nceptual examatns

gay family structure

Inclus a summary of rearch fdgs on lbian mothers, gay fathers and their children, an annotated biblgraphy of the published psychologil lerature and addnal rourc relevant to lbian and gay parentg.

Contents:

LBIAN AND GAY PARENTG

It is difficult to obta an accurate unt of same-sex parent fai bee many lbians and gay men are not open about their sexual orientatn due to fears of discrimatn, such as loss of employment, loss of child ctody, and antigay vlence. In fact, one prehensive study of children raised by lbian mothers or gay fathers nclud that children raised by same-sex parents did not differ om other children terms of emotnal functng, sexual orientatn, stigmatizatn, genr role behavr, behavral adjtment, genr inty, learng and gra pot averag.

Though many fay relatnships may be plex, explag fay relatnships is uniquely plex for lbian and gay parented fai bee of the lack of societal norms and relevant exampl media, stereotyped notns about such relatnships that are mon, and the fear of discrimatn faced by the fai. Competent parentg may be fluenced by gay and lbian parents’ abily to accept and acknowledge their inty and how they are able to negotiate livg a heterosexist, homophobic, or otherwise discrimatory society, while rearg their children a fay un that is not socially sanctned. This study is the first to tly bridge the gap our knowledge left by prev studi that have shown the benefs of beg raised by a married mother and father (but which did not clu direct parisons wh homosexual parents), and prev studi on homosexual parents (which, however, did not e large, reprentative sampl).

Sce most of the media attentn has foced on the parison between children of homosexual parents and children of "tact blogil fai" (that is, children raised by their own blogil mother and father who are married to one another), crics argue that the children of homosexuals did worse only bee most of them this study had experienced stabily their fay stcture (e. However, is not te to imply that Regnes failed to pare the children of homosexual parents (who almost always had an unstable fay stcture) wh children of heterosexual parents who also experienced unstable fay stctur growg up. 5) Public policy should ntue to enurage the raisg of children by a married mother and father, while disuragg, attemptg to rce, and/or refg to affirm or subsidize alternativ such as out-of-wedlock births, sgle parenthood, habatn, divorce, or "homosexual parentg.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY FAMILY STRUCTURE

Lbian and gay parentg: Theoretil and nceptual examatns.

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