Gay couples as fit to adopt as heterosexuals: study

[Wolfman1982]

http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE58O3MK20090925

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Gay or straight, the sexual orientation of adoptive parents does not have an impact on the emotional development of their children, according to a new study.

But researchers said that if parents were satisfied with the adoption process, had a stable income and functioned well as a family the risk of emotional problems in children were reduced.

"We found that sexual orientation of the adoptive parents was not a significant predictor of emotional problems," Paige Averett, an assistant professor of social work at East Carolina University, said in a statement.

"We did find, however, that age and pre-adoptive sexual abuse were," she added.

Averett, Blace Nalavany, also of East Carolina University, and Scott Ryan, dean of the University of Texas School of Social Work, questioned nearly 1,400 couples in the United States, including 155 gay and lesbian parents.

They used information from Florida's public child welfare system and data from gay and lesbian couples throughout the U.S. for the study.

Each couple was questioned about themselves and their children, the family composition and dynamics, and the history of the child before the adoption.

The researchers said the findings, which are reported in the journal Adoption Quarterly, are important because it compared gay and lesbian and heterosexual couples.

"There are implications for social work educators, adoption professionals, and policy makers in this and other recent studies," said Averett.

"We must pay attention to the data indicating that gay and lesbian parents are as fit as heterosexual parents to adopt," Averett added, "because at least 130,000 children are depending on us to act as informed advocates on their behalf."

The American Civil Liberties Union has said that laws and adoption agency policies have created obstacles for gay and lesbian couple who want to adopt children.

(Reporting by Patricia Reaney, editing by Paul Casciato)

Well I think it is great, that some body finally shows the world. That there is nothing wrong with gay couples when it comes to adoption.

 

[gloriann]

Kinda sad that they (whoever they are) thought they had to do a study of this to determine and then declare it's ok.

 

[HarlotMinx]

Kinda sad that they (whoever they are) thought they had to do a study of this to determine and then declare it's ok.

More like the study is to prove to all the people who need such things that it's true. Rarely do people conduct studies to determine something they don't believe in, then it'd be the study to prove homosexuals make bad parents and they would find a way to reach that conclusion with their own data. *shrugs*

 

[Etoile]

Fuck you, Florida!

 

[Wolfman1982]

Fuck you, Florida!

eerhm, could you please explain your outburst ? But I have a feeling, that it is a law in Florida that prohibits gay couples to adopt.

 

[HarlotMinx]

I may not be up to date on state politics in Florida but this article is a year old.

MIAMI — A Florida law that has banned adoptions by gay men and lesbians for over three decades is unconstitutional, a judge here ruled on Tuesday.

“The best interests of children are not preserved by prohibiting homosexual adoption,” the judge, Cindy S. Lederman of Miami-Dade Circuit Court, said in a 53-page decision. She said the law violated equal protection rights for children and their prospective parents.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office said the state would appeal, and the case is likely to end up before the State Supreme Court.

Florida is the only state with a law prohibiting gay men and lesbians — couples and individuals — from adopting children. The Legislature voted to prohibit adoptions by gay men and lesbians in 1977, in the midst of a campaign led by the entertainer Anita Bryant to repeal a gay rights ordinance adopted by Dade County.

In 2005, the United States Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to the Florida law.

Some states, like Mississippi and Utah, effectively bar adoptions by same-sex couples through laws that prohibit adoption by unmarried couples. Arkansas voters passed a similar measure this month.

The ruling on Tuesday will allow Frank Martin Gill, 47, a gay man from North Miami, to adopt two foster children whom he has raised since 2004. “Our family just got a lot more to be thankful for this Thanksgiving,” Mr. Gill said in a news release issued by the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented him.

Robert Rosenwald, director of the LGBT Advocacy Project of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and one of the lawyers on the case, said, “The case means that these two boys won’t be torn from the only home that they’ve ever known,” said.

The state presented experts who argued that there was a higher incidence of drug and alcohol abuse among same-sex couples, that their relationships were less stable than those of heterosexuals, and that their children suffered a societal stigma.

