Gay and Lesbian Parenting, Community Attitudes toward

During the past half century, the profile of the traditional family has changed dramatically, and today there is great diversity in family constellations. While society has become less discriminatory and more accepting of some nontraditional family types, families headed by sexual minority parents face considerable social, legal, religious, and economic barriers. The assumption and expectation in our society is that all people are inherently heterosexual—this is especially true for parents. Yet, an estimated 4 to 14 million children have gay or lesbian parents. Many individuals hold negative attitudes toward gay and lesbian parenting, and numerous religious, political, and social groups have objected to parenting by sexual minorities.

The rationale for condemning lesbian and gay parenthood is typically based on the assumptions that homosexuals are not fit to be parents because they are mentally ill or because they are pedophiles and sexual predators, and the concern that children with homosexual parents will develop disturbed sexual identities, will be poorly adjusted, and will experience tremendous social stigma. These assertions have been rejected by social science research. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association officially declared that homosexuality is not a mental disorder, and criminal justice researchers report that there is no evidence that homosexuals are more likely to perpetrate sex offenses than are heterosexuals. Furthermore, there is a substantial body of research that shows parents' sexual orientation has little ability to predict child development (Patterson, 2002). However, while children of [Page 503]lesbian and gay parents develop normal social relationships, the extent of social stigma that children experience remains unclear. What is unquestionable is the fact that sexual minorities are a socially stigmatized group, and that the prejudices against them frequently influence public policy. Public policy can affect the custody rights of gay and lesbian parents, the rights of lesbians and gays to adopt or foster children, and the rights of lesbians and gays to adopt the biological child of a partner.