Introduction
Supporters of same-sex partnerships zealously argue that children do not care whether they have a father and mother, or they are grown by two men (or two women). Prophylactic and religious organizations, as well as many psychologists, are shouting loudly that children who have grown up in an atmosphere of homosexual relations will by default be psychologically traumatized and incomplete in life.
However, due to the fact that the legalization of same-sex partnerships and especially “marriages” began to occur in some countries not so long ago, until recently, there were no grounds to make objective scientific conclusions. For a simple reason, such children’s generation has not yet grown. In the world today, there is a scandal over the research of American professor Mark Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin. Well, you probably heard about gays, or rather about gay and lesbian families: the professor shook the whole of America, having examined the issue and came to the conclusion that children from such families (father + father or mother + mother) are different from “ordinary” children, which is more unhappy: among them, there are more suicides, they are worse adapted to the “adult” life, less successful, more likely to live on benefits or do not work at all.
Analytical Review
In America, this professor is now going on a kind of bacchanalia. The whole global gay community seems to be terribly offended. Meanwhile, to my purely outspoken view as a practicing sociologist, the study of Researchers is a typical example of a study that should not have been conducted, so his hypothesis is objective. Well, this is about conducting a study in many villages on whether it is more like drinking vodka or koumiss. Of course, a child in a gay or lesbian family, even in the most politically correct America, feels “not like everyone else.” Of course, for such children peers are not positive and they let them know that they are different and that not everyone wants to play with them. This is a Public Institution, and you cannot overcome it so easily, and, most likely, you will not overcome it at all – since the “gay family” is very different from the usual, habitual, and “normal” – people tend to treat everything unusual with suspicion. In addition to this – the child quickly enough against this background begins to perceive himself as “not that,” “different,” or “lower grade”, and begins to see discrimination even where there is objectively no basis for it. It is possible that such children are gradually beginning to perceive and lower grades for granted.” Here’s to you, and the decline in academic performance is the root of the impending failure.
Well, if the child is shunned, “blue, blue, do not want to play with you,” and there is no way out – that’s the ground for suicide. So everything is logical. Here is another point: it’s good if the child also has an “unconventional sexual orientation” – then he, at least, is in a comfortable coordinate system: he is not an outcast, from a rogue family, the whole world is against him, but he will show this world! That is, it develops the drive of a good gay activist in it – they “can peacefully” just gnaw their way and become super-successful (especially feeling behind sympathetic and loving “parents”). And if, God forbid, in such a family, the orientation of the child is normal, heterosexual – here, apparently, all described by Researchers, he is attacked and lies in wait. Again, this is the standard: how it is bad for a child-gay in an ordinary hetero-family, so, most likely, it is unhealthy for a child-negeyu in a gay family; although, of course, much depends on the wisdom and tolerance of parents (in both cases). So gay people all around the world took offense as the professor spoke the quite obvious truth, and it seemed that nothing could be done about this. This is the villagers.
In adolescence, many dream of understanding parents who will be allowed to party or give money for a new tattoo. LGBT children have more pressing problems. Not finding support in society and facing peer pressure, they often turn out to be outcasts within their own families. In social networks, there are communities in which psychologists and activists try to support such adolescents, but parents often need qualified help. In the past few years, social networks Facebook and other social networks have appeared groups where initiative moms and dads help each other to find a common language with children after camping out. The Village met with mothers who took the side of the homosexual sons and asked them how to understand and accept their children.
The results of the study by American sociologist Mark Researchers devoted to an analysis of the differences between people brought up by heterosexual and homosexual parents. Dishonesty lies in the fact that the author of a news note describes only a part of the results and makes incorrect conclusions on the basis of them. Thus, the world community has for the first time received an authoritative study that sheds light on the tragic consequences of raising children in families where parents practice homosexual relationships. “This conclusion, like other things in the note, is incorrect. Despite this, the note found a fervent response from opponents of same-sex marriage and the upbringing of their children. Rector of the Institute of Christian Psychology Archpriest Andrei Lorgus urged the scientific community to “study and accept” the results of this study. And it seems like someone has already started translating and popularizing this article.
