November 18, 2004

Quick Note To Brother Joe and The Rest Of The Religiously Insane Homophobes Out There

Adolescents who have same sex parents are no different from teens growing up with a mother and a father, a new study finds.

To quote rather liberally (cough) from the article (just so's we can point out a few of the highlights:

On measures of psychosocial well-being, school functioning, and romantic relationships and behaviors, the teens with same-sex parents were as well adjusted as their peers with opposite-sex parents. The authors found very few differences between the two groups. A more important predictor of teens' psychological and social adjustment, they found, is the quality of the relationships they have with their parents.

"This is the first study that has looked at adolescents with same-sex parents in a national sample, and it shows clearly across a wide range of variables that they're doing pretty well," said study author Charlotte J. Patterson, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

The research, published in the November issue of Child Development, draws data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a school-based study of the health-related behaviors of kids in grades 7-12.

Dr. Ellen C. Perrin, a professor of pediatrics at Tufts School of Medicine and an expert on the development of children with gay or lesbian parents, said that few studies have focused on adolescents of same-sex parents. What data there is has been subject to attack. Critics complain that the studies reflect researcher bias and non-random participant selection.

"In this case, neither of those critiques are valid," Perrin said. The new study uses data from a broad population-based survey conducted for entirely different reasons. "That makes it very clean, so to speak; no one could argue that there was any bias involved." [Editors' Note: But you know they will.]

Estimates of the number of teens living with same-sex parents are hard to come by. As of 1990, 6 million to 14 million children were living with a gay or lesbian parent, says the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, a service of the U.S. Administration for Children and Families.

Perrin believes that a majority of these children were born into heterosexual families. "Only recently have there been increasing numbers of kids born or adopted into already stable same-sex couples," she explained.

The study sample included 44 children, 12 to 18 years old, parented by same-sex couples and an equivalent number of peers with opposite-sex parents. The two groups had an equal number of girls and boys and other similarities, including ethnic background, family income, and parents' level of education.

Overall, researchers found no significant differences between the two groups. Teens with two moms, for example, were neither more nor less likely than their peers with two opposite-sex parents to report having been involved in a romantic relationship during the past year or ever having sex. Both groups were generally well-adjusted, with relatively high levels of self-esteem, relatively low levels of anxiety, and good achievement in school.

The study reveals a minor difference: "The kids of same-sex parents said that they feel more connected at school," Patterson said. In other words, they felt their teachers were more open to them, and that people at school were fair and cared for them. "I think that may be a chance finding, frankly," she said.

While family type wasn't a factor in how teens fared, family relationships were. When parents reported more positive relationships with their teenagers, for instance, the teens reported lower levels of depressive symptoms.

"The qualities of teenagers' relationships with their parents are much better predictors of their overall well-being," Patterson noted.

Brother Joe, could you please take those blinders off, and look at those who are interested in intimate relationships with members of their own sex as normal people* just like the rest of us? Is there anything you would be willing to consider that would cause you to even question (let alone reconsider) the homophobic indoctrination you have received since childhood? All we're asking here is that you listen to the evidence with an open mind.

Thanks to Bartcop for pointing this article out to us the other day.

* - and, yes, we know that we have little referent when talking about normal people. Maybe I should have said that those in the GBLT community are just like us, and leave the whole normality concept out of the discussion. Because quite often it seems like normal people is a contradiction in terms. Even to heretical pagan heathens like us...

Posted by (: Tom :) at November 18, 2004 06:26 AM
Comments

To Brother Tom,

It seems every time a topic of religious or liberal social behavior comes up, it would seem to me that you have the same ENTHUSIASM, or opionism on the opposite spectrum of the issue at hand as "THE GOD SQUAD" as you so aptly label people. I have the inept ability to see and APPRECIATE BOTH SIDES of whatever moral, or religious issue that would come up without leaving my stance on the subject. I hope you can someday do the same so that we may have a rational discussion on topics that we may disagree on.

Posted by: brother joe at November 18, 2004 09:47 PM

To brother Joe:

I would hope the same. But when you preface any statement about homosexuals with the words 'evil', 'wrong', or 'abomination', and you make statements like 'fags getting married cheapens my marriage vows' without providing any proof or reasoning behind your statements, it tends to take the rationality out of the discussion as far as I'm concerned.

I do tend to express my opinions in a manner similar to those who are driven by religious fundamentalism. But, generally speaking, I do that to point out the extremely opinionated viewpoints that I see from them. For some strange reason, they seem to get terribly offended when they hear something that is as far away as they are from the mainstream, but on the opposite side of the discussion.

I'm thinking about something involving stones and glass houses...

Posted by: (: Tom :) at November 19, 2004 03:27 PM

I'd also like to ask that (besides the title of this post) you point out to me anything that I said in this post that was extremely opinionated or offensive (the stuff inside the box is not my words but rather quotes from the article that was pointed out to me)? Do you think that you have not received a constant stream of homophobic opinions from your church, or those who attend it (cough) religiously? When you say things like, "if you're gay, then you're probably interested in molesting little boys too", do you have any factual evidence to back up that sort of statement? Or any factual evidence that letting gays have the same rights as the rest of us when they commit to a long-term relationship is harming the sanctity of your marriage?

A study that determined that children of same-sex parents are as well-adjusted as those of opposite-sex parents was pointed out to me. Did you look at the points made there, and do you have any sort of proof that they are innacurate? Are you willing to consider that it may be true that it matters more that you have a good relationship with your parents than whether they are of the same sex?

My point is that you* are very quick to accept anything that supports your argument, and very quick to dismiss anything that refutes it.

Posted by: (: Tom :) at November 19, 2004 03:39 PM

hey guys, hoping this go's out to the brothers Gevaert or anyone who cares to discuss,,,

let's establish some baselines when talking about homosexuality - just like smoking cigars, or eating anchovies, still riding a ten-speed, still owning a waterbed, still watering chia pets, contemlating plasma/LCD or waiting for OLED... if you are not comfortable with something, you tend to get grossed out or avoid the subject. I prefer to be grossed out considering the prospect of two penises coming together. There must be a movement for gal-to-gal only queer movement, I'm sure womenn would go for it, let's call it "lesbians lifestyle". Would I have a problem with any child being raised by two women, no. Two men on the other hand. I need help fron like-minded folks who use reason, math, and perhaps a little imbibment to make it to the end of the day. I think this needs discussion over some pints/darts/pool. Call me for a time to gather and ponder, or chew on the i-net.

andy gevaert

Posted by: brother andy at December 4, 2004 04:09 PM