From: elf@halcyon.com (Elf Sternberg)
Subject: Re: Education Regarding Alternative Family Units (Re: The Analogy Betwixt Gays & Blacks (Re: Children in Same-gender Families))
Originator: elf@halcyon.com
Organization: Pendor, UnLtd.
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 22:59:20 GMT

In article <1992Dec28.150608.28353@galileo.physics.arizona.edu>
     krueger@galileo.physics.arizona.edu (Ted Krueger) writes:

>I should have better defined what I meant in my original post by "same-sex" 
>couples.  I meant only (or mostly) homosexual couples, and my point was 
>that the sexual preference displayed by parents in the home has an 
>enormous effect on the sexual preference of children in the home...to the 
>extent that, children raised in a homosexual-parent home will be extremely 
>likely to be homosexual.  Anyone have any stats?  Any examples of straight 
>children coming from a home where the parent(s) had exhibited homosexual 
>behavior since the child was very young?

<< Studies Say Children Of Gays Not Troubled >>

by Daniel Goleman
New York Times News Service

According to a review of new studies in the current issue of the
journal Child Development, children are raised by gay parents are no
more likely to have psychological problems than those raised in more
conventional circumstances.

That conclusion challenges a view long held by some mental health
specialists.  The prevailing view has been reflected in court rulings
in custody disputes around the country where judges, even more than
psychotherapists, have assumed that being raised by gay or lesbian
parents is damaging to a child's emotional and sexual development.

As a result, gay and lesbian parents have great difficulty winning
custody of their children from a heterosexual partner in divorce
proceedings.

In recent years, though, the scientific consensus has begun to change,
as more and more experts conclude it is based on anecdotal reports and
biased research rather than scientifically gathered evidence.  New
studies dome to different conclusions.

"What evidence there is suggest there are no particular developmental
or emotional deficits for children raised by gay or lesbian parents,"
said Dr. Michael E. Lamb, chief of the Section on Social and Emotional
Development at the National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development.  "The research is still relatively sparse, but it all
suggests the same thing: These kids look OK."

Estimates of the number of children being raised by gay and lesbian
parents range from 6 million to 14 million, in at least 4 million
households.  ALthough these estimates, from sources such as the
American Bar Association, may seem high, those who make them point out
that the majority of such families are "invisible," in that few
outsiders realize there is a gay or lesbian parent.  Sometimes the
children themselves do not know until they are teen-agers.

"The great majority of gay and lesbian parents are not out in the open
about it," said Tim Fisher, directory of Communications for Gay and
Lesbian Parents Coalition International in Washington, which has 40
chapters in the United States and Canada.  There are at least 100
other informal support groups for gay and lesbian parents in the
country, Mr. Fisher said.

In the large majority of such households the children were conceived
in heterosexual marriages that ended in divorce after one parent came
out as homosexual.  In recent years, families in which children are
conceived or adopted by gay couples are growing more common.

Early research suggesting that gays and lesbians made bad parents were
largely based on individual case studies of troubled children.

"There is no adverse effect on any psychological measure," said Dr.
Julie Gottman, a clinical psychologist in Seattle, who has done one of
the best-designed studies on the topic.  Her study was published in
1990 in _Homosexuality and Family Relations_ (Huntington Park Press).

   [ End copy ]

   As someone pointed out, most gay children come from heterosexual
households.  A study out of the University of Virginia, 1988, also
states that "There is no conclusive evidence that the sexual
orientation of parents ultimately affects the affectional- prefence
orientation of their children."  Thus far, all of the gay parents I
know have straight children.  Better than that, it's unlikely that
these kids are going to have a problem questioning their sexuality,
since, unlike most straight households, the parents are ready to answer
their questions.

>Ted

         Elf !!!
--
elf@halcyon.com  (Elf Sternberg)

Then, I was inspired.               God, thy will is hard
Now, I'm sad and tired.             But you hold every card.
Listen, surely I've exceeded        I will drink your cup of poison.
Expectations.                       Nail me to your cross and break me.
Tried for three years,              Bleed me, beat me.
Seems like thirty.                  Kill me.
Could you ask as much               Take me now.
From any other man?                 Before I change my mind.
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