APA (American Psychological Association)
A. APA itself does not do research. They are the professional organization that oversees the
psychological industry. They do set standards and ethics that those in the industry ought
to adhere to. Psychologists, grad students, MFCs, and others are members.
B. They do issue press releases and publish several industry journals. They select the editors, but
otherwise have no employees working for the journals.
C. They, along with the American Psychiatry Association, have taken the position that
homosexuality is not a mental disorder. Their practice recommendations are to treat
patients life issues as they would anyone else, or refer them to someone who will. Their
position is to not council homosexuals to leave their lifestyle, but find ways to help them
deal with their life issues.
D. Both APAs are active in support of the homosexual community.
I. APA and other industry Journal articles
A. Pro same-sex marriage/parenting
The official statement on homosexual parenting by the American Psychological
Association's Public Interest Directorate, authored by openly lesbian activist Charlotte J.
Patterson of the University of Virginia:
In summary, there is no evidence that lesbians and gay men are unfit to be parents or that
psychosocial development among children of gay men or lesbians is compromised in any
respect. . . . Not a single study has found children of gay or lesbian parents to be
disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents.
Charlotte J. Patterson, "Lesbian and Gay Parenting," American Psychological Association Public Interest
Directorate (1995): 8.
Are children reared by two individuals of the same gender as well adjusted as children
reared in families with a mother and a father? Until recently the unequivocal answer to this
question was "no." Policymakers, social scientists, the media, and even physician organizations,
however, are now asserting that prohibitions on parenting by homosexual couples should be
lifted.
American Academy of Pediatrics, “Co parent or Second-Parent Adoption by Same-Sex Parents,” Pediatrics.
109(2002): 339-340.
Silverstein and Auerbach see no essential difference between traditional mother-father
families and homosexual-led families: "Other aspects of personal development and social
relationships were also found to be within the normal range for children raised in lesbian and gay
families." They suggest that "gay and lesbian parents can create a positive family context."
Louise B. Silverstein and Carl F. Auerbach, "Deconstructing the Essential Father," American Psychologist 54 (June
1999): 397-407.
“A growing body of scientific literature demonstrates that children who grow up with 1 or
2 gay or lesbian parents fare as well in emotional, cognitive, social, and sexual functioning as do
children whose parents are heterosexual.”
Ellen C. Perrin, MD, “Technical Report: Coparent and Second-Parent Adoption by Same-Sex Parents,” Pediatrics,
Vol. 109 No. 2, (2002) p. 341.
“Studies comparing groups of children raised by homosexual and by heterosexual parents
find no developmental differences between the two groups of children. ...”
American Psychological Association, APA Online,www.apa.org/pubinfo/answers (15 August 2004).
According to a study on homosexual parenting, researchers have given figures "of
uncertain origin, depicting a range of...6 to 14 million children of gay or lesbian parents in the
United States." According to the study's authors, the higher estimates are based upon "classifying
as a lesbigay [sic] parent anyone who reports that even the idea of homoerotic sex is appealing."
1
Instead, the authors favor a figure of about one million, which "derives from the narrower...
definition of a lesbigay parent as one who self-identifies as such."
Judith Stacey and Timothy J. Biblarz, "(How) Does the Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter?" American
Sociological Review 66 (April, 2001): 167.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) announced in early February, 2002 “a
growing body of scientific literature demonstrates that children who grow up with 1 or 2 gay or
lesbian parents fare as well in emotional, cognitive, social, and sexual functioning as do children
whose parents are heterosexual.” Based on this, the AAP supports “legislative and legal efforts”
to allow homosexuals to adopt their partner’s children.
Ellen C. Perrin, MD, “Technical Report: Coparent and Second-Parent Adoption by Same-Sex Parents,” Pediatrics,
Vol. 109 No. 2, (2002) p. 341. 2; 339. 3
The AAP received strong reaction from its membership. An email memo from the lead
author of the AAP’s Technical Report to select members of the Academy on the issue laments:
…the AAP has received more messages –almost all of them CRITICAL – from members
about the recent Policy Statement on coparent adoption than it has EVER received on any
other topic… This is a serious problem, as it means that it will become harder to continue
the work we have been doing to use the AAP as a vehicle for positive change.
Email memo from Ellen Perrin, MD to select AAP members, dated February 15, 2002.
In 1993, geneticist Dean Hamer of the National Cancer Institute released a study that
claimed to have found a genetic component to some instances of male homosexuality. "We have
now produced evidence that one form of male homosexuality is preferentially transmitted
through the maternal side and is genetically linked to chromosomal region Xq28."
H. Hamer, et al., "A Linkage Between DNA Markers on the X Chromosome and Male Sexual Orientation," Science
261 (1993): 321-327.
"Marmosets illustrate how, within a particular bioecological context, optimal child
outcomes can be achieved with fathers as primary caregivers and limited involvement by
mothers. Human examples of this proposition include single fathers . . . and families headed by
gay fathers." The twenty-six species of marmosets live in family groups of up to thirty monkeys.
Only the dominant female of the group gives birth, usually to twins. What Silverstein and
Auerbach find so impressive about these tiny primates is that, after birth, the males as well as
females of the group help carry the baby marmosets, passing them back to the mother for
nursing. Silverstein and Auerbach attach significance to what they readily admit is an "extreme
example" of the supposed "limited parenting involvement by mothers." The authors contend,
"Male marmosets behave like full-time mothers."
Louise B. Silverstein and Carl F. Auerbach, "Deconstructing the Essential Father," American Psychologist 54 (June
1999): 400.
B. Biological parents are best for children
A study in the Journal of Marriage and Family found that children living with their
married biological parents spend more time with their fathers and receive more affection and
warmth from them than those living with a step- or single father or a cohabiting father figure.
Sandra L. Hofferth and Kermyt G. Anderson, "Are All Dads Equal? Biology versus Marriage as a Basis for Paternal
Investment," Journal of Marriage and Family 65 (February 2003): 213-232.
People with abundant parental support during childhood are likely to have relatively good
health throughout adulthood, whereas people with inadequate parental support while growing up
are likely to have poorer health as adults, suggests a new study involving a nationally
representative sample of nearly 3,000 adults.
“Emotional Support From Parents Early in Life, Aging, and Health," Benjamin A. Shaw, University at Albany, State
University of New York, Neal Krause, Linda M. Chatters, Cathleen M Connell, and Berit Ingersoll-Dayton,
University of Michigan; Psychology and Aging, Vol. 19, No. 1.
Fathers exercise a unique social and biological influence on their children. A recent study
of father absence on girls found that girls who grew up apart from their biological father were
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much more likely to experience early puberty and a teen pregnancy than girls who spent their
entire childhood in an intact family. This study, along with David Popenoe's work, suggests that a
father's pheromones influence the biological development of his daughter, that a strong marriage
provides a model for girls of what to look for in a man, and gives them the confidence to resist
the sexual entreaties of their boyfriends.
Ellis, Bruce J., et al., "Does Father Absence Place Daughters at Special Risk for Early Sexual Activity and Teenage
Pregnancy?" Child Development, 74:801-821.
David Popenoe, Life Without Father (Boston: Harvard University Press, 1999).
Childrearing studies have consistently indicated that children are more likely to thrive
emotionally, mentally, and physically in a home with two heterosexual parents versus a home
with a single parent.
Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandfeur, Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1994), p. 45. Sotirios Sarantakos, "Children in Three Contexts: Family, Education, and
Social Development," Children Australia, vol. 21 (1996): 23-31. Jeanne M. Hilton and Esther L. Devall,
"Comparison of Parenting and Children’s Behavior in Single-Mother, Single-Father, and Intact Families," Journal of
Divorce and Remarriage 29 (1998): 23-54. Elizabeth Thomson et al., "Family Structure and Child Well-Being:
Economic Resources vs. Parental Behaviors," Social Forces 73 (1994): 221-42. David Popenoe, Life Without Father
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996), pp. 144, 146.
The National Center for Health Statistics found that children living with their biological
parents received professional help for behavior and psychological problems at half the rate of
children not living with both biological parents.
Deborah A. Dawson, "Family Structure and Children's Health and Well-being: Data from the National Health
Interview Survey on Child Health," Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53 (1991): 573-584.
A study found that boys and girls who lived with both biological parents had the lowest
risk of becoming sexually active. Teens living with only one biological parent, including those in
stepfamilies, were particularly at risk for becoming sexually active at younger ages.
Dawn Upchurch, et al., “Neighborhood and Family Contexts of Adolescent Sexual Activity,” Journal of Marriage
and the Family, 61 (1999): 920-930. Also: Upchurch et al, "Gender and Ethnic Differences in the Timing of First
Sexual Intercourse," Family Planning Perspectives 30 (1998): 121-127; Jeanne M. Hilton and Esther L. Devall,
"Comparison of Parenting and Children's Behavior in Single-Mother, Single-Father, and Intact Families," Journal of
Divorce and Remarriage 29 (1998): 23-54; Frank Furstenberg, Jr., and Julien Teitler, "Reconsidering the Effects of
Marital Disruption: What Happens to Children of Divorce in Early Adulthood?" Journal of Family Issues 15 (June
1994); Elizabeth Thomson et al., "Family Structure and Child Well-Being: Economic Resources vs. Parental
Behaviors," Social Forces 73 (1994): 221-42.
Children from divorced homes are 70 percent more likely than those living with
biological parents to be expelled or suspended from school.
Deborah Dawson, “Family Structure and Children’s Health and Well-Being: Data from the 1988 National Health
Interview Survey on Child Health,” Journal of Marriage and the Family 53 (1991): 573-584.
“Children residing in households with adults unrelated to them were 8 times more likely
to die of maltreatment than children in households with 2 biological parents. Risk of
maltreatment death was elevated for children residing with step, foster, or adoptive parents.”
Michael Stiffman, et al., “Household Composition and Risk of Fatal Child Maltreatment,” Pediatrics, 109 (2002),
615-621.
A study in the Netherlands, a gay-tolerant nation that has legalized homosexual marriage,
found the average duration of a homosexual relationship to be one and a half years.
Maria Xiridou, et al, "The Contribution of Steady and Casual Partnerships to the Incidence of HIV Infection among
Homosexual Men in Amsterdam," AIDS 17 (2003): 1031.
Children reared in homosexual households are more likely to experience sexual
confusion, practice homosexual behavior, and engage in sexual experimentation.
