Fact Sheet
Homosexual Parenting
Numerous researchers who are sympathetic with the homosexual agenda claim that children living in homes with adult homosexuals are not adversely impacted by their unusual home environment. However, this research is based on small, non-representative samples frequently found wanting in academic rigor and the scientific process. Research methodology problems and a different story indicating problems associated with homosexual parenting are evident in the research analysis below.
Research Analysis
Studies show that pedophilia is far more common among homosexuals than heterosexuals. The greater absolute number of heterosexual cases reflects the fact that heterosexual males outnumber homosexual males by 36 to one. Heterosexual child molestation cases outnumber homosexual cases by only 11 to one, implying that pedophilia is more than three times more common among homosexuals.
K.Freund and R.J. Watson, “The proportions of Hetersexual and Homosexual Pedophiles among Sex Offenders against Children: An Exploratory Study,” Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy 18(1) (1992), pp. 34-43.
“For unless we reverse the trend of fatherlessness, no other set of accomplishments – not economic growth or prison construction or welfare reform or better schools – will succeed in arresting the decline of child well-being and the spread of male violence. To tolerate the trend of fatherlessness is to accept the inevitability of continued societal recession.”
David Blankenhorn, Fatherless America, (Harper Collins: New York, 1995), p. 222.
A study confirmed that same-sex relationship violence is a significant problem for a sizable part of the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered (g/l/b/t) community. Among homosexual men and women and bisexual and transgendered people, physical violence was reported in 9 percent of current and 32 percent of past relationships. Emotional abuse was reported by 83 percent of the participants. Women reported higher frequencies than men for physical abuse, coercion, shame, threats, and use of children for control. Perpetrators may abuse several partners over a lifetime. Children were used as tools of manipulation for nine percent of the participants. Lesbians reported significantly higher frequencies than homosexual men of physical abuse (55 percent vs. 44 percent), coercion (59 percent vs. 42 percent), threats (57 percent vs. 45 percent), shaming (77 percent vs. 62 percent) and children used as tools of control (12 percent vs. 5 percent).
Susan Turell, "A Descriptive Analysis of Same-Sex Relationship Violence for a Diverse Sample," Journal of Family Violence 13 (2000): 281-293.
Despite the strong emotional involvement and the fidelity that the homosexual women invested in their affairs, most of these relatively long-lasting relationships eventually broke up within a period of three years. Among homosexual women, 30 percent had less than four homosexual partners and 70 percent had four or more such partners. Homosexual men seemed to be much more promiscuous in their relationships than heterosexual men. Homosexual women were much less promiscuous than homosexual or heterosexual men and more promiscuous than heterosexual women.
M. Saghir and E. Robins, Male and Female Homosexuality (Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1973), p. 227, 229.
Peplau and H.Amaro, “Understanding Lesbian Relationships,” Homosexuality: Social, Psychological, and Biological Issues, J.Weinrich and W.Paul (Eds.) (Beverly Hills, California: Sage, 1982).
Twenty-nine 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 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): 771-772.
The first child placed with openly homosexual foster parents in Washington, D.C. committed suicide at age 30.
Washington Blade, September 17, 1993. Cited by: P. Cameron and K. Cameron, "Homosexual Parents," Adolescence 31 (1996): 772.
A study that reflected positively on lesbians raising children admitted that it did not measure child well-being. Among the methodological problems of the study was its distribution of the survey in a feminist bookstore which allowed customers to voluntarily pick up the survey, fill it out and mail it in. Thus, the scientific integrity of the study was corrupted. The study authors stated, “It may also be attributed to a belief that certain characteristics of lesbian relationships make them ill-suited for parenting children.” They further stated: “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. Cited in: Timothy Daily, Dark Obsession, (Broadman & Holman Publishing: Nashville, Tennessee, 2003), p. 108.
The homosexual father is described as “socioculturally unique.” In trying to take on “two apparently opposing roles: that of a father (with all its usual connotations) and that of a homosexual man.” He is “both structurally and psychologically at social odds with his interest in keeping one foot in both worlds: parenting and homosexuality.” The two roles are fundamentally incompatible.
Jerry.Bigner and R. Brooke Jacobson, “Adult Responses to Child Behavior and Attitudes Toward Fathering: Gay and Non-Gay Fathers,” Journal of Homosexuality 23 (30 September 1992): 99-112. Cited in: Timothy Daily, Dark Obsession, (Broadman & Holman Publishing: Nashville, Tennessee, 2003), pp. 108-109.
