QED

Children’s Welfare in Same-Sex Families

gay family IIThe Australian Medical Association (AMA) is calling on the federal parliament to legislate for same-sex marriage. In so doing, the AMA has released an official statement declaring that ‘it is the right of any adult and their consenting adult partner to have their relationship recognised under the Marriage Act 1961, regardless of gender.’[1] AMA President, Dr Michael Gannon, has even written to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, urging a bipartisan approach to same-sex marriage.[2]

In backing same-sex marriage, the AMA has resorted to citing controversial claims about children’s welfare in same-sex parented families. Remarkably, the AMA has released a document stating that there is no peer-reviewed study suggesting children of same-same couples struggle more than those of traditional families. According to the AMA, ‘there is no putative, peer-reviewed evidence to suggest that children raised in same-sex parented families suffer poorer health or psychosocial outcomes as a direct result of the sexual orientation of their parents or carers’.[3]

This is an astonishing statement by a medical association. The AMA is evidently oblivious to the role played by biological parents in the raising of children. Even more astonishing is the fact that AMA is unaware of the psychological effects of the homosexual lifestyle on its own adherents. To blame this damage on ‘discrimination’ or ‘inequality’ is disingenuous in the extreme.

Children of same-sex couples have more chances of living in dysfunctional families

A seminal U.S. study of 156 long-term same-sex couples found that the majority were unable to sustain a monogamous relationship for more than a year. In fact, not a single same-sex couple was capable of maintaining fidelity for more than five years. Rather, ‘all couples with a relationship lasting more than five years … incorporated some provision for sexual activity outside of their relationships’.[4] Another reliable study from seven years ago informed that, as a general rule, same-sex partnerships are significantly more prone to dissolution than heterosexual marriage, with the average same-sex relationship lasting only two to three years.[5]

Another problem with the AMA narrative is the higher levels of violence in same-sex households. The belief that violence comes from patriarchal domination was called into question in the early 1990s, when a significant survey of 1,099 American lesbians revealed that they were more physically abused by their (female) partners than women involved with men in traditional relationships.[6] In the same period, another survey of 350 lesbians who had experienced previous heterosexual relationships found that the rates of verbal, physical, and sexual abuse were significantly higher in their ongoing same-sex relationships than in their prior heterosexual relationships: 56.8% had been sexually victimized by a female, 45% had experienced physical aggression, and 64.5% had experienced physical/emotional aggression.[7]

In another study of 499 homosexual, bisexual, and transgender people by psychology professor Susan C. Turrell, it has been revealed that 13% of them experienced sexual violence at the hand of their same-sex partners, and that 83% reported to be victims of emotional abuse by those partners.[8] Similarly, two medical researchers at Northwestern University, Colleen Stiles-Shields and Richard A. Carrol, have recently produced a comprehensive literary review demonstrating that, when analysed together, domestic violence is a serious problem that affects about 75% of all lesbian, gay and bisexual couples.[9]

In a more recent review of literature, published in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy (2015), compelling evidence is provided to assert that domestic violence is far more likely to occur among same-sex couples as compared to heterosexual couples.[10] For instance, lesbians were found to be more likely to become the victims of domestic violence than heterosexual women.[11] These findings completely debunk the modern feminist theory of domestic violence and reveal how gender-biased assumptions are hopelessly insufficient to explain the complexities of domestic life, including the phenomenon of battering amongst same-sex couples.[12]

Children of same-sex couples are more inclined to become homosexual themselves

The sexual orientation of parents does indeed influence the sexual behaviour of children. In their seminal study of same-sex parenting, Cameron and Cameron identified that ‘homosexual parents are associated disproportionately with homosexual children’.[13] Homosexuals comprise 3% of the US population. However, 75% of adult male children and 57% of adult female children reared by homosexuals developed bisexual or homosexual behaviour.[14]

