Gay parents influence on kids

[tjhammer]

OGE asks in another thread "of all the gay parents/legal guardians there have been, what is the breakdown of the childrens sexuality gay vs straight as opposed to the general population."I Googled "kids of gay parents" (because all I have is anecdotal info) and almost every match in the first few pages indicate that the kids are no more likely to end up gay than kids raised by heterosexual parents (statistically about the same).

 

One recent study that surveyed more than 12,000 kids across the country also confirmed "what countless other studies have shown [for nearly 50 years], that sexual orientation is irrelevant in terms of promoting and rearing a healthy child" (http://www.alternet.org/rights/22199/).

 

 

One other thing I found while reading, my statistic of "3.5 million kids being raised by gay parents" was a bit dated already, and recent surveys show that number is 8 to 10 million kids in gay-parent households today.

 

 

[packsaddle]

Unless the screening process has been very flawed, most adoptive parents are, by definition, highly motivated and likely to care for and nurture their children. I admire them all greatly.

 

When things change in society, there is a tendency for resistance by many people, for better or worse. The view that, in some way, gay parents are going to 'cultivate' gayness is bigoted and potentially hurtful of those children. But things are changing as I mentioned in the other thread, and as long as we keep fighting for what is right, it will be for the better.

[GernBlansten]

I assume the majority of gay parents are lesbians who either had children out of wedlock or from a previous marriage. Certainly some gay men could also have children from previous hetro relationships, but in most custody cases, women prevail. I also assume adoptions are pretty rare in the homosexual community.

 

If the stats are to be trusted, sounds like a strong argument that homosexuality is nature, not nurture. If growing up in a gay household has no increase in the rate of homosexuality, then can it be claimed it is learned behaviour?

[evmori]

If growing up in a gay household has no increase in the rate of homosexuality, then can it be claimed it is learned behaviour?

 

Sure can. How about those growing up in straight households becoming gay?

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[Lynda J]

A gay couple I have been friends with for almost 40 years, raised two kids. One girl, one boys. Neither are gay. Both are very well adjusted were great students. This couple have been together for 38 years. One had been married before. His wife walked out of him and the kids when the youngest was only 2. These kids couldn't have had better parents, or better role models. They lived next door to my ex and me. Every kid in the neighborhood played there and my kids spent the night there all the time. The other parents knew they were a same sex couple but it didn't really matter. We accepted them because of who they were and the quality of the people they were.

I was blesses with parents that taught me to accept people one on one. To make no judgement on color, religon, or sex. Funny how living my life that way has opened up a whole different world to me.

[johndaigler]

Don't understand, Ed.

 

jd

[acco40]

If gay parents don't produce/raise children who are gay - that fuels those who say sexual orientation is biological (nature) and not learned behavior (nurture). (GernBlanten postulate?)

 

If heterosexual couples can produce gay children, it fuels those who say sexual orientations is NOT biological (nature) and thus is learned (nurture). (Ed Mori postulate?)

 

Acco40 postulate - Most behavioral psychologists believe nobody is 100% gay or 100% homosexual but that we all reside somewhere between those extremes. For example, let's say I'm 90% heterosexual and 10% homosexual. In the society that I've been exposed to homosexuality among males is ridiculed and used in a pejorative manor amongst most. Therefore, societal pressures coupled with my own "pre-wired" desires influence my sexual behavior to be 100% heterosexual. Science is now discovering differences between the "male" brain and the "female" brain and have found that many homosexual males have a "female" brain. That also describes why many transsexuals opt for surgical "corrections" today. Another biological anomaly is the fact that many babies are born with genitalia that is not 100% female or male. Societal pressures in the past have made parents/doctors choose the sex of these babies immediately after birth - the vast majority going "female" because it is much easier to "remove" so to speak than "add" surgically.(This message has been edited by acco40)

[GernBlansten]

"If gay parents don't produce/raise children who are gay - that fuels those who say sexual orientation is biological (nature) and not learned behavior (nurture). (GernBlanten postulate?) "

 

I stated that most children of homosexuals are their biological offspring, either from a previous marriage or hetro relationship. Very few are adoptions. So these children share the genetic code of their gay parents. If gaiety (I love that word) is learned, then children from a pro-gay household should have a dramatic increase in homosexual identity. That is not the case. The distribution of gay identity offspring is the same as in "straight" households.

 

Tell me acco40, if you were say 90% hetro, and 10% gay, was that biological? So if I was 50/50 biological, and I chose hetro, I'm OK by BSA standards. If I chose gay, I'm out. I just don't remember the day I chose. I always liked chasing skirts over trousers. Do you remember your choice day?

[evmori]

It's actually pretty simple, jd. If a human is born to straight parents and they become gay. Why? They chose to. Same as a human with homosexual parents deciding they don't want to be gay. it's a decision.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[GernBlansten]

So Ed, you chose to be straight didn't you?

[OldGreyEagle]

Being a High School seminarian I think I may have worried my parents about my sexuality, but I knew I was straight when I saw Jill St John in the that Bikini in Diamonds are Forever, you know the one where she helps Bond outwit the guy who ends up being the narrator of the Rocky Horror Picture show? As I remember, she was quite cheeky

[evmori]

It was Ann Margaret in Murderers' Row that convinced me I liked girls! Jill St John was a looker, too!

[Trevorum]

Personally, I chose to be a white male. I just didn't see the angle with anything else. I figured I didn't need people discriminating against me if I was female or some other race. So far, it's worked out pretty well.

 

I'm not so sure about my choice to have O+ blood type though ...

[Prairie_Scouter]

Ah, Jill St. John...............

 

What was the topic again?

 

Ok, so from the perspective of BSA membership, why does it matter whether gays are gay because of "hard wiring" or "learned behavior"? What should matter is whether gays, as a group, represent a poor role model, as BSA maintains, or whether they represent a wide range of "quality" as role models, just like everyone else.

 

 

[GernBlansten]

The hard-wired arguement is incredibly important. It elevates discrimination of gays to the same level as racial discrimination. Imagine the argument that blacks are bad role models because of the behavior of some members of their race. Therefore, they are not fit for membership in BSA. Those arguements were used 50 years ago, thankfully in 1974, BSA stopped that type of discrimination at the national level.