Drs. Robert Lerner and Althea Nagai, professionals in the field of quantitative analysis, conducted a study for the Marriage Law Project looking at 49 empirical studies on same-sex parenting. They found no basis for the conclusion that children raised by homosexual parents look just like those raised by heterosexual parents: "The studies on which such claims are based are all gravely deficient." They found at least one fatal research flaw in each of the studies examined. The primary problem they found was the use of very small and unrepresentative study samples, with missing or inadequate comparison groups. In addition, most of the research subjects volunteered for the studies and some participants were allowed to recruit other participants. Each of the authors of these studies, with one exception, wished to influence public policy in support of homosexual families. Lerner and Nagai conclude, "For these reasons, the studies are no basis for good science or good public policy."
Robert Lerner and Althea Nagai, No Basis: What the Studies Don't Tell Us About Same Sex Parenting, Washington DC ; Marriage Law Project/Ethics and Public Policy Center, 2001.
“The instability, susceptibility to disease and domestic violence that is disproportionate in homosexual relationships would normally render such households unfit to be granted custody of children. However, in the current social imperative to grant legitimacy to the practice of homosexuality in every conceivable area of life, such considerations are often ignored. Children are not guinea pigs to be used in social experiments to redefine the institutions of marriage and family. They are vulnerable individuals with vital emotional and developmental needs. The great harm done by denying them both a mother and a father in a committed marriage will not easily be reversed, and society will pay a grievous price for its ill-advised advernturism.”
Timothy Daily, Dark Obsession, (Broadman & Holman Publishing: Nashville, Tennessee, 2003), p. 109.
A study of obituaries suggested that even if marriage endures – which occurred just nine percent of the time – homosexual fathers are not likely to be around for much of the child's life.
P. Cameron and K. Cameron, "Homosexual Parents," Adolescence 31 (1996): 773.
Evidence indicates that comparatively few homosexuals choose to establish households together – the type of setting that is a prerequisite for the rearing of children.
Timothy Daily, Dark Obsession, (Broadman & Holman Publishing: Nashville, Tennessee, 2003), p. 108.
It is routinely asserted in courts, journals and the media that it makes "no difference" whether a child has a mother and a father, two fathers, or two mothers. Reference is often made to social-scientific studies that are claimed to have "demonstrated" this. An objective analysis, however, demonstrates that there is no basis for this assertion.
Robert Lerner and Althea K. Nagai, "No Basis: What the Studies Don't Tell Us About Same-Sex Parenting," Marriage Law Project, Washington , D.C. January, 2001.
There are no homosexual parenting studies that a) take a nationally representative sample of babies born to or adopted by homosexual parents and married mothers and fathers and b) follow them longitudinally while c) controlling for standard demographic variables (race, education, etc.) and d) include a broad range of outcome variables. The studies that currently exist simply compare lesbian single moms to heterosexual single moms. Social science research has already shown the negative outcomes visited upon children who do not live with two married parents.
Maggie Gallagher, Marriagedebate.com, Institute for Marriage and Public Policy.
A leading advocate of social engineering admitted that child well-being is not the aim of efforts to transform the family. “Being queer is more than setting up house, sleeping with a person of the same gender, and seeking state approval for doing so. … Being queer means pushing the parameters of sex, sexuality and family, and in the process transforming the very fabric of society.”
Paula Ettelbrick, “Since When Is Marriage a Path to Liberation?”, in William Rubenstein, ed., Lesbians, Gay Men and the Law (New York: The New Press, 1993), pp. 401-405.
Research claiming to be supportive of homosexual parenting is both inconclusive and controversial. Despite the small number of such households, there has been no lack of scholarly interest in the subject of homosexual parenting, with many studies attempting to show that children raised in gay and lesbian households fare no worse than those reared in traditional families. In her research literature review, Dr. Ellen Perrin wrote: “[T]he weight of evidence gathered during several decades using diverse samples and methodologies is pervasive in demonstrating that there is no systematic difference between gay and non-gay parents in emotional health, parenting skills, and attitudes toward parenting. No data have pointed to any risk to children as a result of growing up in a family with one or more gay parents.” However, Dr. Perrin did not mention the specifics of methodology in her research literature review. Much of that research fails to meet acceptable standards for psychological research; it is compromised by research flaws and driven by political agendas instead of an objective search for truth. The overlooking of such deficiencies in research papers on homosexual failures can be attributed to the “politically correct” determination within those in the social science professions to “prove” that homosexual households are no different than traditional families.
Ellen Perrin, and the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, American Academy of Pediatrics, “Technical Report: Coparent or Second-Parent Adoption by Same-Sex Parents,” Pediatrics 109(2) (February 2002): 343. Timothy Dailey, Dark Obsession, (Broadman & Holman Publishing: Nashville, Tennessee, 2003), pp. 98, 100.