One may ask if there is a problem with teenagers developing bisexual or homosexual behaviour. This answer may come from a study of 5,998 people in the Netherlands, a country known for its tolerance for homosexuality. In that country, homosexual youths are four times more likely to suffer major depression, three times as likely to suffer anxiety disorder, four times as likely to commit suicide, five times as likely to have nicotine dependence, six times as likely to suffer multiple disorders, and six times as likely to have at least once attempted suicide. Above all, ‘the findings support the assumption that people with same-sex sexual behavior are at greater risk for psychiatric disorders’.[15]

In the US the practice of homosexuality is directly associated with higher levels of alcohol use, marijuana use, and other drug problems.[16] Among homosexuals between 18-25 years old, 37.5% of gays and 23.5% of lesbians are regular users of marijuana, as compared to 16.5% of heterosexual males and only 9.1% of heterosexual females.[17] Furthermore, no less than 30% of young gays and lesbians report problems with alcoholism, as compared to only 7% of the rest of the population.[18] Finally, no less than 21% of young lesbians have experienced frequent thoughts of suicide, with 18% stating that they have actually tried at least once to take their own lives.[19]

Same-sex couples have a greater chance of suffering physical or mental conditions

The physical and mental condition of parents is another important consideration. Adoptive agencies often require the adopter to be less than 40 years old. This is so because the role of raising a child is a long-term task. In Queensland, for instance, the law says that applicants must ‘not be suffering from a physical or mental condition, or have a physical or mental disability, to an extent that the person could not provide a high level of stable, long-term care for a child’.[20]

The homosexual community has rampant levels of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Indeed, as noted by Phillips and Phillips, ‘when AIDS was first observed in 1981 it was called GRIDS (Gay Related Immunodeficiency Syndrome) since all cases seemed to be in homosexual men’.[21] According to the Centre for Disease Control statistics, approximately 3% of the population identify as maintaining a homosexual lifestyle, a proportion that represent approximately 83% of HIV/STDs cases.

The list of medical diseases common to sexually active gays is massive: anal cancer, chlamydia, trachomatis, cryptosporidium, giardia lamblia, herpes simplex, human immunodeficiency (HIV), human papilloma virus (genital warts), isospora belli, microsporidia, gonorrhoea, viral hepatitis types B and C, and syphilis. Similarly, lesbians are three times more prone than their heterosexual counterparts to acquire breast cancer, and be infected by a ‘whole range’ of STDs, including bacterial vaginosis, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.[22] According to Dr. James DeMeo, Director of the Biophysical Research Laboratory in Oregon state:

Homosexuals and bisexuals engaged in promiscuous ‘party-swinger’ lifestyles remain the largest at-risk group for the AIDS syndrome. Here, one can speak of a group with a collective pool of shared body fluids, suffering from chronic, multiple low-grade infections. Minor epidemics of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including syphilis, gonorrhea, and herpes, as well as hepatitis have occurred within the gay communities in the USA. Bowel, bladder and urinary infections related to contamination are common (e.g., the ‘gay bowel syndrome’, the ‘drips’, etc.). Chronic exposures to both infectious materials and organisms, and correspondingly high rates of exposure to antibiotic medications, may become an integral part of the gay man’s lifestyle, with a great toll upon health and immune system functioning. Even before the discovery of HIV and identification of AIDS, the bath-house, anonymous-sex lifestyles of gay men, who were increasingly coming ‘out of the closet’ in the larger cities, became a public-health nightmare. And this ‘lifestyle’ includes the concurrent widespread and abundant use of various immune-depleting drugs, both legal and illegal. Interviews with gay men and symptomatic AIDS patients demonstrate the widespread use of cocaine, amphetamine, marijuana, alcohol, sexual stimulants, aphrodisiacs, and amyl or butyl nitrites (‘poppers’), often taken in various mixtures. From all these factors combined, one can readily see how a severely damaged immune system could result. Again, it is an acquired immune deficiency syndrome. In particular, Kaposi’s sarcoma has been identified as a by-product of nitrite exposure, even before the era of AIDS, and has specifically been linked to the use of the individual to tolerate the insertion of a fully erect penis, or even another man’s fist (‘fisting’ techniques) into the anus. These vigorous assaults to the passive-receptive homosexual are correlated with tearing of rectal tissue, or even fistulas, all of which further breaks down protective barriers to infection.[23]