F. Tasker and S. Golombok, "Adults Raised as Children in Lesbian Families," American Journal of Orthopsychiatric
Association, 65 (1995): 213. Also: J. Michael Bailey et al., "Sexual Orientation of Adult Sons of Gay Fathers,"
Developmental Psychology 31 (1995): 124-129. F. Tasker and S. Golombok, "Do Parents Influence the Sexual
Orientation of Their Children?" Developmental Psychology 32 (1996): 7. Judith Stacey and Timothy J. Biblarz,
"(How) Does the Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter," American Sociological Review 66 (2001): 174, 179.
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Even individuals who believe that same-sex relationships are a legitimate choice for
adults may feel that children will suffer from being reared in such families.
L. Koepke et al., "Relationship Quality in a Sample of Lesbian Couples with Children and Child-free Lesbian
Couples," Family Relations 41 (1992): 228.
C. Challenges to pro same-sex marriage/parenting studies
Relevance: Heterosexual parenting is the normative model upon which most comprehensive
longitudinal research on child rearing has been based. Data on long-term outcomes for children
placed in homosexual households are very limited and the available evidence reveals grave
concerns. Those current studies that appear to indicate neutral to favorable results from
homosexual parenting have critical flaws such as non-longitudinal design, inadequate sample
size, biased sample selection, lack of proper controls, and failure to account for confounding
variables.
Therefore, the burden is on the proponents of homosexual parenting to prove that moving
further away from the heterosexual parenting model is appropriate and safe for children.
A lack of random sampling and the absence of controls guaranteeing anonymity allow
subjects to present a misleading picture to the researcher that conforms to the subject's attitudes
or opinions and suppresses evidence that does not conform to the image he or she desires to
present.
In her study of lesbian families, Patterson admits to sampling bias: “Some concerns
relevant to sampling issues should also be acknowledged. Most of the families who took part in
the Bay Area Families Study were headed by lesbian mothers who were White, well educated,
relatively affluent, and living in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. For these reasons, no claims
about representativeness of the present sample can be made.”
Charlotte J. Patterson, "Families of the Lesbian Baby Boom: Parent's Division of Labor and Children's Adjustment,"
Development Psychology 31 (1995): 122.
"It should be acknowledged that research on lesbian and gay parents and their children is
still very new and relatively scarce. . . . Longitudinal studies that follow lesbian and gay families
over time are badly needed…Research in this area has also been criticized for using poorly
matched or no control groups in designs that call for such controls. . . . Other criticisms have
been that most studies have involved relatively small samples [and] that there have been
inadequacies in assessment procedures employed in some studies…even with all the questions
and/or limitations that may characterize research in the area, none of the published research
suggests conclusions different from those that will be summarized below."
**{The years have passed since Patterson's admission of the inadequacy of homosexual
parenting studies with no definitive, objective research substantiating her claims.}**
Charlotte J. Patterson, "Lesbian and Gay Parenting," American Psychological Association Public Interest
Directorate (1995): 2, 8.
Current studies that appear to indicate neutral to favorable results from homosexual
parenting have critical flaws such as non-longitudinal design, inadequate sample size, biased
sample selection, lack of proper controls, and failure to account for confounding variables.2,3,4
Robert Lerner, Ph.D., Althea Nagai, Ph.D. No Basis: What the Studies Don't Tell Us About Same Sex Parenting,
Washington DC; Marriage Law Project/Ethics and Public Policy Center, 2001. P. Morgan, Children as Trophies?
Examining the Evidence on Same-sex Parenting, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK; Christian Institute, 2002. J. Paul
Guiliani and Dwight G. Duncan, "Brief of Amici Curiae Massachusetts Family Institute and National Association for
the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality," Appeal to the Supreme Court of Vermont, Docket No. S1009-97CnC.
“Thus far, no work has compared children’s long-term achievement in education,
occupation, income and other domains of life”.
Judith Stacey and Timothy Biblarz, “(How) Does the Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter?” American
Sociological Review,” 66 (2001), pp. 159-183.
4
Various theories have proposed differing sources for sexual orientation...However, many
scientists share the view that sexual orientation is shaped for most people at an early age through
complex interactions of biological, psychological and social factors.
From the A.P.A.'s booklet, "Answers to Your Questions About Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality"
The national organization P-FLAG ("Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays") offers a
booklet prepared with the assistance of Dr. Clinton Anderson of the American Psychological
Association. Entitled, "Why Ask Why? Addressing the Research on Homosexuality and
Biology," the pamphlet says:
"To date, no researcher has claimed that genes can determine sexual orientation. At best,
researchers believe that there may be a genetic component. No human behavior, let alone sexual
behavior, has been connected to genetic markers to date...sexuality, like every other behavior, is
undoubtedly influenced by both biological and societal factors."
Drs. George Rice and George Ebers of the University of Western Ontario and Stanford
University did attempt to reproduce Hamer's Xq28 results in a study of their own. Their study
was released in April 1999 in Science magazine, the same magazine that printed Hamer's study in
1993. Rice and Ebers failed to reproduce Hamer's results. They concluded, "These results do not
support an X-linked gene underlying male homosexuality. It is unclear why our results are so
discrepant from Hamer's original study. Because our study was larger than that of Hamer et al.,
we certainly had adequate power to detect a genetic effect as large as was reported in that study.
Nonetheless, our data do not support the presence of a gene of large effect influencing sexual
orientation at position Xq28.”
George Rice, et al., "Male Homosexuality: Absence of Linkage to Microsatellite Markers at Xq28," Science 284
(1999): 665-667.
Simon LeVay, the author of the hypothalamus study, noted, "It's important to stress what I
didn't find. I did not prove that homosexuality was genetic, or find a genetic cause for being gay.
I didn't show that gay men were born that way, the most common mistake people make in
interpreting my work"
Nimmons, D. (1994). Sexual brain. Discover, 5, 3.
The argument that homosexuality is biologically determined, and is therefore not
amenable to change, continues to find little support in science. Monitor on Psychology, the
official magazine of the American Psychological Association, there is another study that
emphasizes the fluidity of homosexual attraction. Dr. Ellen Scheter of the Fielding Graduate
Institute presented her research at the recent meeting of the American Psychological Association.
Her qualitative study included in-depth interviews with 11 women who had been self-identified
as lesbian for more than 10 years. All of these women were in heterosexual relationships which
had been ongoing for more than a year.
Greer, M. (2004). Labels may oversimplify women's sexual identity, experiences. Monitor on Psychology, 35, 9, p.
28.
"...the interaction of genes and environment is much more complicated than the simple
"violence genes" and intelligence genes" touted in the popular press. Indeed, renewed
appreciation of environmental factors is one of the chief effects of the increased belief in
genetics' effects on behavior. The same data that show the effects of genes also point to the
enormous influence of non-genetic factors."
C. Mann, "Genes and behavior," Science 264:1687 (1994), pp. 1686-1689.
Psychiatrists Friedman and Downey state that "a biopsychosocial model" best fits our
knowledge of causation, with various combinations of temperament and environmental events
leading to homosexuality. They say: "Despite recent neurobiological findings suggesting
homosexuality is genetically-biologically determined, credible evidence is lacking for a
biological model of homosexuality."
R. Friedman, M.D. and J. Downey, M.D., Journal of Neuropsychiatry, vol. 5, No. 2, Spring l993.
5
William Byne, a psychiatrist with a doctorate in biology, and Bruce Parsons carefully
analyzed all the major biological studies of homosexuality. They found none that definitively
supported a biological theory of causation.
W. Byne and B. Parsons, "Human Sexual Orientation: The Biologic Theories Reappraised." Archives of General
Psychiatry 50, no.3.
There is a genetic component to homosexuality, but 'component' is just a loose way of
indicating genetic associations and linkages. 'Linkage' and 'association' do not mean
'causation'…There is no evidence that shows that homosexuality is genetic--and none of the
research itself claims there is. Only the press and certain researchers do, when speaking in sound
bites to the public."
Jeffrey Satinover, M.D., The Journal of Human Sexuality, 1996, p.8.
Dr. Kenneth Zucker, in his careful analysis of the innate/immutable argument of
homosexuality, rostered a plethora of studies to support his conclusion that "sexual orientation is
more fluid than fixed"
Zucker, K. J. (2003). The politics and science of reparative therapy. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 32, pp. 399-400.
Also: Diamond, L. M. (2000). Sexual identity, attractions, and behavior among young sexual minority women over a
2 year period. Developmental Psychology, 36 (2), pp. 241-250. Murray, B. (2000). Sexual identity is far from fixed
in women who aren't exclusively heterosexual. Monitor on Psychology, 32(3), pp. 64-67. Friedman, R. C. &
Downey, J.I. (2002). Sexual orientation and psychoanalysis: sexual science and clinical practice (New York:
Columbia University Press). p. 39.
In a study published in the Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, P. Belcastro et al.
reviewed fourteen studies on homosexual parenting according to accepted scientific standards.
Their "most impressive finding" was that "all of the studies lacked external validity. The
conclusion that there are no significant differences in children raised by lesbian mothers versus
heterosexual mothers is not supported by the published research data base."
P. A. Belcastro et al., "A Review of Data Based Studies Addressing the Affects of Homosexual Parenting on
Children's Sexual and Social Functioning," Journal of Divorce and Remarriage 20 (1993): 105, 106.
David Cramer, whose review of twenty studies on homosexual parenting appeared in the
Journal of Counseling and Development, found the following: “The generalizability of the
studies is limited. Few studies employed control groups and most had small samples. Almost all
parents were Anglo-American, middle class, and well educated. Measures for assessing gender
roles in young children tend to focus on social behavior and generally are not accurate
psychological instruments. Therefore it is impossible to make large scale generalizations . . . that
would be applicable to all children.”
David Cramer, "Gay Parents and Their Children: A Review of Research and Practical Implications," Journal of
Counseling and Development 64 (April 1986): 506.
Studies examining the effects of homosexual parenting are weakened by inordinately
small sample sizes. After finding no significant difference between a group of nine children
raised by lesbians and a similar group of children raised by heterosexual parents, S. L. Huggins
admitted, "The meaning and implications of this finding are unclear, and the small sample size
makes any interpretation of these data difficult."
