Broadcast Schedule			RESEARCH OVERVIEW OF LESBIAN AND GAY PARENTING All of the research to date has reached the same unequivocal conclusion about gay parenting: the children of lesbian and gay parents grow up as successfully as the children of heterosexual parents. In fact, not a single study has found the children of lesbian or gay parents to be disadvantaged because of their parents' sexual orientation. Photo: Donna DeCesare
			Other key findings include: There is no evidence to suggest that lesbians and gay men are unfit to be parents. Home environments with lesbian and gay parents are as likely to successfully support a child's development as those with heterosexual parents. Good parenting is not influenced by sexual orientation. Rather, it is influenced most profoundly by a parent's ability to create a loving and nurturing home -- an ability that does not depend on whether a parent is gay or straight. There is no evidence to suggest that the children of lesbian and gay parents are less intelligent, suffer from more problems, are less popular, or have lower self-esteem than children of heterosexual parents. The children of lesbian and gay parents grow up as happy, healthy and well-adjusted as the children of heterosexual parents. Source: American Psychological Association. Lesbian and Gay Parenting: A Resource for Psychologists, District of Columbia, 1995; Child Welfare League of America, Issues in Gay and Lesbian Adoption: Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Peirce-Warwick Adoption Symposium, District of Columbia, 1995. Reprinted with permission from the American Civil Liberties Union FAMILY STRUCTURE Photo: Donna DeCesare Myth: The only acceptable home for a child contains a mother and father who are married to each other. Fact: Our children are raised in families large and small. There are one-parent, two-parent, and grandparent headed families. There are stepfamilies, blended families, foster families, families of birth and families of intention. There are families with one child, families with ten children, families with no relatives and families bursting with extended family activity. Families are interracial, multiracial, intergenerational, gay and straight. The reality of today is that the traditional definition of the married, heterosexual couple with 1.5 children is only one of the many, many families that our children grow and thrive in. To say that it is the only acceptable home for our children insults all children's homes that do not look like this. We believe that the "acceptable" home for a child is one in which love, commitment, and support are freely given among its members... Source: Golombok et al. 1983, Green, R., 1978, 1986. Excerpted from the Family Pride Coalition. Reprinted with permission. Home | The Story | The Families | Gay Parenting | The Film | Talkback | Resources | ITVS