Fourteen studies on homosexual parenting were evaluated according to accepted standards of scientific inquiry. The most impressive finding was that all of the studies lacked external validity and none represented any sub-population of homosexual parents. Three studies met minimal or higher standards of internal validity, while the remaining 11 presented moderate to fatal threats to internal validity. The authors stated: “The conclusion that there are no significant differences in children reared by lesbian mothers versus heterosexual mothers is not supported by the published research data base.”
Philip Belcastro, Theresa Gramlich, Thomas Nicholson, Jimmie Price and Richard Wilson, “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(1/2) (1993): 105, 106. Cited in: Timothy Dailey, Dark Obsession, (Broadman & Holman Publishing: Nashville, Tennessee, 2003), pp. 98, 100.
The few experimental studies that included larger samples reported “developmentally important, statistically significant differences between children reared by homosexual parents compared to heterosexual parents. 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(2) (1986): 167-184. Cited in: Timothy Dailey, Dark Obsession, (Broadman & Holman Publishing: Nashville, Tennessee, 2003), p. 101.
Researchers admitted the inherent weaknesses in their study of lesbian mothers. They mentioned methodological flaws and concerns about representativeness: “This study does not purport to contain a representative sample, and thus generalizability cannot be assumed.”
Laura Lott-Whitehead and Carol Tully, “The Family Lives of Lesbian Mothers,” Smith College Studies in Social Work 63 (1993): 265. Cited in: Timothy Dailey, Dark Obsession, (Broadman & Holman Publishing: Nashville, Tennessee, 2003), p. 102.
Researchers admit that their study of families headed by homosexual adults had used “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.” We see in these examples once again that the results of pro-homosexual parenting studies are admittedly compromised by the lack of adherence to basic research standards.
Susan Golombok et al., “Children in Lesbian and Single-Parent Households: Psychosexual and Psychiatric Appraisal,” Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 24 (1983): 569. Cited in: Timothy Dailey, Dark Obsession, (Broadman & Holman Publishing: Nashville, Tennessee, 2003), p. 100.
Authors of a study that claimed no differences between children in heterosexual and homosexual homes admitted to small sampling size and added: “[O]ne must be aware of the potential for social desirability bias since these [lesbian] mothers may try to present themselves and their children in the best possible light … . A further difficulty comes from the heterogeneity of the samples.”
Fiona MacCallum and Susan Golombok, “Children raised in fatherless families from infancy: a follow-up of children of lesbian and single heterosexual mothers at early adolescence,” Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 45:8 (2004), pp. 1,416.
Harris and Turner employed superior research techniques to ensure the complete anonymity of their research subjects. As a result, in contrast to other studies, they found problems associated with being a homosexual parent that had gone unreported in earlier studies.
Mary Harris and Pauline Turner, “Gay and Lesbian Parents,” Journal of Homosexuality 12 (1985): 104, 112. Cited in: Timothy Dailey, Dark Obsession, (Broadman & Holman Publishing: Nashville, Tennessee, 2003), p. 100.
A review of 19 studies of homosexual parents found that 18 projects had used a research procedure that was contaminated by self-presentation bias: “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, Jean Hamilton, Amy Banks, Dee Mosbacher, Nancy Reed, Caroline Sparks and Holly Bishop, “The National Lesbian Family Study: Interviews with Prospective Mothers,” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 66(2) (April 1996): 279. Cited in: Timothy Dailey, Dark Obsession, (Broadman & Holman Publishing: Nashville, Tennessee, 2003), p. 103.
Fifteen percent of the children of lesbians had developmental disorders, including attention deficit disorders, disruptive behaviors, and tics as well as disorders of learning, motor skills, communication, eating and elimination.
Nanette Gartrell, Carla Rodas, Amy Banks, Amalia Deck and Heidi Peyser, The National Lesbian Family Study: 4. Interviews with the 10-Year-Old Children, Feminism and Psychology 16(2) (2006): 521.
Homosexual relationships are characteristically unstable and are fundamentally incapable of providing children the security they need.
Timothy Dailey, Dark Obsession, (Broadman & Holman Publishing: Nashville, Tennessee, 2003), p. 104.
In a study of 156 males in homosexual relationships lasting from one to 37 years, only seven couples had a totally exclusive sexual relationship, and none had been together for more than five years. Most of the males studied understood sexual relations outside the relationship to be the norm and they viewed monogamy as oppressive.
David McWhirter and Andrew Mattison, The Male Couple: How Relationships Develop (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1984), 252, 253. Cited in: Timothy Dailey, Dark Obsession, (Broadman & Holman Publishing: Nashville, Tennessee, 2003), p. 105.
RELATED READING
©2001 - 2007 United Families International. All rights reserved. No content, images, or other information may be used from this site without prior written consent of United Families International or original authors.