S. L. Huggins, "A Comparative Study of Self-esteem of Adolescent Children of Divorced Lesbian Mothers and
Divorced Heterosexual Mothers," Journal of Homosexuality 18 (1989): 134. Also: J. M. Bailey et al., "Sexual
Orientation of Adult Sons of Gay Fathers," Developmental Psychology 31 (1995): 124. Susan Golombok and Fiona
L. Tasker, "Do Parents Influence the Sexual Orientation of Their Children? Findings from a Longitudinal Study of
Lesbian Families," Developmental Psychology 32 (1996): 9. F. Tasker and S. Golombok, "Adults Raised as Children
in Lesbian Families," Developmental Psychology 31 (1995): 213. Ghazala A. Javaid, "The Children of Homosexual
and Heterosexual Single Mothers," Child Psychiatry and Human Development 23 (1993): 245. Jerry J. Bigner and
R. Brooke Jacobson, "Adult Responses to Child Behavior and Attitudes Toward Fathering: Gay and Nongay
Fathers," Journal of Homosexuality 23 (1992): 99-112. Norman L. Wyers, "Homosexuality in the Family: Lesbian
and Gay Spouses," Social Work 32 (1987): 144. Laura Lott-Whitehead and Carol T. Tully, "The Family Lives of
Lesbian Mothers," Smith College Studies in Social Work 63 (1993): 265.
6
R. Green et al. writing in Archives of Sexual Behavior, found that the few experimental
studies that included even modestly larger samples (13-30) of boys or girls reared by homosexual
parents:
by
[Found] developmentally important statistically significant differences between children reared
homosexual parents compared to heterosexual parents. For example, children raised by
homosexuals were found to have greater parental encouragement for cross-gender behavior [and]
greater amounts of cross-dressing and cross-gender play/role behavior.
Richard Green et al., "Lesbian Mothers and Their Children: A Comparison with Solo Parent Heterosexual Mothers
and Their Children," Archives of Sexual Behavior 15 (1986): 167-184.
“A further objection to the findings lies in the nature of the samples studied. Both groups
were volunteers obtained through gay and single-parent magazines and associations. Obviously
these do not constitute random samples, and it is not possible to know what biases are involved
in the method of sample selection.”
Golombok et al., "Children in Lesbian and Single-parent Households: Psychosexual and Psychiatric Appraisal,"
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 24 (1983): 569. Also: Norman L. Wyers, "Homosexuality in the
Family: Lesbian and Gay Spouses," Social Work 32 (1987): 144.
In their National Lesbian Family Study, N. Gartrell et al. found that eighteen of nineteen
studies of homosexual parents used a research procedure that was contaminated by selfpresentation bias. Gartrell mentions the methodological problems of one longitudinal study of
lesbian families: “Some may have volunteered for this project because they were motivated to
demonstrate that lesbians were capable of producing healthy, happy children. To the extent that
these subjects might wish to present themselves and their families in the best possible light, the
study findings may be shaped by self-justification and self-presentation bias.
Nanette Gartrell et al., "The National Lesbian Family Study: Interviews with Prospective Mothers," American
Journal of Orthopsychiatry 66 (1996): 279.
Harris and Turner admit, with regard to their study: “There is no way of knowing how
representative the sample is. . . . The high proportion of gay subjects who indicated a willingness
to be interviewed suggests that they were perhaps unusually interested in the issues raised in the
questionnaire and thus willing to divulge their homosexuality to the researchers. Moreover, even
though the questionnaire was anonymous, the gay parents may have been particularly biased
toward emphasizing the positive aspects of their relationships with their children, feeling that the
results might have implications for custody decisions in the future. Thus, all generalizations must
be viewed with caution. . . . Because all uncorroborated self-report data are subject to biases, and
because parents may deliberately or unconsciously minimize the extent of conflicts with their
children, these findings cannot be accepted at face value.
Mary B. Harris and Pauline H. Turner, "Gay and Lesbian Parents," Journal of Homosexuality 12 (1985): 111, 112.
Also: L. Keopke et al., "Relationship Quality in a Sample of Lesbian Couples with Children and Child-free Lesbian
Couples," Family Relations 41 (1992): 225.
Sociologist Steven Nock of the University of Virginia, who is agnostic on the issue of
same-sex civil marriage, offered this review of the literature on gay parenting as an expert
witness for a Canadian court considering legalization of same-sex civil marriage:
Through this analysis I draw my conclusions that 1) all of the articles I reviewed contained at
least one fatal flaw of design or execution; and 2) not a single one of those studies was conducted
according to general accepted standards of scientific research. This is not exactly the kind of
social scientific evidence you would want to launch a major family experiment.
Steven Nock, affidavit to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice regarding Hedy Halpern et al. University of Virginia
Sociology Department (2001).
It seems there are specific chores that the male marmosets cannot perform. As the authors
themselves admit, marmoset mothers perform the essential function of nursing their young,
without which the baby marmosets--who must depend upon their mother's milk for the first three
months of life--could not survive. In turn, the males of the group fill the vital role of watching the
baby marmosets, protecting them from predators, while the nursing mother forages to replenish
7
herself. In short, one could just as well argue, contrary to Silverstein and Auerbach, that the
behavior of marmoset monkeys demonstrates that both male and female fulfill separate and
important functions in the raising of young.
Louise B. Silverstein and Carl F. Auerbach, "Deconstructing the Essential Father," American Psychologist 54 (June
1999): 400.
Some scholars claim that marriage between homosexuals has been commonly practiced
and accepted by various peoples throughout history. One prominent view contends that same-sex
unions and even "marriages" have been common in other times and cultures. Professors Peter
Lubin and Dwight Duncan point out that the so-called "evidence" for homosexual marriage
comes primarily from small, isolated pre-literate tribes. Lubin and Duncan point out that "a great
many of the primitive societies deemed to be tolerant of [same-sex marriage] ... have also been
known to engage in other practices, such as cannibalism, female genital mutilation, massacre or
enslavement of enemies taken in war, and other practices which was once held to be the duty of
the civilized to extirpate.”
Furthermore, they say that what has been taken for homosexual marriages are actually
male bonding rituals that have been mistakenly eroticized. Alleged examples from ancient Rome,
such as Nero and Elagabalus, only reveal the degree to which homosexuality was held in
contempt by Roman society. In referring to Nero's homosexuality, Tacitus wrote that the emperor
"polluted himself by every lawful or lawless indulgence, [and] had not omitted a single
abomination which could heighten his depravity." This hardly constitutes an endorsement of
homosexuality in ancient Rome. The 'resistance' to same-sex marriage is not limited to 'Western
culture' with its age-old 'anti-homosexual hysteria and bigotry,' but extends to almost every
culture throughout the world."
Peter Lubin and Dwight Duncan, "Follow the Footnote or the Advocate as Historian of Same-sex Marriage,"
Catholic University Law Review 47 (Summer 1998): 1300, 1324.
D. Divorce and single-parent
Relevance: Looking at the information on divorced and single-parent families is relevant
because many same-sex homes are created as a result of a homosexual parent leaving an existing
marriage via divorce. Also relevant is the lower rate of monogamy and long-term relationships in
the homosexual community. What effect does it have on children?
A 2004 report from the National Center for Health Statistics found that married people
are happier and healthier than widowed, divorced, separated, cohabiting or never-married people,
regardless of race, age, sex, education, nationality, or income. Compared to people of other
marital statuses, the study found that married people have the least limitations in normal daily
activities, including work, getting dressed, remembering, and walking. They also experience the
lowest amount of serious psychological distress, and drink and smoke less.
Charlotte A. Schoenborn, "Marital Status and Health: United States, 1999-2002," Advance Data from Vital and
Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Number 351, December 15, 2004).
A 2000 study found that married persons have the lowest incidences of diseases such as
diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.
Amy Mehraban Pienta, "Health Consequences of Marriage for the Retirement Years," Journal of Family Issues 21
(July 2000):559-586.
Two leading scholars on the impact of family configuration upon child health find that
single mothers report poorer overall physical health for their children than do mothers in intact
marriages, regardless of racial or ethnic status.
Ronald J. Angel and Jacqueline Worobey, “Single Motherhood and Children’s Health,” Journal of Health and
Social Behavior 29 (1988): 38-52.
A 2003 study of eleven industrialized countries found that children living in single-parent
families have lower math and science scores than children in two-parent families. The correlation
8
between single parenthood and low test scores was strongest among children in the United States
and New Zealand.
Suet-Ling Pong, et al., "Family Policies and Children's School Achievement in Single- Versus Two-Parent
Families," Journal of Marriage and Family 65 (August 2003) 681-699.
Women who are in satisfying marriages have a health advantage over unmarried women
or those in unsatisfying marriages.
“Marital Status and Quality in Middle-Aged Women: Associations With Levels and Trajectories of Cardiovascular
Risk Factors," Linda C. Gallo, San Diego State University, Wendy M. Troxel, University of Pittsburgh, Karen A.
Matthews, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Lewis H. Kuller, University of Pittsburgh; Health
Psychology, Vol. 22, No. 5.
Children of divorce have a shattered template for marriage, causing them to distrust
marriage and to avoid it for fear of divorce. Studies have found that these children are twice as
likely to cohabit before marriage and to divorce.
Jay D. Teachman, "The Childhood Living Arrangements of Children and the Characteristics of Their Marriages,"
Journal of Family Issues 25 (January 2004): 86-111. Also, Paul R. Amato and Danelle D. DeBoer, "The
Transmission of Marital Instability across Generations:Relationship Skills or Commitment to Marriage?" Journal of
Marriage and Family 63 (November 2001): 1038-1051.
Studies show the general health problems of children from broken homes is increased by
20 to 30 percent, even when adjusting for demographic variables.
L. Remez, "Children Who Don't Live with Both Parents Face Behavioral Problems," Family Planning Perspectives,
January/February 1992.
Those living with never-married mothers are twice as likely to be expelled or suspended.
Also, children who do not live with both biological parents are 45 to 95 percent more likely to
require parent/teacher meetings to deal with performance or behavior problems than those who
live with married parents.
Deborah Dawson, “Family Structure and Children’s Health and Well-Being: Data from the 1988 National Health
Interview Survey on Child Health,” Journal of Marriage and the Family 53 (1991): 573-584.
Children of divorce showed “high levels of emotional distress, or problem behavior, [and
were more likely] to have received psychological help.”