According to Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons, a respected American psychiatrist, some of the diseases acquired by sexually active homosexuals ‘are so rare in the heterosexual population as to be virtually unknown’.[24] That being so, the average life expectancy for male homosexuals is eight to twenty years less than the average life for male heterosexuals.[25] Hence, encouragement of same sex relationships by the Australian Medical Association can only exacerbate this already distressing situation showing a complete lack of concern for the homosexual community.

Children of same-sex couples are at higher risks of being sexually abused

Careful studies indicate that cases of paedophilia occur with more frequency amongst same-sex couples than heterosexual couples. Although the homosexual community comprises a tiny minority of the population, this minority is responsible for one-third of all cases of child molestation in the US.[26] According to a Senior Fellow for cultural studies at the Family Research Council, Dr. Timothy J. Dailey, ‘the evidence indicates that both homosexuality and paedophilia are intersecting categories that include many different kinds of sexual behaviour’.[27]

This is confirmed by a survey carried in the late 1980s by Archives of Sexual Behavior, which revealed that that 86% of the 229 criminals convicted of sexual molestation against children were homosexuals or bisexuals.[28] Further, an empirical research carried by Cameron and Cameron concluded that same-sex parents had committed 10% of all reported cases of child molestation, although they comprised only 0.3% of the random sample.[29] Such a number indicates a disproportional percentage of sexual abuse by homosexual parents, as compared to only 0.6% of children who had been molested by their heterosexual parents. It also indicates, as the researchers who carried this remarkable investigation concluded, ‘a disproportionate association between homosexuality and paedophilia [and] a correspondingly disproportionate risk of homosexual incest… for children reared by homosexuals’.[30] As a former Fellow in Child Psychiatry at Yale University, Dr Jeffrey Satinover, points out:

[T]he greater number of heterosexual cases reflects the fact that heterosexual males outnumber homosexual males by approximately thirty-six to one… However, heterosexual child molestation cases outnumber homosexual cases by only eleven to one, implying that pedophilia is more than three times more common among homosexuals.[31]

One of the leading academic journals of the homosexual community is called the Journal of Homosexuality. Published in 1990 there is a special double issue entitled Male Inter-Generational Intimacy. Edited by a notorious paedophile Edward Brongersma, the issue contains articles about sexual relationships between men and small boys. There instances of paedophilia are portrayed as ‘loving relationships’.[32] One of the essays even suggests that parents of sexually abused children should not regard their molesters ‘as a rival or competitor, not as theft of their property, but as a partner in the boy’s upbringing, someone to be welcomed into their home’.[33] Such essays tend to normalise paedophilia and regard the sexual molestation of children as a ‘right’ of the molested child and of the child molester. Similar, in a 1991 article by Helmut Graupner to the Journal of Homosexuality one finds the following statement: ‘Man/boy and woman/girl relations constitute, without a doubt, an aspect of gay and lesbian life’.[34]

One of the largest homosexual publishers is the Alyson Publications. This publishing house is particularly notorious for its enthusiastic support of paedophilia. One of the most notorious books published by such publisher is entitled Gay Sex: Manual for Men who Love Men. The book provides child molesters with detailed instructions on how to avoid discovery and arrest when sexually abusing children. Among other things, the book recommends: ‘Avoid situations where a number of men are having sex with the same boy, or group of boys, over a period of time’.[35] In The Age Taboo, a book also published by Alyson Publications, its author contends: ‘Boy-lovers… are not child molesters. The child abusers are… parents who force their staid morality onto the young people in their custody’.[36]

