did you research this for yourself or did you get it from some anti-gay webpage?
Actually, links to these papers were provided by a pro-gay website.
Research showing children do better with heterosexual parents:
Sarantakos, S. (1996). Children in three contexts: Family, education and social development. Children Australia, 21(3), 23-31.
Allen, D. W. (2013). High school graduation rates among children of same-sex households. Review of Economics of the Household, 11(4), 635-658.
Sullins, D. P. (2015). Emotional Problems among Children with Same-sex Parents: Difference by Definition. British Journal of Education, Society and Behavioural Science, (forthcoming).
If you read those studies, you'll find ideas like this:
1.) Children raised by homosexual couples are not more likely to be abused by their parents than children raised by heterosexual couples, THEREFORE the gender of the parents is immaterial.
Please cite any legitimately published study that says this
I heard this claim made by a pro-gay college professor in a lecture on the subject - I don't have the information at hand on the specific study he was citing.
Please cite any legitimately published study that says this
The following studies are being used by homosexual marriage advocates to prove that the gender of the parents is immaterial (conclusions stated first in bold):
Children of gay parents are only slightly affected by the sexual orientation of the parents: Bailey, J., Bobrow, D., Wolfe, M., & Mikach, S. (1995). Sexual Orientation Of Adult Sons Of Gay Fathers. Developmental Psychology, 31(1), 124-129.
Children of gay parents have similar intelligence scores as children of straight parents: Bos, H. M. W., van Balen F., & van den Boom, D. C. (2005). Lesbian families and family functioning: an overview. Patient Education and Counseling, 59(3), 263-275.
Children of gay parents are not more likely to be heavy substance users (although they are more likely to be occasional substance users).
Goldberg, N. G., Bos, H. M. W., & Gartrell, N. K. (2011). Substance use by adolescents of the USA National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study. Journal of Health Psychology, 16(8), 1231-1240.
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For a closer look, consider the following study:
Parenting and Child Development in Adoptive Families: Does Parental Sexual Orientation Matter? APPLIED DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, 14(3), 164–178, 2010
The authors conclude with these statements:
"Our findings revealed, for the first time, that young children adopted early in life by lesbian and gay parents were as well adjusted as those adopted by heterosexual parents. Our results suggest that lesbian and gay adults can and do make capable adoptive parents."
Here are some of the survey questions that led to this conclusion:
1.) To assess the child's behavioral adjustment, parents were asked to rate on a scale if their child "Looks unhappy for no good reason."
2.) To assess the child's gender role behavior, parents were asked to rate if their child "Enjoys rough and tumble play" or "likes pretty things."
3.) To assess parental stress, parents were asked to agree/disagree with statements like "I get so frustrated and angry that my child can see I'm upset" or "I feel trapped by my responsibilities as a parent."
4.) To assess parental relationship satisfaction, parents answered questions like "do you and your mate engage in outside interests together."
So, if the heterosexual and homosexual parents equally replied that their children don't look depressed and like to play with gender-specific toys - it is trumpeted as proof that having a mom doesn't matter, as long as there are two parents in the home.
If the heterosexual and homosexual parents equally replied that they don't feel trapped with parental responsibilities and that the parents engage in outside interests together - it is trumpeted as proof that having a dad doesn't matter, as long as there are two parents in the home.
How can you make such a claim based on such shallow questionnaire data?
One of these studies found that the children of single mothers fared equally as well in the particular accessed categories as the children of heterosexual and homosexual parents - yet we wouldn't use the study as proof that being raised in a single parent home is just as ideal as being raised in a dual-parent home.
This paper criticized Obabma's "stereotypical" view of fatherhood, quoting him as saying "Of all the rocks upon which we build our lives,
we are reminded today that family is the most important. And we are called to recognize and honor how critical every father is to that
foundation."
Talk about controversial...
Biblarz, T. J., & Stacey, J. (2010). How Does the Gender of Parents Matter? Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(1), 3-22.