Spring Break
Gay marriage poses no threat
Emily Groff
Issue date: 2/23/05 Section: Commentary
The other objection people raise against gay marriage is that it threatens "families, children and society," in the words of President Bush. As for society, I can't see how same-sex unions can be any more harmful than the rising divorce rate and shows like "Married by America." American society is no longer structured around healthy marriages and nuclear families. In fact, some historians argue that the traditional "Leave it to Beaver" family never existed. Certainly few families embody that ideal today. Allowing members of the same sex to form legal partnerships will not change that.
The issue of children is most controversial. Even among supporters of gay marriage, gay parenthood is a sticky subject. Allowing gay marriage would most likely increase the number of gay parents. Some states are able to bar gay people from adopting because they are single and the states prohibit single people from adopting. Some judges do not grant custody to divorced parents who come out of the closet because they think they are "deviant." Legalizing gay marriage would legitimize homosexuality and this trend would slow.
But do gay men and lesbian women make good parents? Popular mythology concludes children are more likely to be sexually abused in a homosexual household, they will be teased too much, will become gay themselves or have developmental problems. Although research into the effects of being raised by gay or lesbian parents is limited, according to the American Psychological Association, "the results of existing research...are quite uniform: common stereotypes are not supported by the data."
The National Adoption Information Clearinghouse (NAIC), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said, "A child's risk of being molested by his or her relative's heterosexual partner is over one hundred times greater than by someone who might be...homosexual," in a pamphlet the group published about gay and lesbian adoption. As for teasing, last I checked, children teased each other for everything. There is no reason to prevent homosexuals from having children because they might be teased. As the authors of one article said, "Teasing is what children do. Does this mean that child welfare policy must be set at a level no higher than the social interactions of children?"
The issue of children is most controversial. Even among supporters of gay marriage, gay parenthood is a sticky subject. Allowing gay marriage would most likely increase the number of gay parents. Some states are able to bar gay people from adopting because they are single and the states prohibit single people from adopting. Some judges do not grant custody to divorced parents who come out of the closet because they think they are "deviant." Legalizing gay marriage would legitimize homosexuality and this trend would slow.
But do gay men and lesbian women make good parents? Popular mythology concludes children are more likely to be sexually abused in a homosexual household, they will be teased too much, will become gay themselves or have developmental problems. Although research into the effects of being raised by gay or lesbian parents is limited, according to the American Psychological Association, "the results of existing research...are quite uniform: common stereotypes are not supported by the data."
The National Adoption Information Clearinghouse (NAIC), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said, "A child's risk of being molested by his or her relative's heterosexual partner is over one hundred times greater than by someone who might be...homosexual," in a pamphlet the group published about gay and lesbian adoption. As for teasing, last I checked, children teased each other for everything. There is no reason to prevent homosexuals from having children because they might be teased. As the authors of one article said, "Teasing is what children do. Does this mean that child welfare policy must be set at a level no higher than the social interactions of children?"