Children of same-sex couples have more chances to suffer from psychological disorders

Dr Sotiros Sarantakos, an associate sociology professor at Charles Sturt University, has comprehensively explored the relationship between family environment and child behaviour in primary schools, according to three different family contexts: married, cohabiting heterosexual, and homosexual. His study is broadly accepted as having fully satisfied the criteria for undeniable scientific validity. Overall, his empirical research indicate that children of married heterosexual couples ‘are more likely to do well at school, in academic and social terms, than children of cohabiting heterosexual and homosexual couples’.[37] Professor Sarantakos notes that children of married heterosexual parents often score better in almost every academic area. By contrast, children of same-sex couples are more reserved and generally ‘uncomfortable when having to work with students of a sex different from the parent they lived with’.[38]

Other studies have reached a similar conclusion. For instance, a comprehensive 1993 study of 136 fifth-grade children in the state of Vermont (one the most liberal states in the US) concluded that children raised by same-sex couples have the lowest levels of self-esteem, classroom behaviour, and grade-point averages.[39] Recent studies (2012, 2015, 2016) confirm that, indeed, children reared by same-sex couples fare considerably worse in a multitude of outcome categories than those reared by homosexual, married couples.[40] Above all, the major finding of all these studies are that family type makes a significant difference to the children’s school achievements. Children in families with their married biological parents scored best while children of homosexuals scored lowest.[41]

Children of same-sex couples are more prone to experience gender dissatisfaction

In his study of children in different family contexts, Sarantakos also concluded that children of same-sex parents acquire disproportionate levels of gender confusion.[42] Such conclusion is similar to another research which reveals that 42.9% of female adults parented by same-sex couples wished to be boys while growing up.[43] The same study indicates that 25% of male adults reared by homosexuals were uncomfortable with their sexuality. They wished they were girls as they grew up, compared to only 5.3% of the total sample.[44] In sum, these studies show that children reared by same-sex couples are at a much higher risk of suffering from gender confusion and dissatisfaction.

General risks associated with the homosexual lifestyle

The American College of Pediatricians (ACP) is a medical association that congregates thousands of physicians and healthcare professionals who are specialised in the care of infants, children, and adolescents. In July 2017, this respected organisation issued an official policy statement confirming that the ‘best available science’ reveals an undesirable influence of the homosexual lifestyle on children parented by gays and lesbian couples. The ACP officially declared:

Given the current body of research, the American College of Pediatricians believes it is inappropriate, potentially hazardous to children, and dangerously irresponsible to change the age-old prohibition on homosexual parenting, whether by adoption, foster care, or by reproductive manipulation.[45]

As can be seen, the ACP strongly advises against child adoption by same-sex couples, which the organization has stated in an official statement rest on the best research literature available. This is not so surprising since compelling arguments can be provided by the best literature on childrearing, which entirely discredit the claim by the Australian Medical Association that children raised by same-sex couples generally can do as well as the children of heterosexual married couples:

1)      Violence among homosexual partners is two to three times more common than among married heterosexual couples.[46] [47] [48]

2)      Homosexual partnerships are significantly more prone to dissolution than heterosexual marriages with the average homosexual relationship lasting only two to three years.[49] [50] [51]

3)      Homosexual men and women are reported to be inordinately promiscuous involving serial sex partners, even within what are loosely-termed ‘committed relationships’.[52] [53] [54] [55]

4)      Individuals who practice a homosexual lifestyle are more likely than heterosexuals to experience mental illness[56] [57] [58], substance abuse[59], suicidal tendencies[60] [61], and shortened life spans.[62]

5)      Although some would claim that these dysfunctions are a result of societal pressures in America, the same dysfunctions exist at inordinately high levels among homosexuals in cultures were the practice is more widely accepted.[63]