Nicholas Zill, Donna Morrison, and Mary Jo Coiro, "Long-Term Effects of Parental Divorce on Parent-Child
Relationships, Adjustment, and Achievement in Young Adulthood," Journal of Family Psychology, 7 (1993):91103.
Children living with a single biological parent is nearly twice as likely to be sexually
abused compared with a child living with a married mother and father.
David Finkelhor, et al., “Sexually Abused Children in a National Survey of Parents: Methodological Issues,” Child
Abuse and Neglect, 21 (1997): 1-9.
Single-mother, cohabiting 2-parent, and married 2-parent families with infants were
compared on maternal and infant behavior, Home Observation for Measurement of the
Environment (HOME) scores, and infant's security of attachment. Married mothers and their
infants demonstrated more positive behavior and received higher HOME scores when the infant
was 6 and 15 months old than did their cohabiting and single counterparts. Married families were
also better off than single and cohabiting families on several demographic, parent personality,
financial, and social context measures.
Stacey Rosenkrantz Aronson and Aletha C. Huston. “The Mother–Infant Relationship in Single, Cohabiting, and
Married Families: A Case for Marriage?” Journal of Family Psychology, 2004, Vol. 18, No. 1, 5–18
E. Comparisons of Homosexual and Married Couples
Questions: Are they the same? Are they both just two people in love, one group prefers opposite
sex partners while the other prefers the same? Is there any difference in monogamy, long-term
relationships? Are there any lifestyle differences that are relevant? Do the answers really affect
the children in any way?
9
Gay male couples in Sweden were 50% more likely to divorce within an eight-year period
than were heterosexuals; and lesbian couples were 167% more likely to divorce than
heterosexual couples.
Andersson, Gunnar. "Divorce-Risk Patterns In Same-Sex 'Marriages' In Norway And Sweden." IMPP, May 2004.
A nationally representative survey of 884 men and 1,288 women found that 77 percent of
married men and 88 percent of married women had remained faithful to their marriage vows.
Michael W. Wiederman, "Extramarital Sex: Prevalence and Correlates in a National Survey," Journal of Sex
Research 34 (1997): 170.
Homosexual partnerships are significantly more prone to dissolution than heterosexual
marriages with the average homosexual relationship lasting only two to three years.
M. Saghir and E. Robins, Male and Female Homosexuality (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1973), p. 225; L. A.
Peplau and H. Amaro, "Understanding Lesbian Relationships," in Homosexuality: Social, Psychological, and
Biological Issues, ed. J. Weinrich and W. Paul (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1982). Also: M. Pollak, "Male Homosexuality,"
in Western Sexuality: Practice and Precept in Past and Present Times, ed. P. Aries and A. Bejin, translated by
Anthony Forster (New York, NY: B. Blackwell, 1985), pp. 40-61, cited by Joseph Nicolosi in Reparative Therapy of
Male Homosexuality (Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson Inc., 1991), pp. 124, 125.
Pro-homosexual researchers, J. J. Bigner and R. B. Jacobson describe the homosexual
father as "socioculturally unique," trying to take on "two apparently opposing roles: that of a
father (with all its usual connotations) and that of a homosexual man." They describe the
homosexual father as "both structurally and psychologically at social odds with his interest in
keeping one foot in both worlds: parenting and homosexuality."
Bigner and Jacobson, "Adult Responses to Child Behavior and Attitudes Toward Fathering," Frederick W. Bozett,
ed., Homosexuality and the Family (New York: Harrington Park Press, 1989), pp. 174, 175.
The study of the sexual profiles of 2,583 older homosexuals found that "the modal range
for number of sexual partners ever [of homosexuals] was 101-500." In addition, 10.2 percent to
15.7 percent had between 501 and 1,000 partners. A further 10.2 percent to 15.7 percent reported
having had more than 1000 lifetime sexual partners. Brad Hayton provides insight into the
attitudes of many homosexuals towards commitment and marriage: “Homosexuals...are taught by
example and belief that marital relationships are transitory and mostly sexual in nature. Sexual
relationships are primarily for pleasure rather than procreation. And they are taught that
monogamy in a marriage is not the norm [and] should be discouraged if one wants a good
"marital" relationship.”
Paul Van de Ven et al., "A Comparative Demographic and Sexual Profile of Older Homosexually Active Men,"
Journal of Sex Research 34 (1997): 354. Also: A. P. Bell and M. S. Weinberg, Homosexualities: A Study of
Diversity Among Men and Women (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978), pp. 308, 309; See also A. P. Bell, M. S.
Weinberg, and S. K. Hammersmith, Sexual Preference (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981). Esther
Rothblum and Sondra Solomon, Civil Unions in the State of Vermont: A Report on the First Year. University of
Vermont Department of Psychology, 2003. Paul Van de Ven et al., "A Comparative Demographic and Sexual Profile
of Older Homosexually Active Men," Journal of Sex Research 34 (1997): 354. A. A. Deenen, "Intimacy and
Sexuality in Gay Male Couples," Archives of Sexual Behavior, 23 (1994): 421-431. "Sex Survey Results," Genre
(October 1996), quoted in "Survey Finds 40 percent of Gay Men Have Had More Than 40 Sex Partners," Lambda
Report, January 1998, p. 20. Maria Xiridoui, et al., “The Contribution of Steady and Casual Partnerships to the
Incidence of HIV Infection among Homosexual Men in Amsterdam,” AIDS 17 (2003): 1029-1038. [Note: one of the
findings of this recent study is that those classified as being in “steady relationships” reported an average of 8 casual
partners a year in addition to their partner (p. 1032)]
Judith Stacey-- a sociologist and an advocate for same-sex civil marriage--reviewed the
literature on child outcomes and found the following: "lesbian parenting may free daughters and
sons from a broad but uneven range of traditional gender prescriptions." Her conclusion here is
based on studies that show that sons of lesbians are less masculine and that daughters of lesbians
are more masculine. She also found that a "significantly greater proportion of young adult
children raised by lesbian mothers than those raised by heterosexual mothers ... reported having a
homoerotic relationship." Stacey also observes that children of lesbians are more likely to report
homoerotic attractions.
10
Judith Stacey and Timothy Biblarz, "(How) Does the Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter?" American Sociological
Review 66: 159-183. See especially 168-171.
F. Homosexual issues
Relevance: There are specific issues associated with the homosexual community that are not in
or are different than the heterosexual community. Do these issues affect the children in any way?
Are they a benefit or a detriment to a parent-child relationship? Are these lifestyle issues going to
change with marriage? Or when a child is brought in? Do same-sex parents really have an
influence over the child’s future sexual relationships?
A Bureau of Justice Statistics (an agency of the U.S. Department of Justice) report found
that married women in traditional families experience the lowest rate of violence compared with
women in other types of relationships. Women who were not married to their "intimate partner"
(i.e., were cohabiting), experienced a rate of violence four times higher than that of married
women (11.3 per thousand vs. 2.6 per thousand). Homosexual and lesbian couples experience by
far the highest levels of intimate partner violence compared with married couples as well as
cohabiting heterosexual couples. Lesbians, for example, suffer a much higher level of violence
than do married women.
"Intimate Partner Violence," Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report (U.S. Department of Justice, May, 2000): 4,
11. Also: "Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence," U.S. Department of Justice: Office of
Justice Programs (July, 2000): 30. Cp. "Violence Between Intimates," Bureau of Justice Statistics Selected
Findings, November 1994, p. 2. Gwat Yong Lie and Sabrina Gentlewarrier, "Intimate Violence in Lesbian
Relationships: Discussion of Survey Findings and Practice Implications," Journal of Social Service Research 15
(1991): 41-59.
D. Island and P. Letellier, Men Who Beat the Men Who Love Them: Battered Gay Men and Domestic Violence
(New York: Haworth Press, 1991), p. 14. Lettie L. Lockhart et al., "Letting out the Secret: Violence in Lesbian
Relationships," Journal of Interpersonal Violence 9 (1994): 469-492. "Violence Between Intimates," Bureau of
Justice Statistics Selected Findings, November 1994, p. 2. Health Implications Associated With Homosexuality
(Austin: The Medical Institute for Sexual Health, 1999), p. 79.
The National Violence against Women Survey, sponsored by the National Institute of
Justice, found that "same-sex cohabitants reported significantly more intimate partner violence
than did opposite-sex cohabitants. Thirty-nine percent of the same-sex cohabitants reported being
raped, physically assaulted, and/or stalked by a marital/cohabitating partner at some time in their
lifetimes, compared to 21.7 percent of the opposite-sex cohabitants. Among men, the comparable
figures are 23.1 percent and 7.4 percent."
"Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence," U.S. Department of Justice: Office of Justice
Programs (July, 2000): 30.
Researchers found that 90 percent of the lesbians surveyed had been recipients of one or
more acts of verbal aggression from their intimate partners during the year prior to this study,
with 31 percent reporting one or more incidents of physical abuse.
Lettie L. Lockhart et al., "Letting out the Secret:Violence in Lesbian Relationships," Journal of Interpersonal
Violence 9 (1994): 469-492.
Gay men were almost ten percentage points more apt to suffer mental disorder (44% to
35%) than heterosexuals, with almost the same relative rate for lesbians compared to straight
women (44% to 34%).
The study, which was conducted between September 2000 and July 2002, was the largest
ever attempted in Europe.
King, M., E. McKeown, J. Warner, A. Ramsay, K. Johnson, C. Cort, L. Wright, R. Blizard, and O. Davidson,
"Mental Health and Quality of Life of Gay Men and Lesbians in England and Wales, British J. of Psychiatry
(2003),183, 552-558.
Also: Theo G. M. Sandfort, Ron de Graaf, Rob V. Bijl, Paul Schnabel, "Same-Sex Sexual Behavior and Psychiatric
Disorders:Findings from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study (NEMESIS)," Archives of
11
General Psychiatry 58 (2001): 85-91. Bailey, J.M., "Commentary: Homosexuality and Mental Illness," Archives of
General Psychiatry, October 1999, vol. 56, no. 10, 876-880. British Journal of Psychiatry, December 2003, p. 556.
