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. ( http://www.acluutah.org/dcfsfacts.html



There has been no research that can prove that same sex couples are bad parents. So, WHY can't the world accept same sex couples who want to raise children. Gay and Lesbian couples are starting to become more and more accepted in society, but the next step to overcome will be families and children of gay and lesbian couples. Our society will believe that nothing good can come from gay and lesbian couples. Hopefully not, but children will make fun of other children no matter what happens. But with the acceptance of gays by society maybe the teasing will be minimal, but who am I kidding, this will probably not happen in out life time. Hopefully at least the foster care system will accept gays and lesbians as potential foster parents and adoptive parents. As social workers and especially for those who work in child welfare we should advocate for gays and lesbians to become parents. Like I said before there is no research that suggests that same sex couples will be bad parents.

I had the opportunity to spend time with a couple of gay and lesbian couples this past weekend, but could not find the right time to ask them if they were interested in having children, or what their opinions are on the subject. Maybe next visit I will be able to inquire about their feelings on this subject wtihout feeling akward. I will also ask the resource department at DHR what their take is on the subject, and see if policy has any reference to the subject. I doubt it does, so maybe we should start recruiting!!!