6)      Children reared in same-sex households are more likely to experience sexual confusion, and engage in risky sexual experimentation, and later adopt a same-sex identity.[64] [65] [66] [67] [68] [69] [70]

7)      Adolescents and young adults who adopt the homosexual lifestyle, like their adult counterparts, are at increased risk of mental health problems, including major depression, anxiety disorder, conduct disorder, substance dependence, and especially suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.[71]

Final considerations

One of the primary concerns of a fair and compassionate society is to make sure its government implements policies that represent the best interests of all citizens, including children. As seen in this article, the most creditable social-science research available indicate that, broadly speaking, children raised by heterosexual married couples do far better by almost every measure than those who grow up in same-sex family configurations.

If we believe that a medical association should rely on the best research available, not personal opinion, the AMA president should be forced to withdraw such far-reaching comments. As for doctors affiliated to such association, continuing to pay subscription may convey the message that they endorse such unsubstantiated claims, and that the AMA leadership can get away with a purely political point-scoring move like this. Thankfully, about 400 medical doctors, including 26 professors, have since signed a letter protesting the AMA’s politicisation of a fundamental debate, which is particularly detrimental to the well-being of children and the homosexual community itself in this country.

 

Dr Augusto Zimmermann is a Fellow at the International Academy for the Study of the Jurisprudence of the Family (IASJF). He is also former Associate Dean (Research) and Director of Postgraduate Research at Murdoch University School of Law; former Law Reform Commissioner (Law Reform Commission of Western Australia, 2012-2017); President of the Western Australian Legal Theory Association (WALTA); and Professor of Law (adjunct) at the University of Notre Dame Australia (Sydney). Dr Zimmermann is the recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research (Murdoch University, 2012).



[2] ‘AMA Calls for Marriage Equality’, Australian Medical Association, 20 May 2017, available at  https://ama.com.au/media/ama-calls-marriage-equality

[4] David P. Mattison and Andrew M. McWhirter. The Male Couple: How Relationships Develop (Englewood Cliffs/NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1984) pp 252-253.

[5] W.R. Schumm, ‘Comparative Relationship Stability of Lesbian Mother and Heterosexual Mother Families: A Review of Evidence’ (2010) 46 (8) Marriage & Family Review 499-509.

[6] Yong Liea and Sabrina Gentlewarrier, ‘Intimate Violence in Lesbian Relationships: Discussion of Survey Findings and Practice Implications’ (1991) 15 Journal of Social Service Research 41-59.

[7] Donald G. Dutton, ‘Patriarchy and Wife Assault’ (1994) 9 (2) Violence and Victims 167-178. Apparently, the problem of domestic violence is even worse among male homosexuals. See: John Dececco, Patrick Letellier & David Island, Men Who Beat the Men Who Love Them: Battered Gay Men and Domestic Violence (New York/NY: Haworth Press, 1991) p 14.

[8] Susan C. Turrell. ‘A Descriptive Analysis of Same-Sex Relationships: Violence for a Diverse Sample’ (2000) 13 Journal of Family Violence 281-293.

[9] Nora Dunne, ‘Domestic Violence Likely More Frequent for Same-Sex Couples’, Northwestern University, September 18, 2014, at http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2014/09/domestic-violence-likely-more-frequent-for-same-sex-couples.html#sthash.Zsz5HIAc.dpuf

[10] Collegen Stiles-Shields and Richard A. Carroll, ‘Same-Sex Domestic Violence: Prevalence, Unique Aspects, and Clinical Implications’ (2015) Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy 636-648.

[11] Ibid.

[12] See: Pam Elliot, ‘Shattering Illusions: Same-sex Domestic Violence’ (1996) 4 Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services 1–8.

[13] Paul Cameron and Kirk Cameron, ‘Homosexual Parents’ (1991) 31 Adolescence 757, 768.

[14] Ibid., p 763.