But let’s take a closer look at what science says about the consequences of raising children with homosexual couples. The study of Researchers is far from the first, considering the possible consequences of raising a child with homosexual or same-sex couples. A study asked a number of questions and criticized the review of the APA, which is briefly listed here and criticized with regard to this review and the 59 studies published in the scientific journals on which it is based:
- Unrepresentative sampling. 77% of 59 studies were conducted on samples not exceeding 100 people. Most of these studies were conducted on white Caucasians, the well-educated middle class. At the same time, the homosexual part of the population is much more diverse.
- Only 33 studies contain comparisons with heterosexual groups, and in 26 studies, same-sex parents are not compared with heterosexuals.
- In 13 out of 33 studies comparing unisexual parents with heterosexuals, single/diluted heterosexual parents (more often women) were used as a comparison group. In the remaining 20 studies, the type of family is not always clearly characterized.
- The results of the six studies that have the largest samples are based solely on parents’ self-reports and include information about the children themselves. At the same time, a comparison of the cognitive development of children, which was based on the teacher and not by the parents, showed several significant differences between hetero- and homosexual families. Namely, children raised by heterosexual couples have higher academic and social achievements.
- These studies mainly analyze gender consequences, and many social aspects of child development are not considered. Such social deviations as excessive consumption of alcohol, and drugs, absenteeism, and criminal offenses are not analyzed. At the same time, existing studies of these aspects did not fall into the list of 59 studies.
- In these studies, the potential long-term effects that may occur after the child becomes an adult (poverty, crime, education, income, suicide, early onset of sexual activity, early pregnancy, etc.) are practically not analyzed.
On the basis of the analysis, researchers conclude that it is necessary to revise the conclusion of APA by including in the list of studies on which it is based, unaccounted for and conducting new studies that are based on larger and representative samples, and consider the social and economic problems that may arise already in adulthood and in which same-sex families would be compared to different types of families.
But let us return to the study of Researchers. In principle, his research corresponds to Marx’s recommendations. It is a representative survey of 2,988 Americans aged 18 to 39 years. Researchers compare, according to a number of social, economic, and psychological indicators, 8 types of families:
IBF: a traditional family with biological fathers and mothers,
LM: A family where the mother had a romantic relationship with a partner of the same sex,
GF: A family where the father had a romantic relationship with a partner of the same sex,
Adopted: foster family with one or two parents,
Divorced late (> 18): parents divorced after the child turned 18 years old,
Stepfamily: biological parents were never married, or were divorced, and entered into a new marriage before the child turned 18,
Single parent: biological parents were never married or were divorced, and no longer entered into a new marriage before the child turned 18,
All others: other cases.
The family was classified as homosexual if the respondent noted that before reaching the age of 18, his father or mother at least once had a romantic relationship with a man of the same sex. Thus, the results of this study suggest that children brought up by parents who had the experience of same-sex relationships differ in some respects from children raised in traditional families. And the children of lesbian mothers are more powerful than the children of gay fathers. Of the 239 possible differences between the groups, 44 (18% of the total number of possible lesbians) are children of lesbian mothers, while the children of gay fathers have only 24 (10% of the total number of possible).
However, these results also suggest that children raised in other types of families differ from children from traditional families. First of all, we are talking about families in which biological parents have never been married, divorced, remarried, as well as incomplete families with one parent. In other words, a traditional full family is almost always better, than any other. But whether the child will be worse in a same-sex family than in a divorced, single-parent family, is still a question.
Since the theme of same-sex marriages and their right to raise children is extremely ambiguous, the study of Researchers attracted special attention. It was viewed very closely from a scientific point of view. Especially cautious can get acquainted with the results of the detailed methodological analysis of this study. The reviewers did not find anything highly criminal and noted the compliance of the research with scientific standards. Well, the picture will not be complete if you do not get acquainted with alternative opinions and interpretations of the results obtained by Researchers.
