Blog 7

Last week's in-class readings centered around family. Dynamics of not only heterosexual families, but homosexual families were both discussed. I had never really thought about what it would be like to have gay or lesbian parents. I have lived my life being the daughter of a heterosexual couple, and that's all I really know. That's what I would deem "normal." I am interested to learn more about homosexual parenting, seeing as though that type of situation is being more and more prominent in society. I decided to go online and do some researching on the topic. I came across a pretty informational website. It addressed the false notion that heterosexual couples make better parents than gays or lesbians. That claim rests on absolutely no empirical foundation. Overall mental health of parents, and their approaches to child rearing have proven not to be less than that of heterosexual couples. I even found some major supportive evidence to back homosexual child rearing. The website said that the results of some studies suggest that lesbian mothers' and gay fathers' parenting skills may be superior to those of matched heterosexual couples. Reports of lesbian parent's awareness skills as being stronger than that of hetereosexual parents have surfaced as well. I found all of this information very interesting, and I also saw it as a step in the right direction for the gay community. They deserve to gain positive feedback for the positive things that they accomplish. If you would like to review the website, please visit http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbc/publications/lgplgparents.html