'Gayby boom': Children of gay couples speak out

'Gayby boom': Children of gay couples speak out

www.cnn.com

Jesse Levey is a Republican activist who says he believes in family values, small government and his lesbian mothers' right to marry.

Critics of same-sex marriage say people such as Levey will grow up shunned and sexually confused. Yet he says he's a "well-adjusted heterosexual" whose upbringing proves that love, not gender, makes a family.

"You can imagine what my parents thought when I was 13 and listening to Rush Limbaugh everyday," Levey says. "But my family had strong family values.

(visit the link for the full news article)

"You can imagine what my parents thought when I was 13 and listening to Rush Limbaugh everyday," Levey says.

"But my family had strong family values. I was raised in a loving, caring household that let me be a free thinker."

Now what do those who are against same-sex marriage have to say? This guy is a proof that upbringing by same-sex parents doesn't ruin children.

Remember the threads on gay animals? The debate is quickly becoming non-existing.

Your thoughts or opinions?

www.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by Deaf Alien


Awesome DA.

I'm happy you brought this up. I guess my children not being gay or messed up wasn't a good example, but hopefully a Republican is .

My god, this debate is getting so tiresome, I'm starting to wonder if my kids' kids will have equality or the chance to express themselves in regards to these issues.

~Keeper

hi deaf.

Good for him. Self-proclaimed nice-guy. Either way, it's fine, but this article kind of shoots gay marriage in the foot a little bit, probably unintentionally. While outlining how strong these kids were, it inevitably seemed that the kids went through a lot of inner torment due to having homosexual parents. No birthday parties? Ashamed of being ashamed? These are the kinds of things that leave lasting impressions, and form future mannerisms.

reply to post by Deaf Alien


He's a true conservative. No true Conservative would ever deny the rights of individuals to marry, as equality ensured by the Constitution, a legal proceeding should never favor any one group exclusively.

Hopefully young people like this man will help push the Religious Socialist out of our Republican Party, and the Conservative movement for small government and equal rights can begin anew.

One person does not make a demographic. He may be the exception that proves the rule.

Some are doing fine. Some are messed up.
The same goes for those who were raised by heterosexuals.

Homosexual couples typically are happier than heterosexual couples. So remind me again why a man and woman are allowed to wed and grow old and miserable together, and a man and man, or a woman and woman are not allowed to wed and be happy together?

Nevermind, I'll remind myself why: Religion.

Separation of church and state, people. Get this concept through your brainwashed minds.

These people have just as much right to marry the person they love as you do. Discriminating against someone's sexual orientation is no more morally right than discriminating against someone's skin color.

Leave these people alone, already. Jesus Christ. They are harming absolutely NO ONE! What this boils down to is one group trying to force their beliefs on another group. Just sit down, shut up, and let them live their lives the way they want to.

reply to post by heyo

Either way, it's fine, but this article kind of shoots gay marriage in the foot a little bit, probably unintentionally. While outlining how strong these kids were, it inevitably seemed that the kids went through a lot of inner torment due to having homosexual parents. No birthday parties? Ashamed of being ashamed? These are the kinds of things that leave lasting impressions, and form future mannerisms.

Yeah, but the same is true for many children of hetrosexual parents. Of course, there will be many problems in any kind of marriage.

Growing up in a same-sex family will not make them gay. It will not ruin their lives. In fact, it will make them stronger than many in the heterosexual marriages.

Those problems you mentioned will disappear the moment society accept same-sex marriages and homosexuals and the moment the prejudice disappear.

reply to post by The Last Man on Earth


I wasn't aware there was a rule that dictated that ALL homosexual couples breed homosexual or messed up children?

That was a very closed minded statement, unless I mis-read.

In any case, there is no rule, or exeption. It's funny how if I were to make the same comments people wouln't listen, but for a politican to make them, well that deserves some attention.

We should not use his example as the example, we should be using all of the messed up children of Hetero couples as an example that things aren't better on either side of the fence, they are the same.

We simply choose to pick out instances were we can argue towards a position or another. People are just people..

~Keeper

reply to post by The Last Man on Earth

Good parenting does not depend on sexual orientation; rather, it depends on a parent's ability to create a loving and nurturing home, something both gay and straight parents can do

Home environments with gay parents are as effective in fostering a child's development as those with heterosexual parents; the children of gay parents grow up as happy, healthy and well-adjusted as the children of straight parents.

There is no evidence to suggest that children of gay parents are less intelligent, less popular or more likely to have problems than children of straight parents.

Children of gay parents are no more likely to become gay (or straight) than other children.

In a recent report reviewing the literature on gay parenting, the American Psychological Association observed that "not a single study has found children of gay or lesbian parents to be disadvantaged in any significant effect relative to children of heterosexual parents."

Link

The great majority of studies published in the past 20 years conclude that there are no notable developmental differences between children raised by heterosexual parents and those raised by lesbian and gay parents. Along the same lines, several medical and mental health professional associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the American Psychological Association have issued formal statements generally supporting equal access to parenting and adoption for gay men and lesbians.