D. Fergusson et al., "Is Sexual Orientation Related to Mental Health Problems and Suicidality in Young People?"
Archives of General Psychiatry 56 (October 1999). J. Bradford et al., "National Lesbian Health Care Survey:
Implications for Mental Health Care," Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 62 (1994): 239, cited in Health
Implications Associated with Homosexuality, p. 81. Theo G. M. Sandfort, et al., "Same-sex Sexual Behavior and
Psychiatric Disorders," Archives of General Psychiatry 58 (January 2001): 85-91. Bailey, J.M. Commentary:
Homosexuality and mental illness. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry. 56 (1999): 876-880. Author states, "These studies contain
arguably the best published data on the association between homosexuality and psychopathology, and both converge
on the same unhappy conclusion: homosexual people are at substantially higher risk for some forms of emotional
problems, including suicidality, major depression, and anxiety disorder, conduct disorder, and nicotine
dependence...." Joanne Hall, "Lesbians Recovering from Alcoholic Problems: An Ethnographic Study of Health
Care Expectations," Nursing Research 43 (1994): 238-244. R. Herrell et al., "Sexual Orientation and Suicidality, Cotwin Study in Adult Men," Archives of General Psychiatry 56 (1999): 867-874. Vickie M. Mays, et al., "Risk of
Psychiatric Disorders among Individuals Reporting Same-sex Sexual Partners in the National Comorbidity Survey,"
American Journal of Public Health, vol. 91 (June 2001): 933-939. Robert S. Hogg et al., "Modeling the Impact of
HIV Disease on Mortality in Gay and Bisexual Men," International Journal of Epidemiology 26 (1997): 657.
Although some would claim that these dysfunctions are a result of societal pressures in
America, the same dysfunctions exist at inordinately high levels among homosexuals in cultures
were the practice is more widely accepted. The Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence
Study found that "people with same-sex sexual behavior are at greater risk for psychiatric
disorders." This is true even in one of the most "gay-friendly" nations on earth, the first nation to
grant same-sex civil marriage.
Sandfort, T.G.M.; de Graaf, R.; Bijl, R.V.; Schnabel. Same-sex sexual behavior and psychiatric disorders. Arch.
Gen. Psychiatry. 58 (2001): 85-91. Also: Theo G. M. Sandfort, Ron de Graaf, Rob V. Bijl, Paul Schnabel, "SameSex Sexual Behavior and Psychiatric Disorders:Findings from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence
Study (NEMESIS)," Archives of General Psychiatry 58 (2001): 85-91.
A twins study that examined the relationship between homosexuality and suicide, found
that homosexuals with same-sex partners were at greater risk for overall mental health problems
and were 6.5 times more likely than their twins to have attempted suicide. The higher rate was
not attributable to mental health or substance abuse disorders.
R. Herrell, et al., "A Co-Twin Study in Adult Men," Archives of General Psychiatry 56 (1999): 867-874.
In a major Canadian center, life expectancy at age twenty for gay and bisexual men is
eight to twenty years less than for all men. If the same pattern of mortality were to continue, we
estimate that nearly half of gay and bisexual men currently aged twenty years will not reach their
sixty-fifth birthday. Under even the most liberal assumptions, gay and bisexual men in this urban
center are now experiencing a life expectancy similar to that experienced by all men in Canada in
the year 1871.
Robert S. Hogg et al., "Modeling the Impact of HIV Disease on Mortality in Gay and Bisexual Men," International
Journal of Epidemiology 26 (1997): 657.
A study in Developmental Psychology found that 12 percent of the children of lesbians
became active lesbians themselves, a rate which is at least four times the base rate of lesbianism
in the adult female population.
F. Tasker and S. Golombok, "Adults Raised as Children in Lesbian Families," p. 213.
Numerous studies indicate that while nearly 5 percent of males report having had a
homosexual experience sometime in their lives, the number of exclusive homosexuals is
considerably less: Between 1 and 2 percent of males report exclusive homosexual behavior over
a several-year period. However, J. M. Bailey et al. found that 9 percent of the adult sons of
homosexual fathers were homosexual in their adult sexual behavior: "The rate of homosexuality
in the sons (9 percent) is several times higher than that suggested by the population-based
surveys and is consistent with a degree of father-to-son transmission."
J. M. Bailey et al., "Sexual Orientation of Adult Sons of Gay Fathers," Developmental Psychology 31 (1995): 124129. Also: J. O. G. Billy et al., "The Sexual Behavior of Men in the United States," Family Planning Perspectives 25
(1993): 52-60; A. M. Johnson et al., "Sexual Lifestyles and HIV Risk," Nature 360 (1992): 410-412; ACSF
12
Investigators, "AIDS and Sexual Behavior in France," Nature 360 (1992): 407-409. Tasker and Golombok, "Do
Parents Influence the Sexual Orientation?" p. 7. Judith Stacey and Timothy J. Biblarz, "(How) Does the Sexual
Orientation of Parents Matter," American Sociological Review 66 (2001): 174, 179.
A study of steady and casual male homosexual relationships in Amsterdam found that
"steady partners contribute to (HIV) incidence more than casual partners. This can mainly be
explained by the fact that risky behavior with steady partners is much greater than that with
casual partners (30 versus 1. 5 UAI [unprotected anal intercourse] acts annually)."
Maria Xiridou, et al, "The Contribution of Steady and Casual Partnerships to the Incidence of HIV Infection among
Homosexual Men in Amsterdam," AIDS 17 (2003): 1033.
The exclusivity of the relationship did not diminish the incidence of unhealthy sexual
acts, which are commonplace among homosexuals. An English study published in the same issue
of AIDS concurred, finding that most "unsafe" sex acts among homosexuals occur in steady
relationships.
G. J. Hart et al., "Risk Behaviour, Anti-HIV and Anti-Hepatitis B Core Prevalence in Clinic and Non-clinic Samples
of Gay Men in England, 1991-1992," AIDS (July 1993): 863-869. Also: A.P.M. Coxon et al., "Sex Role Separation
in Diaries of Homosexual Men," AIDS (July 1993):877-882, 141.
The journal Sexually Transmitted Infections concludes: "The risk behavior profile of
exclusive WSW (women who have sex with women) was similar to all wsw." One reason for this
is because lesbians "were significantly more likely to report past sexual contact with a
homosexual or bisexual man and sexual contact with an IDU (intravenous drug user)."
"Sexually Transmitted Infections," 347
A study of 279 homosexual/bisexual men with AIDS and control patients discussed in the
Journal of the American Medical Association reported: "More than half of both case and control
patients reported a sexual act with a male by age 16 years, approximately 20 percent by age 10
years."
Harry W. Haverkos, et al., "The Initiation of Male Homosexual Behavior," The Journal of the American Medical
Association 262 (July 28, 1989): 501.
A report by the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children states: "In both
clinical and non-clinical samples, the vast majority of offenders are male."
John Briere, et al.,eds., The APSAC Handbook on Child Maltreatment (Thousand Oaks, California: Sage
Publications, 1996), pp. 52, 53.
The Archives of Sexual Behavior reports: "One of the most salient findings of this study is
that 46 percent of homosexual men and 22 percent of homosexual women reported having been
molested by a person of the same gender. This contrasts to only 7 percent of heterosexual men
and 1 percent of heterosexual women reporting having been molested by a person of the same
gender."
Marie, E. Tomeo, et al., "Comparative Data of Childhood and Adolescence Molestation in Heterosexual and
Homosexual Persons," Archives of Sexual Behavior 30 (2001): 539.
A study in Adolescence found: “A disproportionate percentage--29 percent--of the adult
children of homosexual parents had been specifically subjected to sexual molestation by that
homosexual parent, compared to only 0.6 percent of adult children of heterosexual parents
having reported sexual relations with their parent. . . . Having a homosexual parent(s) appears to
increase the risk of incest with a parent by a factor of about 50.
P. Cameron and K. Cameron, "Homosexual Parents," Adolescence 31 (1996): 772.
A study of convicted child molesters found that "86 percent of offenders against males
described themselves as homosexual or bisexual." This does not mean that all, or even most,
homosexual men are child molesters--but it does show that homosexuality is a significant risk
factor.
W. D. Erickson, M.D., et al., in Archives of Sexual Behavior 17:1, 1988
260 pedophile participants were divided into three groups: "152 heterosexual pedophiles
(men with offenses or self-reported attractions involving girls only), 43 bisexual pedophiles
(boys and girls), and 65 homosexual pedophiles (boys only)." In other words, 25 percent of the
13
offenders were homosexual pedophiles--or 41 percent if those who molest girls as well as boys
are included.
Ray Blanchard, et al., "Fraternal Birth Order and Sexual Orientation in Pedophiles," Archives of Sexual Behavior 29
(2000): 471.
“Man/boy and woman/girl relations without doubt are same-sex relations and they do
constitute an aspect of gay and lesbian life." Graupner argues that, as such, consensual sexual
relations between adult homosexuals and youths as young as fourteen qualifies as a "gay rights
issue."
Helmut Graupner, "Love Versus Abuse: Crossgenerational Sexual Relations of Minors: A Gay Rights Issue?"
Journal of Homosexuality 37 (1999): 23, 26.
II. Books, papers, and articles
A. Pro same-sex marriage/parenting
“All the scientific evidence points to no differences among children raised in heterosexual
or homosexual families.”
Ed Susman, “AMA Backs Same-Sex Adoption,” Washington Times, June 16, 2004; www.washingtontimes.com/upibreaking/20040615-035749-1425r.htm (16 June 2004).
U.S. population of gays and lesbians is 10,456,405, or 5 percent of the total U.S.
population over 18 years of age.
David M. Smith and Gary J. Gates, "Gay and Lesbian Families in the United States: Same-Sex Unmarried Partner
Households," Human Rights Campaign (August 22, 2001): 2.
"We're the couple next door," claimed one partnered homosexual. "We have a dog and a
cat. I drive a Volvo. I'm boring."
Robert Gebeloff and Mary Jo Patterson, "Married and Gay Couples Are Not All that Different" Times-Picayune
(November 22, 2003).
B. Biological Parents are best for children
“Most researchers now agree that…studies support the notion that, on average, children
do best when raised by their two married biological parents…”
Mary Parke, “Are Married Parents Really Better for Children?” Center for Law and Social Policy Policy Brief, May
2003, p. 1.
University of Virginia psychologist Mavis Hetherington: Marriages typically thrive when
spouses specialize in gender-typical ways and are attentive to the gendered needs and aspirations
of their husband or wife. For instance, women are happier when their husband earns the lion's
share of the household income. Likewise, couples are less likely to divorce when the wife
concentrates on childrearing and the husband concentrates on breadwinning.
