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
- FOC ON ‘PARENTAL RIGHTS’ CHIPS AWAY AT GAY RIGHTS
- 'WHAT PARENTS ARE THEY SUPPORTG?': MOMS SPEAK OUT AGAST 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW
- GAY PARENTS AS GOOD AS STRAIGHT ON
LBIAN AND GAY PARENTG
* rights for gay parents *
LGBTQ Fay Law and Policy the Uned StatEr Mayo-AdamDepartment of Polil Science, Hunter CollegeLims and Advanc LGBTQ Fay Regnn and AcceptanceThe legal landspe for lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer (LGBTQ) fai vari tremendoly across the Uned Stat bee, wh few exceptns, the thory to ci what nstut a fay li predomantly wh the realm of state and lol law. For example, Farr (2016) ed a longudal study that“pared out for children, parents, upl, and the overall fay system among adoptive fai wh LG [lbian or gay] and heterosexual parents at two time pots: Wave 1 (W1), when children were prchool-age, and Wave 2 (W2), approximately five years later, when children were middle childhood” (Farr, 2016, p. Acrdg to the studi, LGBTQ fay formatn and inty is impacted by nflictg and paradoxil experienc wh stutns and state stance, Gash and Raisk (2018) analyze terviews nducted wh 31 lbian and gay adults and 6 children Oregon orr to unrstand how legal stat ambiguy impacts lbian and gay parenthood.
Anrson (2016) argu that how same-sex upl unrstood and intified wh marriage differed pendg on whether upl lived a loly where legal regnn afford more protectn agast discrimatn or lived a loly where marriag were granted for purely polil reasons (Anrson, 2016; see also Goldberg, Downg, & Moyer, 2012, who exame gay men’s different motivatns for pursug parenthood) studi exame how attempts to ga legal regnn for LGBTQ parents are embedd problematic state marriage and fay regim.
(2003), “upled wh other factors, such as the overreprentatn of Black children the foster re system, the greater prevalence of Black LGBT parents dit that anti-gay parentg polici may threaten the Black muny as a whole by signifintly rcg the potential pool of foster and adoptive parents” (Cahill et al., 2003, p. 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.
FOC ON ‘PARENTAL RIGHTS’ CHIPS AWAY AT GAY RIGHTS
The new Florida law that lims how schools and teachers n addrs sexualy and genr has sparked protts and outrage. Crics have labeled the “Don’t Say Gay” law and warned will negatively impact LGBTQ stunts. The law is steeped the evolvg attus and acceptance of the transgenr muny. * rights for gay parents *
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. Transgenr parents, parents who e out as gay while married to an oppose-sex spoe, and parents whose spo have died sometim fd their ctodial rights challenged by ex-spo or survivg fay members who, spe volum of evince to the ntrary, qutn their fns as parents based on their sexual orientatn or genr inty. Unlike heterosexual parents and their children, however, lbian and gay parents and their children are often subject to prejudice bee of their sexual orientatn that n turn judg, legislators, profsnals, and the public agast them, sometim rultg negative out, such as loss of physil ctody, rtrictns on visatn, and prohibns agast adoptn (ACLU Lbian and Gay Rights Project, 2002; Appell, 2003; Patterson, Fulcher, & Waright, 2002).
Three ncerns have historilly been associated wh judicial cisn makg ctody ligatn and public polici erng foster re and adoptn: the belief that lbians and gay men are mentally ill, that lbians are ls maternal than heterosexual women, and that lbians' and gay men's relatnships wh sexual partners leave ltle time for ongog parent-child teractns (ACLU Lbian and Gay Rights Project, 2002; Falk, 1989, 1994; Patterson et al., 2002; Patterson & Reddg, 1996). There is no reliable evince that homosexual orientatn per se impairs psychologil functng, although the social and other circumstanc which lbians and gay men live, cludg exposure to wispread prejudice and discrimatn, often e acute distrs (Cochran, 2001; Freedman, 1971; Gonsrek, 1991; Hart et al., 1978; Hooker, 1957; Meyer, 2003; Reiss, 1980).