[15] Theo G.M. Sandfort, T. Graaf, R. Bijl, R. and R. Schnabel, ‘Same-Sex Sexual Behaviour and Psychiatric Disorders: Findings from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence’ (2001) 58 Archives of General Psychiatry 85-91.  See also: R. Garofalo, R.C. Wolf, L.C. Wissow, E.R. Woods, and E. Goodman; ‘Sexual Orientation and Risk of Suicide Attempts Among a Representative Sample of Youth’ (1999) Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 153, 487-493.

[16] D.J. McKirnan and P.L. Peterson, ‘Psychosocial and Cultural Factors in a Alcohol and Drug Abuse: An Analysis of a Homosexual Community’ (1989) 14 Addictive Behaviors 555-563.

[17] William F. Skinner, ‘The Prevalence and Demographic Predictors of Illicit Drug Use Among Lesbians and Gay Men’ (1984) 84 American Journal of Public Health 1307-1310.

[18] L. Fifield, J. Latham and C. and Phillips, Alcoholism in the Gay Community (Los Angeles/CA: Gay Community Service Center, 1977).

[19] J. Bradford, C. Ryan and E.D. Rothblum, ‘National Lesbian Health Care Survey: Implications for Mental Health Care’ (1994) 62 Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 239.

[20] Roslyn Phillips and David Phillips, ‘Homosexual Parenting’, The Australian Family, July 2001, p 28.

[21] Ibid.

[22] ‘Children Need Both a Mother and a Father’, National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, November 18, 2004, available at http://www.narth.com/docs/needboth.html

[23] James DeMeo, ‘HIV is not the Cause of AIDS’ (1993), available at http://www.orgonelab.org/hiv_aids.htm

[24] See: Richard Fitzgibbons, ‘Medical Downside of Homosexual Behavior: A Political Agenda is Trumping Science’, Zenit, September 18, 2003, available at http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=41158

[25] R.S. Hogg, S.A. Strathdee, K.J. Craib, M.V. O’Shaughnessy, J.S. Montaner and M.T. Schechter, ‘Modelling the Impact of HIV Disease on Mortality in Gay and Bisexual Men’ (1997) 26 (3) International Journal of Epidemiology 657-661.

[26] Timothy J. Dailey, ‘Homosexuality and Child Sexual Abuse’. Orthodoxy Today, available at http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles/DaileyHomosexualAbuse.php?/articles/DaileyHomosexualAbuse.htm

[27] Ibid.

[28] W.D. Erickson, ‘Behaviour Patterns of Child Molesters’ (1988) 17 (1) Archives of Sexual Behavior 77, 83.

[29] Cameron and Cameron, above n.13, p 764.

[30] Ibid., p 771.

[31] Jeffrey Satinover, Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth (Grand Rapids MI: Baker Books, 1996), p 64.

[32] Steve Baldwin, ‘Child Molestation and the Homosexual Movement’ (2002)14 Regent University Law Review 267-282.

[33] Beverly LaHaye, ‘Seduction of Innocence: With the Twist of a Word, APA Study Legitimises Pedophilia’, April 6, 1999, available at: http://www.cwfa.org/library/family/1999-04-06_pedophilia.shtml

[34] Helmut Grauper, ‘Love Versus Abuse: Crossgenerational Sexual Relations of Minors: A Gay Rights Issue?’ (1999) 37 Journal of Homosexuality 23, 26.

[35] Jack Hart, Gay Sex: A Manual for Men Who Love Men (Boston/MA: Alyson Books, 1996). See also: Baldwin, above n. 32, p 276.

[36] Daniel Tsung (ed.), The Age Taboo: Gay Male Sexuality, Power and Consent (Boston/MA: Alyson Books, 1981), p 144.

[37] Sotirios Sarantakos, ‘Children in Three Contexts: Family, Education and Social Development (1996) 21 (3) Children Australia 23, 29.

[38] Ibid.