E. Mavis Hetherington and John Kelly, For Better or For Worse. (W.W. Norton and Co., 2002) 31.
Mothers excel in providing children with emotional security and in reading the physical
and emotional cues of infants. Obviously, they also give their daughters unique counsel as they
confront the physical, emotional, and social challenges associated with puberty and adolescence.
Stanford psychologist Eleanor MacCoby summarizes much of this literature in her book.
Eleanor MacCoby, The Two Sexes: Growing Up Apart, Coming Together (Boston: Harvard, 1998).
“If we were asked to design a system for making sure that children's basic needs were
met, we would probably come up with something quite similar to the two-parent ideal. Such a
design, in theory, would not only ensure that children had access to the time and money of two
adults, it also would provide a system of checks and balances that promoted quality parenting.
The fact that both parents have a biological connection to the child would increase the likelihood
that the parents would identify with the child and be willing to sacrifice for that child, and it
would reduce the likelihood that either parent would abuse the child.”
Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps (Boston: Harvard
University Press, 1994) 38.
14
Author and sociologist David Popenoe confirms that mothers and fathers fulfill different
roles in their children's lives. In Life without Father Popenoe notes, "Through their play, as well
as in their other child-rearing activities, fathers tend to stress competition, challenge, initiative,
risk taking and independence. Mothers in their care-taking roles, in contrast, stress emotional
security and personal safety." Parents also discipline their children differently: "While mothers
provide an important flexibility and sympathy in their discipline, fathers provide ultimate
predictability and consistency. Both dimensions are critical for an efficient, balanced, and
humane child-rearing regime."
David Popenoe, Life Without Father (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996), pp. 144, 146.
Also: Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps
(Cambridge:Harvard University Press, 1994), p. 45; Pat Fagan, "How Broken Families Rob Children of Their
Chances for Prosperity," Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 1283, June 11, 1999, p. 13; Jane Mauldon, "The
Effect of Marital Disruption on Children's Health," Demography 27 (1990): 431-446; Kristin Anderson Moore, et
al., “Marriage From a Child’s Perspective: How Does Family Structure Affect Children, and What Can We Do about
It?” Child Trends Research Brief, June 2002, p. 1. David Blankenhorn, Fatherless America (New York: Basic
Books, 1995), p. 219. Pitirim Sorokin, The American Sex Revolution (Boston: Porter Sargent Publishers, 1956), pp.
6, 77-105.
The Netherlands, Sweden, and Canada have birthrates that hover around 1.6 children per
woman--well below the replacement fertility rate of 2.1.
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/sw.html
http://marriage.rutgers.edu/Publications/SOOU/SOOU2003.pdf
C. Challenges to same-sex marriage/parenting studies
Dean Hamer, the author of the "gay gene" study: "We knew that genes were only part of
the answer. We assumed the environment also played a role in sexual orientation, as it does in
most, if not all behaviors...(Hamer and Copeland, 1994, p. 82). Hamer further emphasizes,
"Homosexuality is not purely genetic...environmental factors play a role. There is not a single
master gene that makes people gay...I don't think we will ever predict who will be gay"
Hamer, D. & Copeland, P. (1994). The science of desire. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Mitchell, N, (1995). Genetics, sexuality linked, study says. Standard Examiner, April 30.
“Genes are hardware...the data of life's experiences are processed through the sexual
software into the circuits of identity. I suspect the sexual software is a mixture of both genes and
environment, in much the same way the software of a computer is a mixture of what's installed at
the factory and what's added by the user."
P. Copeland and D. Hamer (1994) The Science of Desire. New York: Simon and Schuster.
When "gay gene" researcher Dr. Dean Hamer was asked if homosexuality was rooted
solely in biology, he replied, "Absolutely not. From twin studies, we already know that half or
more of the variability in sexual orientation is not inherited. Our studies try to pinpoint the
genetic factors...not negate the psychosocial factors."
"New Evidence of a 'Gay Gene'," by Anastasia Toufexis, Time, November 13, 1995, vol. 146, Issue 20, p. 95.
"Virtually all of the evidence argues against there being a determinative physiological
causal factor and I know of no researcher who believes that such a determinative factor
exists...such factors play a predisposing, not a determinative role...I know of no one in the field
who argues that homosexuality can be explained without reference to environmental
factors…Gay criticism has not addressed the classic family configuration"; it has merely
"asserted away the considerable evidence" for the existence of family factors. Studies which
attempt to disprove the existence of the classic family pattern in homosexuality are"convincing
only to those with a need to believe."
S. Goldberg (1994) When Wish Replaces Thought: Why So Much of What You Believe is False. Buffalo, New York:
Prometheus Books.
15
"Like all complex behavioral and mental states, homosexuality is...neither exclusively
biological nor exclusively psychological, but results from an as-yet-difficult-to-quantitate
mixture of genetic factors, intrauterine influences...postnatal environment (such as parent, sibling
and cultural behavior), and a complex series of repeatedly reinforced choices occurring at critical
phases of development."
--J. Satinover, M.D., Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth (1996). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
A study was done by Australian behavioral geneticist Nicolas Martin and Northwestern
University psychologist Michael Bailey. Using a national registry of twins in Australia, rather
than recruiting twins through advertisements in homosexual publications, they studied 1,912
women between the ages of 17 and 50. They found no difference in the rate of lesbianism in
monozygotic (identical) or dyzogotic (fraternal) twins. If there were a genetic factor to
lesbianism, the incidence of shared lesbianism would be 100 percent in monozygotic twins, who
have identical genetic makeup, as opposed to dyzogotic twins, who share about 50 percent of
their genetic code. Hamer wrote, "The results showed that for women the main influence on
sexual orientation was the shared environment--being raised in the same household by the same
parent--while genes seemed to count hardly at all."
Dean Hamer and Peter Copeland, Living With Our Genes: Why They Matter More than You Think (New York:
Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1998), pp. 188-189.
“Nearly all of the existing studies of homosexual parenting have major deficiencies in
sampling: They use a small sample size; they fail to obtain a truly representative sample due to
sources of sampling bias; they do not use a random sample; or they use a sample with
characteristics that are inappropriate for the crucial development research question involved in
the study.”
J. Paul Guiliani and Dwight G. Duncan, "Brief of Amici Curiae Massachusetts Family Institute and National
Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality," Appeal to the Supreme Court of Vermont, Docket No.
S1009-97CnC.
"Most studies of gay fathers are based on nonrandom small sample sizes, with subjects
who are Caucasian, middle- to upper-class, well educated with occupations commensurate with
their education, who come mostly from urban centers, and who are relatively accepting of their
homosexuality. There is severely limited knowledge of gay fathers who vary from these
demographics. Moreover, the validity and reliability of the instruments used in the studies
reported are not always addressed."
Frederick W. Bozett, "Gay Fathers: A Review of the Literature," in Homosexuality and the Family (New York:
Harrington Park Press, 1989), p. 152.
In their thorough review of homosexual parenting studies, Robert Lerner and Althea K.
Nagai found little evidence to support the oft-repeated mantra that homosexual households are
"just like" traditional families: "We conclude that the methods used in these studies are so flawed
that these studies prove nothing. Therefore, they should not be used in legal cases to make any
argument about 'homosexual vs. heterosexual' parenting. Their claims have no basis."
Robert Lerner and Althea K. Nagai, No Basis: What the Studies Don't Tell Us About Same Sex Parenting
(Washington: Ethics and Public Policy Center, 2001): 6.
Also: Justin Torres, "APA Fatherhood Report 'Utter Nonsense,'" Conservative News Service, July 16, 1999.
Harvard sociologist, Pitirim Sorokin, analyzed cultures spanning several thousand years
on several continents, and found that virtually no society has ceased to regulate sexuality within
marriage as defined as the union of a man and a woman, and survived.
Sorokin, Pitirim. The American Sex Revolution, (Boston:Peter Sargent Publishers, 1956): 77-105.
D. Divorce and single-parent
“Regardless of which survey we looked at, children from one-parent families are about
twice as likely to drop out of school as children from two-parent families.” Children from
biological two-parent families have, on average, test scores and grade-point averages that are
16
higher, they miss fewer school days, and have greater expectations of attending college than
children living with one parent. Additionally, of those from either type of family who do attend
college, those from two-parent families are seven to 20 percent more likely to finish college.
Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps, (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1994), p. 19, 47.
The Progressive Policy Institute, the research arm of the Democratic Leadership Council,
reports that the “relationship between crime and one-parent families” is “so strong that
controlling for family configuration erases the relationship between race and crime and between
low-income and crime. This conclusion shows up time and again in the literature.” “It is no
exaggeration to say that a stable, two-parent family is an American child’s best protection against
poverty.”
Elaine Kamarck and William Galston, “Putting Children First: A Progressive Family Policy for the 1990s,”
whitepaper from the Progressive Policy Institute (September 27, 1990), p. 12, 14-15.
White and black girls growing up in single-parent homes are 111 percent more likely to
bear children as teenagers, 164 percent more likely to have a child out of marriage, and – if they
do marry – their marriages are 92 percent more likely to dissolve compared to their counterparts
with married parents.
Irwin Garfinkel and Sara McLanahan, Single Mothers and Their Children: A New American Dilemma (Washington
D.C.: The Urban Institute Press, 1986), pp. 30-31.
Historically, poverty has been a result of unemployment and low wages. Today, it is
primarily a result of family structure. David Ellwood, Professor of Public Policy at Harvard
University, notes: The vast majority of children who are raised entirely in a two-parent home will
never be poor during childhood. By contrast, the vast majority of children who spend time in a
single-parent home will experience poverty.
David Ellwood, Poor Support: Poverty in the American Family (New York: Basic Books, 1988), p. 46.
Also: Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, America's Children: Key Indicators of Well-Being
2001," Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, p. 14. U.S. Census Bureau, "Historical Income
Tables - Families," Table F-10, Available at www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/f10.html. Susan L. Brown, "Child
Well-being in Cohabiting Families," in Alan Booth and Ann C. Crouter, eds., Just Living Together: Implications of
Cohabitation on Families, Children, and Social Policy (New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002), p. 173187. Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi, A General Theory of Crime (Stanford: Stanford University Press,
1990), p. 103. James Q. Wilson, “Why We Don’t Marry,” City Journal. Judith Wallerstein and Sandra Blakeslee,
Second Chances: Men and Woman a Decade After Divorce, (New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1990); Judith
Wallerstein, et al., The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: A 25 Year Landmark Study, (New York: Hyperion, 2000), p.
xxvii-xxix. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, The Relationship Between Family
Structure and Adolescent Substance Use, Rockville, MD: National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information,
1996.