But lawyers for Mr. Gill presented evidence contradicting those contentions, which Judge Lederman found persuasive.

“It is clear that sexual orientation is not a predictor of a person’s ability to parent,” she wrote.

Mr. Rosenwald called the decision a huge victory for gay and lesbian parents and for almost 1,000 children in Florida waiting to be adopted.

“The court for the first time after hearing all of the evidence determined that the scientific evidence is crystal clear,” he said. “There is no dispute that children raised by gay parents fare just as well or better than children raised by straight parents.”

 

[John Doe]

eerhm, could you please explain your outburst ? But I have a feeling, that it is a law in Florida that prohibits gay couples to adopt.

I was wondering where that came from too.

Etoile, did Florida kill your parents or what?

 

[sugaredwalls]

It is not legal for gays to adopt in Florida.

Etoile is right, fuck Florida, they suck.

 

[Wolfman1982]

I sincerely hope, that you mean the government in Florida suck. Cause they really do suck, or at least Bush´s brother did.

 

[Etoile]

I just spent the past five days in Florida. I most certainly do mean Florida sucks.

 

[Wolfman1982]

I just spent the past five days in Florida. I most certainly do mean Florida sucks.

Who sucks in Florida ? the government, the normal people. Such as some of the members here, or is it something else ? cause it still baffles me, and I know people in Florida, and NOT all of them suck. Actually those who does not suck are people I could call friends in that state, so you better explain what you mean. By Florida sucks.

 

[Etoile]

Who sucks in Florida ? the government, the normal people. Such as some of the members here, or is it something else ? cause it still baffles me, and I know people in Florida, and NOT all of them suck. Actually those who does not suck are people I could call friends in that state, so you better explain what you mean. By Florida sucks.

I didn't say anything about individual people. I said the state of Florida sucks. As a whole.

 

[Wolfman1982]

Etoile: you started with shouting, and I quote

Fuck you, Florida!

Which to me , does not add up. But I can understand it, since as an American you are allowed to shout such obscenities out, but only if you clarify what on Earth you meant. But your shout out, did NOT cover the other stuff you have just explained. But while we are at it, some of the members of this board are residents of the State of Florida, and what would they say about you shouting that out ? as so many people have said to me recently and in the past. Will I now say to you, as a courtesy, Etoile. Would you please think before you speak or write such an obscenity.

 

[Etoile]

Etoile: you started with shouting, and I quote



Which to me , does not add up. But I can understand it, since as an American you are allowed to shout such obscenities out, but only if you clarify what on Earth you meant. But your shout out, did NOT cover the other stuff you have just explained. But while we are at it, some of the members of this board are residents of the State of Florida, and what would they say about you shouting that out ? as so many people have said to recently and in the past. Will I know say to you, as a courtesy, Etoile. Would you please think before you speak or write such an obscenity.

Jesus Christ. Not that I should have to explain myself, but "Fuck you, Florida" was meant to be equivalent to "Take that, Florida" - nothing more. I don't have to clarify jack shit, and you are putting way too much energy into this.

 

[Wolfman1982]

Etoile: actually I am just messing with you.

 

[Etoile]

Etoile: actually I am just messing with you.

Somehow I doubt that, but I'll chalk it up to the language issue - that your sarcasm didn't come through.

 

[Wolfman1982]

Somehow I doubt that, but I'll chalk it up to the language issue - that your sarcasm didn't come through.

Call it what ever you want. But the really cool thing, about sarcasm online is that. No one can see if you really mean what you write or not. And that is something I use very rarely , but in this instance. I did it on purpose, to mess you up a bit. And I do know the difference between Irony and sarcasm. And I use neither of them very much at all.

 

[John Doe]

Kinda sad that they (whoever they are) thought they had to do a study of this to determine and then declare it's ok.

Science studies everything. Even more so in recent years. For example, it was only recently that scientists began to consider laughter a legitimate subject for study.

 

[Etoile]

Yesterday I asked the flight attendant why they load passengers from the front instead of the back like they used to. Apparently they did a study. Ha!