A recent study of 256 lbian and gay parent fai found that, ntrast to patterns characterizg the majory of Amerin parents, very few lbian and gay parents reported any e of physil punishment (such as spankg) as a disciplary technique; stead, they were likely to report e of posive techniqu such as reasong (Johnson & O'Connor, 2002). Certaly, rearch has found no reasons to believe lbian mothers or gay fathers to be unf parents (Armto, 2002; Barret & Robson, 1990; Bigner & Bozett, 1990; Bigner & Jabsen, 1989a, 1989b; Bos et al., 2003, 2004; Bozett, 1980, 1989; Patterson, 1997; Patterson & Chan, 1996; Sbordone, 1993; Tasker & Golombok, 1997; Victor & Fish, 1995; Wton, 1991).
'WHAT PARENTS ARE THEY SUPPORTG?': MOMS SPEAK OUT AGAST 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW
For stance, one such ncern is that children brought up by lbian mothers or gay fathers will show disturbanc genr inty and/or genr role behavr (Falk, 1989, 1994; Hchens & Kirkpatrick, 1985; Kleber, Howell, & Tibbs-Kleber, 1986; Patterson et al., 2002; Patterson & Reddg, 1996). Three aspects of sexual inty are nsired the rearch: genr inty, which ncerns a person's self-intifitn as male or female; genr-role behavr, which ncerns the extent to which a person's activi, occupatns, and the like are regard by the culture as mascule, feme, or both; and sexual orientatn, which refers to a person's choice of sexual partners, who may be homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual (Money & Ehrhardt, 1972; Ste, 1993). Although some children have scribed enunters wh anti-gay remarks om peers (Gartrell et al., 2005), young adult offsprg of divorced lbian mothers did not rell beg the targets of any more childhood teasg or victimizatn than did the offsprg of divorced heterosexual mothers (Tasker & Golombok, 1995, 1997).
Much of the existg rearch on lbian mothers, gay fathers, and their children was iated to addrs ncerns that arose for such fai the ntext of child ctody disput, and was apparently signed at least part to exame the veracy of mon stereotyp that have been voiced legal proceedgs. Although those om lbian fai were more likely to explore same-sex relatnships, particularly if their childhood fay environment was characterized by an openns and acceptance of lbian and gay relatnships, the large majory of children who grew up lbian fai intified as heterosexual. Subjects evaluated vigt pictg eher a gay male uple or heterosexual uple and their adopted son along the dimensns of parentg abily, gree to which the child's problems were attributable to the parental relatnship, distrs of the child (cludg genr and sexual inty nfn), and the extent to which ctody reassignment was perceived to be beneficial.
GAY PARENTS AS GOOD AS STRAIGHT ON
A sgle qutn on relatnship satisfactn revealed no signifint difference between groups reported satisfactn, while the 32-em DAS revealed the gay parentg upl to be signifintly more satisfied wh their relatnships than the heterosexual upl, pecially the area of dyadic hn and affective exprsn. A review of rearch on children of lbian and gay parents intifi some of the sourc of diversy wh lbian and gay parentg muni / prent rearch on those who beme parents the ntext of heterosexual relatnships, before g out as lbian or gay / scribe studi of lbians who beme parents after g out [prent] rearch on children born the ntext of heterosexual relatnships... The amework foc on (1) whether selectn effects produced by homophobia acunt for associatns between parental sexual orientatns and child out; (2) the role of parental genr vis-à-vis sexual orientatn fluencg children's genr velopment; and (3) the relatnship between parental sexual orientatns and children's sexual preferenc and behavrs.
Although is clear that homosexualy is not and of self related to psychopathology, there are persistent suggtns that the particular strs endured by gay men and lbians, pecially adolcence and young adulthood, may e an upsurge attempted suici and perhaps chemil abe, perhaps temporary or perhaps a segment of homosexuals.