Research found that a girl is seven times more likely to be molested by a stepfather than a
biological father. The study goes on to report that when biological fathers did molest their young
daughters, a mother was not residing in the home who could protect the child. What is more, the
nature of sexual abuse by stepfathers was more severe than by biological fathers.
Michael Gordon, “The Family Environment of Sexual Abuse: A Comparison of Natal and Stepfather Abuse,” Child
Abuse and Neglect, 13 (1985): 121-130.
E. Comparisons of Homosexual and Married Couples
A 1997 national survey found that 75 percent of husbands and 85 percent of wives never
had sexual relations outside of marriage.
E. O. Laumann et al., The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States
(Chicago:University of Chicago Press, 1994 ): 216. Also: "Sexual Habits of Americans Have Changed Dramatically
in Ten Years: New National Survey Finds Both Men and Women More Committed and Caring" PR Newswire
(August 4, 1994).
Although homosexual men are less likely to have children than lesbians, homosexual men
are and will be raising children. There will be even more if homosexual civil marriage is
legalized. These households deny children a mother. Among other things, mothers excel in
17
providing children with emotional security and in reading the physical and emotional cues of
infants. Obviously, they also give their daughters unique counsel as they confront the physical,
emotional, and social challenges associated with puberty and adolescence. Stanford psychologist
Eleanor MacCoby summarizes much of this literature in her book.
Eleanor MacCoby, The Two Sexes: Growing Up Apart, Coming Together (Boston: Harvard, 1998).
Also: Steven Rhoads, Taking Sex Differences Seriously (Encounter Books, 2004).
A 2001 National Center for Health Statistics study on marriage and divorce statistics
reported that 66 percent of first marriages last ten years or longer, with fifty percent lasting
twenty years or longer.
Matthew D. Bramlett and William D. Mosher, "First Marriage Dissolution, Divorce and Remarriage: United States,"
Advance Data, National Center for Health Statistics (May 31, 2001)
A 2002 U.S. Census Bureau study reported similar results, with 70.7 percent of women
married between 1970 and 1974 reaching their tenth anniversary and 57.7 percent staying
married for twenty years or longer.
Rose M. Kreider and Jason M. Fields, "Number, Timing, and Duration of Marriages and Divorces: 1996" Current
Population Reports, P70-80, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, D.C. (February 2002)
Sara McLanahan, a sociologist at Princeton University, writes: If we were asked to design
a system for making sure that children's basic needs were met, we would probably come up with
something quite similar to the two-parent ideal. Such a design, in theory, would not only ensure
that children had access to the time and money of two adults, it also would provide a system of
checks and balances that promoted quality parenting. The fact that both parents have a biological
connection to the child would increase the likelihood that the parents would identify with the
child and be willing to sacrifice for that child, and it would reduce the likelihood that either
parent would abuse the child.
Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps (Boston: Harvard
University Press, 1994) 38.
In the first edition of his book in defense of same-sex marriage, Virtually Normal,
homosexual commentator Andrew Sullivan wrote: "There is more likely to be greater
understanding of the need for extramarital outlets between two men than between a man and a
woman."
One recent study of civil unions and marriages in Vermont states more than 79 percent of
heterosexual married men and women, along with lesbians in civil unions, reported that they
strongly valued sexual fidelity. Only about 50 percent of gay men in civil unions valued sexual
fidelity.
Esther Rothblum and Sondra Solomon, Civil Unions in the State of Vermont: A Report on the First Year. University
of Vermont Department of Psychology, 2003. Also David McWhirter and Andrew Mattison, The Male Couple
(Prentice Hall, 1984) 252.
The extremely low rate of sexual fidelity among homosexual men dramatically contrasts
with the high rate of fidelity among married heterosexuals. According to McWhirter and
Mattison, most homosexual men understood sexual relations outside the relationship to be the
norm and viewed adopting monogamous standards as an act of oppression.
David P. McWhirter and Andrew M. Mattison, The Male Couple: How Relationships Develop (Englewood Cliffs:
Prentice-Hall, 1984): 252, 253.
The 2003-2004 Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census surveyed the lifestyles of 7,862
homosexuals. Of those involved in a "current relationship," only 15 percent describe their current
relationship as having lasted twelve years or longer, with five percent lasting more than twenty
years.
"Largest Gay Study Examines 2004 Relationships," GayWire Latest Breaking Releases, www.glcensus.org.
Found that 43 percent of white male homosexuals had sex with 500 or more partners,
with 28 percent having one thousand or more sex partners.
18
A. P. Bell and M. S. Weinberg, Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity Among Men and Women (New York: Simon
and Schuster, 1978), pp. 308, 309. Also: A. P. Bell, M. S. Weinberg, and S. K. Hammersmith, Sexual Preference
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981).
A survey conducted by the homosexual magazine Genre found that 24 percent of the
respondents said they had had more than one hundred sexual partners in their lifetime. The
magazine noted that several respondents suggested including a category of those who had more
than one thousand sexual partners.
"Sex Survey Results," Genre (October 1996), quoted in "Survey Finds 40 percent of Gay Men Have Had More
Than 40 Sex Partners," Lambda Report, January 1998: 20.
Many self-described 'monogamous' gay couples reported an average of three to five
partners in the past year.
Ryan Lee, "Gay Couples Likely to Try Non-monogamy, Study Shows," Washington Blade (August 22, 2003): 18.
A study of homosexual men in the Netherlands published in the journal AIDS found that
the "duration of steady partnerships" was 1.5 years.
Maria Xiridou, et al, "The Contribution of Steady and Casual Partnerships to the Incidence of HIV Infection among
Homosexual Men in Amsterdam," AIDS 17 (2003): 1031. Also: Adrian Brune, "City Gays Skip Long-term
Relationships: Study Says," Washington Blade (February 27, 04): 12. David P. McWhirter and Andrew M. Mattison,
The Male Couple: How Relationships Develop (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1984), pp. 252, 253. David H.
Demo, et al., editors, Handbook of Family Diversity (New York:Oxford University Press, 2000): 73. A. P. Bell and
M. S. Weinberg, Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity Among Men and Women (New York: Simon and Schuster,
1978), pp. 308, 309; See also A. P. Bell, M. S. Weinberg, and S. K. Hammersmith, Sexual Preference
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981). M. Pollak, "Male Homosexuality," in Western Sexuality: Practice
and Precept in Past and Present Times, ed. P. Aries and A. Bejin, translated by Anthony Forster (New York, NY: B.
Blackwell, 1985): 40-61, cited by Joseph Nicolosi in Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality (Northvale, New
Jersey: Jason Aronson Inc., 1991): 124, 125. M. Saghir and E. Robins, Male and Female Homosexuality (Baltimore:
Williams and Wilkins, 1973): 225; L. A. Peplau and H. Amaro, "Understanding Lesbian Relationships," in
Homosexuality:Social, Psychological, and Biological Issues, ed. J. Weinrich and W. Paul (Beverly Hills: Sage,
1982).
The Dutch study of partnered homosexuals, which was published in the journal AIDS,
found that men with a steady partner had an average of eight sexual partners per year.
Maria Xiridou, et al, "The Contribution of Steady and Casual Partnerships to the Incidence of HIV Infection among
Homosexual Men in Amsterdam," AIDS 17 (2003): 1031.
Homosexual couples using in vitro fertilization (IVF) or surrogate mothers deliberately
create a class of children who will live apart from their mother or father. Yale Child Study Center
psychiatrist Kyle Pruett reports that children of IVF often ask their single or lesbian mothers
about their fathers, asking their mothers questions like the following: "Mommy, what did you do
with my daddy?" "Can I write him a letter?" "Has he ever seen me?" "Didn't you like him? Didn't
he like me?"
Kyle Pruett, Fatherneed (Broadway Books, 2001) 204.
Harvard sociologist, Pitirim Sorokin, analyzed cultures spanning several thousand years
on several continents, and found that virtually no society has ceased to regulate sexuality within
marriage as defined as the union of a man and a woman, and survived.
Pitirim Sorokin, The American Sex Revolution, (Boston:Peter Sargent Publishers, 1956): 77-105.
F. Homosexual Issues
Time magazine, referring to the work of the Battelle Human Affairs Research Centers in
Seattle, says that "the study, one of the most thorough reports on male sexual behavior ever,
found that only 1% of the 3,321 men surveyed said they considered themselves exclusively
homosexual…New Evidence suggests that ideology, not sound science, has perpetuated a 1-in-10
myth."
Newsweek , April 26, 1993, p. 27.
In 1990, Wayne Tardiff and his partner, Allan Yoder, were the first homosexuals
permitted to become adoptive parents in the state of New Jersey. Tardiff died in 1992 at age
forty-four; Yoder died a few months later, leaving an orphaned five-year-old.
19
Obituaries, The Washington Blade, July 16, 1992.
Research indicates that homosexuals comprise one to three percent of the population. A
recent study in Demography relying upon three large data sets--the General Social Survey, the
National Health and Social Life Survey, and the U.S. Census--estimated the number of exclusive
male homosexuals in the general population to be 2.5 percent and the number of exclusive
lesbians to be 1.4 percent.
Dan Black, et al., "Demographics of the Gay and Lesbian Population in the United States: Evidence from Available
Systematic Data Sources," Demography 37 (May 2000). Also: Bradley P. Hayton, "To Marry or Not: The
Legalization of Marriage and Adoption of Homosexual Couples," (Newport Beach: The Pacific Policy Institute,
1993): 9.
"Some gay activists now concede that they exploited the Kinsey [report] estimate for its
tactical value, not its accuracy. 'We used that figure when most gay people were entirely hidden
to try to create the impression of our numerousness,' says Tom Stoddard, former head of the
Lambda Legal Defense Fund."
Time , February 15, 1993, p. 46.
"The San Francisco-based magazine 10 Percent, a national quarterly devoted to gay
culture, made it clear it had no intention of changing its name."
Time , February 15, 1993, p. 28.
