The Kids Are Definitely All Right

The Right-wing Christian Right would have you believe that gay parents are somehow faulty and their parenting questionable. They keep touting the traditional man/woman parenting as somehow superior, but we can all see that all the serial killers in the world were raised by heterosexual parents.

The answer is that these kids continue to do just fine. Better, in fact, although Dr. Gartrell is hesitant to trumpet that adjective. Consistent with the other research that is emerging as this population reaches critical mass, these children were found to fare better in measures of academic, social and psychological competence than a comparable group raised in more traditional homes. They were less likely to be rule-breakers or to exhibit aggressive behavior, though those who had felt “stigmatized” by outsiders because of their family structure were somewhat more likely to have behavior problems.

The reason, Dr. Gartrell and her co-authors theorize, is that families raised by lesbian mothers are more likely to be deliberately planned. These mothers are more likely to have the resources to raise them and the time to devote to them.

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