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PBulldog2 wrote:Nekochan wrote:What happens when gays in the military demand family housing and other allowances?
Why would they be denied this, Neko? Why would their relationships, many of them long-term, be considered "less than"? Should the children of gay relationships be denied the same allowances given to children in traditional marriage relationships?
http://www.statesman.com/news/local/ut-study-social-economic-differences-between-children-raised-2397884.html
UT study: Social, economic differences between children raised by same-sex, heterosexual parents
Challenging more than a decade of scholarship, a study out of the University of Texas has found that adults raised by same-sex parents reported significant differences in the quality of their lives compared with children of married, heterosexual biological parents.
"It's the largest nationally representative study that concerns the adult children of parents who have same-sex relationships," said Mark Regnerus, an associate professor of sociology who authored the study funded by the conservative Witherspoon Institute and the Bradley Foundation.
Some have criticized the study's methodology, while others say it is the most expansive such study to date.
Regnerus' work surveyed 3,000 Americans ages 18 to 39 — 175 of whom reported their mothers had lesbian relationships and 73 of whom reported that their fathers had gay relationships. He looked at 40 categories. Among the findings:
■ 69 percent of adults with lesbian mothers and 57 percent with gay fathers reported receiving welfare while growing up. Seventeen percent of those raised by their biological parents who were married did.
■ 38 percent of adults with lesbian mothers and 23 percent with gay fathers reported they are on welfare. Ten percent of those raised by their biological parents are.
■ 19 percent with gay or lesbian parents reported having recent psychological therapy. Eight percent of those raised by married biological parents did.
"The people we studied reflected differently about their own life today and their life in the past. For those with a parent who had a same-sex relationship, those outcomes were decidedly different things, often worse," said Regnerus, who stressed that his findings were not influenced by politics.
Regnerus said his research did not offer causes for the differences and cautioned that his findings should be viewed as a look at an "early generation" of children raised by gay parents in an era less tolerant of such relationships.
For years, research suggested children of gay parents experienced no more significant outcomes than those of heterosexual parents, Regnerus said. In the report, he wrote that it "reveals far greater diversity in the experience of lesbian motherhood (and to a lesser extent, gay fatherhood) than has been acknowledged or understood."
Scientists attribute the departure from previous work to the breadth of Regnerus' data set. Past studies based their findings on less representative "samples of convenience," for example by soliciting study subjects at political forums. Regnerus' data are more reflective of the larger population due to the larger number of those surveyed, said David Eggebeen, an associate professor of sociology at Pennsylvania State University.
The study has caused a stir. Eggebeen called the study disquieting.
"These are results that should make everyone take pause," he said. "However, this not end of the story. This study doesn't prove anything, but it raises questions."
Cynthia Osborne, an associate professor at UT's Lyndon B. Johnson School for Public Affairs, said, "We don't have good theoretical reasons as to why these differences might be."
Osborne and others said Regnerus did not differentiate between planned same-sex families and same-sex families born of broken heterosexual relationships.
A joint statement by Washington-based Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation, among others, called the study a "flawed, misleading and scientifically unsound paper that seeks to disparage lesbian and gay parents."
"Because of the serious flaws, this so-called study doesn't match 30 years of scientific research that shows overwhelmingly that children raised by parents who are LGBT do equally as well as their counterparts raised by heterosexual parents," Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said.
The conservative, Christian Family Research Council did not immediately return a call for comment Monday, but council leaders told ABC News that the study underscores the need for heterosexual marriage.
Regnerus said he hopes the data will be used to further understanding of families with homosexual parents.
"I'm aware of the sensitivity of the subject, and my intention isn't to create or cause harm," he said. "But research questions shouldn't be off-limits."