Homosexual and lesbian couples experience by far the highest levels of intimate partner
violence compared with married couples as well as cohabiting heterosexual couples. Lesbians,
for example, suffer a much higher level of violence than do married women.
"Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence," U.S. Department of Justice: Office of Justice
Programs (July, 2000): 30.
In April 2000, the governor of the state of Vermont signed a law instituting civil unions
for homosexuals. The bill conferred 300 privileges and rights enjoyed by married couples upon
same-sex partners who register their relationship with the town clerk and have their union
solemnized by a member of the clergy or the justice of the peace. As of January 2004, only 936
homosexual or lesbian couples (for a total of 1,872 individuals) have entered into civil unions.
"DP1. Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: Vermont" U.S. Census Bureau: Census 2000 Summary File
1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data.
This indicates that only about 21 percent of the estimated homosexual and lesbian
population of Vermont has entered into civil unions. Put another way, 79 percent of homosexuals
and lesbians in Vermont choose not to enter into civil unions. By contrast, in Vermont,
heterosexual married couples outnumber cohabiting couples by a margin of 7 to 1, indicating a
much higher level of desire on the part of heterosexual couples to legalize their relationships.
Fred Bayles, "Vermont's Gay Civil Unions Mostly Affairs of the Heart," USA Today (January 7, 2004): 1.
A front-page article in the New York Times (August 31, 2003) reported that in the first 2
months after Ontario's highest court legalized "marriage" for same-sex couples, fewer than 500
same-sex Canadian couples had taken out marriage licenses in Toronto, even though the city has
over 6,000 such couples registered as permanent partners. The Times also reported that
"skepticism about marriage is a recurring refrain among Canadian gay couples," noting that
"many gays express the fear that it will undermine their notions of who they are. They say they
want to maintain the unique aspects of their culture and their place at the edge of social change."
Mitchel Raphael, the editor of a Toronto "gay" magazine, said, "I'd be for marriage if I thought
gay people would challenge and change the institution and not buy into the traditional meaning of
'till death do us part' and monogamy forever." And Rinaldo Walcott, a sociologist at the
University of Tornoto, lamented, "Will queers now have to live with the heterosexual forms of
guilt associated with something called cheating?"
New York Times (August 31, 2003)
In 1995 Sweden passed the Registered Partnership Act which created civil unions for
homosexual couples. In 2003 that law was amended to give registered homosexual couples the
same right to adopt or have legal custody of children as married couples. The number of
20
registered same-sex unions in Sweden is reported to be about 1,500 (for a total of 3,000
individuals) out of the estimated homosexual and lesbian population of 140,000. This indicates
that only about two percent of Swedish homosexuals and lesbians choose to enter into legally
recognized unions. Put another way, about 98 percent of Swedish homosexuals and lesbians do
not officially register as same-sex couples.
"Facts:Population," Directory and Complete Guide to Sweden, 2000: available at: www.sweden.com.
A news report by the Gay Financial Network predicted that "some 10,000 gay couples
could be married" in the first year following the legalization of gay marriage in the Netherlands.
In reality, far fewer chose to solemnize their relationships. The Office of Legislative Research
released a report in October 2002 stating: "The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs reports that
3,383 of the 121,776 marriages licensed between April 1, 2001, and June 30, 2002, involved
people of the same sex." Thus, as of October 2002, only 2.8 percent, or 6,766 individuals (3,383
licenses) out of an estimated homosexual and lesbian population of 242,000, have registered their
unions as "married."
"At a Glance: Netherlands Statistics" UNICEF:available at:
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/netherlands_statistics.html.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that there are 601,209 same-sex unmarried partner
households in the United States (304,148 male homosexual households and 297,061 lesbian
households).
"Married-Couple and Unmarried Partner Households: 2000" (Census 2000 Special Reports, February 2003): 2.
This indicates that only one percent of the total of 59,969,000 households contain samesex partners. Assuming the estimate that one million children (Stacey and Biblarz, 167) have a
homosexual or lesbian parent, this would mean that, on average, every homosexual household
has at least one child. However, a survey in Demography indicates that 95 percent of partnered
male homosexual and 78 percent of partnered lesbian households do not have children. This
would mean that the one million children presumed to be living in homosexual households
would be divided among the approximate 15,000 (five percent of 304,148) male homosexual and
65,000 (22 percent of 297,061) lesbian households that actually have children. This would result
in an astounding 12.5 children per gay and lesbian family.
Dan Black et al., "Demographics of the Gay and Lesbian Population in the United States: Evidence from Available
Systematic Data Sources," Demography 37 (May 2000): 150.
The Stacey/Biblarz estimates may include children being raised by single homosexuals,
some of whom are raising their own biological children conceived in a previous heterosexual
relationship. However, the 2000 Census figures show that only 33 percent (or 96,810) of female
same-sex households and 22 percent (or 66,225) of male same-sex households have their own
children living with them. Data also indicates that only a small percentage of homosexual
households choose to raise children.
"Married-Couple and Unmarried Partner Households: 2000" (Census 2000 Special Reports, February 2003): 10.
"PCT 14: Unmarried-Partner Households by Sex of Partners" (U.S. Census Bureau: Census 2000 Summary File 1).
Also: Dan Black et al., "Demographics of the Gay and Lesbian Population in the United States: Evidence from
Available Systematic Data Sources," Demography 37 (May 2000): 150.
These 163,035 same-sex couples (or 326,070 individuals) comprise only 8 percent of the
estimated homosexual and lesbian population. Put another way, 92 percent of the estimated adult
population of homosexuals and lesbians in the U.S. do not live with children. By comparison, the
2000 Census showed that 46 percent of married couple households have at least one child living
in the household. This figure does, however, underestimate the total number of married couples
who have had children, as many older couples have grown children who are no longer living at
home.
(Ibid.)
Even the lower figure of one million children in the Stacey/Biblarz article (see above)
being raised in gay and lesbian households does not stand up to statistical analysis. Some of these
21
claims appear to be based on the discredited assertion by Indiana University sex researcher
Alfred Kinsey that up to ten percent of the population is homosexual.
"Serious Flaws in the Kinsey Research," Insight (Washington: Family Research Council, 1995).
USA Today reports that seven states, including California, Connecticut, Illinois,
Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, and the District of Columbia permit
homosexuals to adopt.
Marilyn Elias, "Doctor's Back Gay "Co-Parents," USA Today, February 3, 2002. (However, at present the inclusion
of California on this list is inaccurate.)
Homosexual couples have adopted children through "second-parent" adoption policies in
at least twenty states. There is no evidence that homosexuals in the remaining states are
permitted to adopt children, a fact admitted by the gay activist Human Rights Campaign (HRC):
"In the remaining 24 states, our research has not revealed any second-parent adoptions." At least
one state has reversed its policy of permitting second-parent adoptions. In November 2000, the
Superior Court of Pennsylvania ruled that same-sex couples cannot adopt children.
"Chapter 4: Second-Parent Adoption," in The Family (Human Rights Campaign, 2002): available at:
www.hrc.org/familynet/documents/SoTF_Chapter_4.pdf
In addition, a court decision in California has reversed that state's policy of permitting
homosexuals to adopt children. On October 25, 2001, the 4th District Court of Appeal (San
Diego) ruled that there was no legal authority under California law permitting second-parent
adoptions.
Bob Egelko, "Court Clarifies Decision on Adoptions," San Francisco Chronicle, November 22, 2001. The decision
is under review by the California Supreme Court.
Attempting to put the best possible spin on what is a significant setback for homosexual
adoption, HRC claimed that the 4th District Court issued a modified decision "omitting the
suggestion that previously granted second-parent adoptions may be invalid."
Ibid., "Chapter 4."
This misleadingly implies that the court intended to let stand such adoptions. In fact, the
court specified that it was not ruling on either the validity or the invalidity of previous gay
adoptions under California law.
Bob Egelko, "Court Clarifies Decision," "The issue of the validity of such adoptions is not presented in this case and
has not been briefed by the parties and we do not address it here."
These findings confirmed an earlier study by the Dutch Department of Health and
Environment, which found that 67 percent of HIV-positive men aged 30 and younger had been
infected by a steady partner. The study concluded: “In recent years, young gay men have become
more likely to contract HIV from a steady sexual partner than from a casual one.”
Jon Garbo, "More Young Gay Men are Contracting HIV from Steady Partners," GayHealth (July 25, 2001).
A study of lesbian couples reported in the Handbook of Family Development and
Intervention "indicates that 54 percent had experienced 10 or more abusive incidents, 74 percent
had experienced six or more incidents, 60 percent reported a pattern to the abuse, and 71 percent
said it grew worse over time."
William C. Nichols, et al, editors, Handbook of Family Development and Intervention (New York:John Wiley and
Sons, Inc., 2000): 393.
In their book, Island and Letellier postulate that "the incidence of domestic violence
among gay men is nearly double that in the heterosexual population."
D. Island and P. Letellier, Men Who Beat the Men Who Love Them: Battered Gay Men and Domestic Violence
(New York: Haworth Press, 1991): 14.
A study published in Nursing Research found that lesbians are three times more likely to
abuse alcohol and to suffer from other compulsive behaviors: “Like most problem drinkers, 32
(91 percent) of the participants had abused other drugs as well as alcohol, and many reported
compulsive difficulties with food (34 percent), codependency (29 percent), sex (11 percent), and
money (6 percent). Forty-six percent had been heavy drinkers with frequent drunkenness.”
22
Joanne Hall, "Lesbians Recovering from Alcoholic Problems: An Ethnographic Study of Health Care Expectations,"
Nursing Research 43 (1994): 238-244.
Some gay men still maintain that an adult who has same-sex relations with someone
under the legal age of consent is on some level doing the kid a favor by helping to bring him or
her 'out.' It's not pedophilia, this thinking goes--pedophilia refers only to little kids. Instead,
adult-youth sex is viewed as an important aspect of gay culture, with a history dating back to
'Greek love' of ancient times. This romanticized version of adult-youth sexual relations has been
a staple of gay literature and has made appearances, too, in gay-themed films. When some gay
men venerate adult-youth sex as affirming while simultaneously declaring 'We're not pedophiles,'
they send an inconsistent message to society. . . . The lesbian and gay community will never be
successful in fighting the pedophile stereotype until we all stop condoning sex with young
people.
Paula Martinac, "Mixed Messages on Pedophilia Need to be Clarified, Unified," Washington Blade (March 15,
2002)
.
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