Link

And more

reply to post by Deaf Alien



what i'm getting at is the problems experienced seem to be unnecessary. two people raisinga child, there are of course going to be problems, however, adding to the list of problems experienced by the kids seems to be a little bit backwards at best, and selfish at worst.
I'm sure children in 3rd world countries are tougher mentally than than those in ours, but at what cost?

I'd like to reiterate that these people can do what they want, but citing this as some sort of proof seems a little presumptuous.

reply to post by The Last Man on Earth


I don't know about you, but I would rather have a homosexual couple raising a child they love and care for - even at the risk that he/she will grow up "messed up" - than have a prom couple dump their mistake child in a dumpster.

I would bet everything I own that the average number of households that have brought up children who suffer from mental issues or are in prison overwhelmingly swing in the direction of a heterosexual couple being the head of that household.

There is nothing about being heterosexual that gives you some sudden ability to be a better parent.

reply to post by heyo


My 3 children were raised with two fathers. They aren't gay and actually are the top performers in mostly everything they do. Now that's not because they are from a homosexual couple.

It's because we took the time and effort to raise them correctly and gave them a good set of moral values to make decisions with. We gave them a loving and nurturing environment where they were free to make their own mistakes and learn from them.

~Keeper

reply to post by heyo


Because being gay is the only thing which might cause your kids to have a traumatic childhood, the billions of hetrosexual parents with screwed up kids - me included, my parents are as good as you could ever ask -great people, however being a kid is hard - we learn to deal with our own unique upbringing, my parents taught me loads about green energy and hippy things which meant school was a living hell for me, back when i was in school trying to explain to the dinner ladys that i didn't eat meat was harder than convincing a bear to wear a cowboy hat. Other kids parents would never invite me to parties because they didn't want to have the extra effort of catering for someone who was crazy enough not to eat meat, beside if you don't eat meat you gotta be weird right?

That's before i was in highschool, my grandfather was a boffin during the war inventing secret things (mostly working on radar, sonar, etc) well HE taught me how to program my BBCB in BASIC before i had ever done a single IT lesson, needless to say when i #did# my first IT lesson it wasn't to taxing for me - try picturing me sitting in a class learning how to type their name into a login box for a year without getting in trouble Then came physics and maths, hour after hour of adding double digit integers for no actual reason when all i wanted to know about was things like bubble theory.

I could list a dozern other little things which made my life 'abnormal' or my childhood 'hard' but also so could anyone on (or off) this site - should we make sure kids only get their education from the state encase they accidentally learn too much, should we all be forced to have a unified diet? maybe a uniform too inside and out of school just in case one kids doesn't have the proper clothes. All parents must have the same job too just incase someone's dad is ozzy ozborn, tony blair, Her Royal Highness the Queen of Crime or any other 'wildcard' person who might provide anything but the most average of upbringings.

I have to say that I am damn impressed with the true Republicans who have posted here in defense of equal rights. It used to be a core principle of the Party before the arrival of the religious neocons.

I would also like to point out that homosexuals all have one thing in common, straight parents. There are a few exceptions of gay kids coming from gay parents, but I'd be willing to bet that the percentage is in line with that of kids of straight parents. When are we going to grow up as a society and stop focusing on what makes us different?

Great find, DA!!!

[edit on 28-6-2009 by JaxonRoberts]

reply to post by NatureBoy



I thought that in my post I regarded the problems as sort of supplementary. I.e., we should not be adding to the problems of children simply because it makes us feel better. An analogy to my line of thinking might be mindlessly allowing a huge debt to compile because we don't want to face facts, which makes us feel uncomfortable.
The kids in the article outlined ways in which having gay parents made their lives worse, their guilt almost unavoidable. Yes, we could speak of the utopia in which all are ever-welcoming to all things unknown, but is this so? I don't think it is, so we shouldn't live life based upon an ideal.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


I can tell by your posts around here why they're well and able, but that doesn't really address the harm felt, at least by the kid in the article, that seemed IN ADDITION to all regular problems experienced while growing up....it's a valid and objective issue i think.

I'm not making this up, it's in the article...not really understanding why people think it's aviewpoint of mine. It's a discussion of the points made by the guy in the article.

reply to post by heyo


I don't understand. Well I do, but I don't. These kids did attest that some of their childhood was a bit more conflicted due to having gay parents, but that's not the parents fault, it's societies.

I mean, sure, my kids have had the instance where people have made fun of them, or us in public, but if you raise your child correctly, those sorts of things should not bother them to an extreme. They should be able to rise above petty insults and ignorance should they not?

I don't see why, with all the messed up homes you see today, the abuse, the violence and neglect, should Gay couples not have children just because society will pick on those kids.

I dunno, it just seems odd way of thinking. Perhaps I mis-interpreted what you meant, but societal tolerance is a pretty poor excuse to NOT do something worth while.

~Keeper

reply to post by tothetenthpower



alright, now we're talking.
it's society's fault.
however, society is currently more understanding towards gays than ever, and also, than any other part of the world, yet these kids have a tough time....like, I realize that ideally i should be able to raise my white kids in compton, but if i'm ever forced to live there am i gonna have kids or am i gonna wait till compton changes, or until i move out?
get it?
It's what i was referring to earlier about being selfish.