Here are briefly several alternative options for a meaningful interpretation of the differences found:
- The results of the research show that children who have homosexual parents are more likely to experience a divorce situation, therefore, perhaps this (and not the sexual orientation of their parents) is responsible for the differences found.
- On average, women earn less than men, so the welfare of children of lesbian mothers may be less than.
Children of homosexual parents are more difficult because there are prejudices, negative attitudes, and even discrimination against gays and lesbians in society.
Conclusion
The key phrase here was that children with a normal orientation are uncomfortable in a same-sex family and vice versa. People certainly do not support the adoption of children by same-sex families. The child should have normal parents, a father, and a mother. There will be a weighty argument for all who disagree with it. Nature is laid down so that there is a woman and a man nearby, they will be able to conceive and raise a child. The mother will be able to feed him with milk, the father will get food for the family, etc. So it was from the very beginning of the appearance of mankind. And if two gays, for example, get on an uninhabited island, then they cannot reproduce this time, and even if they somehow have a baby, they will not feed it two. You can argue with me as much as you like, but you cannot deceive nature.
High level of venereal infection: In the published data it is reported that 25% of homosexual parents had or have sexually transmitted diseases – because of their specific way of life. For comparison, the number of infected peers from affluent heterosexual families is fixed at 8%. Failure to maintain family loyalty is the reason for this level of infection. Those who were brought up by homosexual parents are much more likely to be treated with adultery – 40%. A similar indicator of loyalty to betrayal among those who grew up in heterosexual families is 13%.
Psychological problems arise in children and the next shocking fact is that up to 24% of adult children from same-sex “families” recently planned suicide. For comparison, the level of such sentiments among those raised in normal heterosexual families is 5%. Raised by a homosexual parent, people are much more likely than heterosexual families to go to psychotherapists – 19% versus 8%.
This is not surprising. After all, 31% who grew up with a lesbian mom and 25% who grew up with a homosexual father were ever forced to have sex contrary to their will (including by their parents). In the case of heterosexual families, only 8% of respondents report this. Socio-economic helplessness: 28% of immigrants from families where the mother was a lesbian are unemployed. Among those who come from normal families, this level is only 8%.
69% of those with whom the mother was a lesbian, and 57% of those with whom the pope was homosexual, reported that their family in the past received state benefits. Among ordinary families, this is relevant in 17% of cases. And 38% of those who grew up with a lesbian mom, still live on state benefits, and only 26% have full-time jobs. Among those whose father was homosexual, only 34% at the moment have a full-time job. For comparison, among those who grew up in heterosexual families only 10% live in state welfare, and a half – are employed full-time.
Disorder of sexual self-identification: And finally – the figures, which finally destroy the myth that education in the same-sex “family” does not affect the sexual orientation of the adult child. So, if the father or mother had homosexual relationships, only 60-70% of their children call themselves completely heterosexual. In turn, more than 90% of people who grew up in a traditional family, identify themselves as completely heterosexual.
References
American Psychological Association. (2005). Lesbian & Gay Parenting. Lesbian & Gay Parenting, 20, 465–470. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230244542
Farr, R. H. (2017). Does parental sexual orientation matter? A longitudinal follow-up of adoptive families with school-age children. Developmental Psychology, 53(2), 252-264. doi:10.1037/dev0000228
Goldberg, A. E., & Smith, J. Z. (2013). Predictors of psychological adjustment in early placed adopted children with lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parents. Journal Of Family Psychology, 27(3), 431-442. doi:10.1037/a0032911
Lavner, J. A., Waterman, J., & Peplau, L. A. (2012). Can gay and lesbian parents promote healthy development in high-risk children adopted from foster care?. American Journal Of Orthopsychiatry, 82(4), 465-472. doi:10.1111/j.1939-0025.2012.01176.x
Miller, B. G., Kors, S., & Macfie, J. (2017). No differences? Meta-analytic comparisons of psychological adjustment in children of gay fathers and heterosexual parents. Psychology Of Sexual Orientation And Gender Diversity, 4(1), 14-22. doi:10.1037/sgd0000203
