Mary Cheney: "This Is A Baby. This Is Not A Political Statement."

Originally posted by TrueAmerican
So in essense, the studies all you good people are basing your opinions on to feel righteous in proclaiming same-sex child rearing ok, are flawed and prove nothing. Much further study is needed to really be able to come to any scientific, and not emotional conclusion that there are no measureable detrimental effects on children of same-sex parents.

Until those studies can happen, preassessing the viability of such same-sex arrangements based on those studies is misleading.

The same can be said of opposite sex raising of children. I'm talking from personal experience here. In my formative years(birth-16) Dad was in the Navy, never at home. I was basically raised by my mother. Yeah I learned to cook, clean and croquet. I've forgotten that last one but what's your point? Sexuality isn't a learned behavior. This seems to be what scares people here. They are afraid that gay parents are going to raise gay kids. It doesn't work that way. If it did I'd be gay. Sorry, didn't happen.

OK, can we leave Mary out of this and concentrate on the hypocrite at hand?

Good for you! Really, good job!

And at the end of the article, Stacey says:

All the evidence—as both sides acknowledge—is seriously flawed and doesn't begin to supply anything like solid support for either the hopes of gay family harmony or the fears about scarred children and skewed parenting. And until gay couples are allowed to marry, there can't possibly be decent studies of whether the honorable estate confers the same benefits on kids whose parents are the same sex as it does on those who have a mom and a dad. In the meantime, it's quite clear that the absence of good science won't—and shouldn't—settle a fraught debate. What will help clarify it are experiences like mine, watching my sister and her partner sharing the hard work and the happiness of raising their daughter. I can't think of a better argument for gay marriage than that.

I agree with Stacey, actually. There isn't enough data to totally accurately base findings yet. But there are NO findings that any damage is being done.

Now, we can have a "find sources that support your opinion" contest if you want to, but I don't want to. My opinions are not based on the studies I've read. They're based on real life experiences.

This goes back to what I said before. You have your opinion, I have mine and then there are the studies, etc.

Every study that I've ever seen says that these kids are healthy and happy, most happier than kids from straight homes.

Stacey's simply saying that we can't fully trust that information. There are no indications that these kids are harmed in any way.

If only we were this concerned about EVERY parent! Wouldn't our kids be in a lot better shape?

So, keep your opinion. You can't prove it and neither can I prove mine.

The Kids are All Right

Researchers have been studying the children of gay and lesbian parents for almost 50 years, trying to find out if they have more problems than other kids. Do they have more behavior problems, a harder time making friends, or difficulties with sexual identity? The answer, time and again, has been a resounding "No."
...
The sample size is larger, and the results are still the same. "What this study shows, and what countless other studies have shown, is that sexual orientation is irrelevant in terms of promoting and rearing a healthy child," says Suzanne Johnson, associate professor of psychology at Dowling College and co-author of The Gay Baby Boom. "What matters is who the person is, not who they love."

So, I guess we'll just have to wait to see what the tests of the future reveal, but for now, I'm going to believe my eyes. And you can believe ... well, whatever you want.

Yes, Intrepid. I'm done arguing on whether or not Mary will be a good parent.


[edit on 3-2-2007 by Benevolent Heretic]

I think this thread has really gone off point.

The fact is, this really has nothing to do with the fact Mary Cheney is a lesbian. First and foremost she's a woman, and she has the right to get pregnant. I doubt there's any support for making it illegal for a single woman to get pregnant and give birth, and I don't see how a law could be made to keep a legally single woman who chooses to live with another woman from having a child either. What do you want to do, jail her? To force her to have an abortion? To take her child away at birth?

I don't think anyone, even hardcore religious conservatives would think any of those options would be better than leaving the child with its mother, even though she's living with another woman.

Of course the issues of lesbian and gay marriage and adoption is a totally separate issue and I think is open to real debate.