[39] Phyllis Bronstein, JoAnn Clauson, Miriam Frankel Stoll and Craig L. Abrams, ‘Psycological and Academic Adjustment in Diverse Family Structure’ (1993) 42 Family Relations 268-276.

[40] D. Potter, ‘Same-Sex Parent Families and Children’s Academic Achievement’ (2012) 74 Journal of Marriage & Family 556. See also D.P. Sullins ‘Invisible Victims: Delayed Onset Depression Among Adults with Same-Sex Parents’ (2016) 16 Depression, Research and Treatment 1-8, available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/2410392. See also: D. P. Sullins, ‘Emotional Problems among Children with Same-Sex Parents: Difference by Definition’ (2015) 7(2) British Journal of Education, Society and Behavioral Science 99-120

[41] Phillips and Phillips, above n.20, p 28.

[42] Sarantakos, above n.37.

[43] Cameron and Cameron, above n.13, p 764.

[44] Ibid.

[45] American College of Pediatricians. Parenting Issues – Homosexual Parenting: Is it Time for Change? July 2017, available at https://www.acpeds.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/7.7.17-Homosexual-Parenting-is-it-time-for-change.pdf

[46] Gwat Yong Lie and Sabrina Gentlewarrier, ‘Intimate Violence in Lesbian Relationships: Discussion of Survey Findings and Practice Implications’ (1991) 15 Journal of Social Service Research 41-59.

[47] Lettie L. Lockhart, Barbara W. White and Vicki Causby, ‘Letting out the Secret: Violence in Lesbian Relationships’ (1994) 9 Journal of Interpersonal Violence 469-492.

[48] ‘Health Implications Associated with Homosexuality’, The Medical Institute for Sexual Health, Austin/TX 1999, p 79, at  https://reujq2sar5z38mfxc343rf51-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/MISH.pdf

[49] David P. McWhirter and Andrew M. Mattison; The Male Couple: How Relationships Develop (Englewood Cliffs/NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1984) pp 252-253.

[50] Marcel T. Saghir and Eli Robins, Male and Female Homosexuality (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1973) p 225 See also: Letitia Anne Peplau and Hortensia Amaro, ‘Understanding Lesbian Relationships’ in W. Paul, J.D. Weinrish, J.C. Gonsiorek & M.E. Hotvedt (eds.), Homosexuality: Social, Psychological, and Biological Issues (Beverly Hills/CA: Sage, 1982) pp 233-247.

[51] Michael Pollak, ‘Male Homosexuality’ in Philippe Aires and Andre Bejin (eds.) Western Sexuality: Practice and Precept in Past and Present Times (New York/NY: Blackwell, 1985) pp 40-61.

[52] Alan P. Bell and Martin S. Weinberg; Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity Among Men and Women (New York/NY: Simon and Schuster, 1978) pp 308-309. This is a seminal study based on lengthy face to face interviews with 1,500 people. See also: Alan P. Bell, Martin S. Weinberg, and Sue Kiefer Hammersmith, Sexual Preference (Bloomington/IN: Indiana University Press, 1981).

[53] Paul Van de Ven, Pamela Rodden, June Crawford & Susan Kippax, ‘A Comparative Demographic and Sexual Profile of Older Homosexuality Active Men’ (1997) 34 Journal of Sex Research 349-60, 354.

[54] A. A. Deenen, L. Gijs, A.X. van Naerssen, ‘Intimacy and Sexuality in Gay Male Couples’ (1994) 23 Archives of Sexual Behavior 421-431.

[55] M. Xiridou, R. Geskus, J De Wit, R. Coutinho, M. Kretzschmar, ‘The Contribution of Steady and Casual Partnerships to the incidence of HIV infection among Homosexual Men in Amsterdam’ (2003) 17(7) AIDS  1029-38.

[56] J. Bradford, C. Ryan, E.D. Rothblum, ‘National Lesbian Health Care Survey: Implications for Mental Health Care’ (1994) 63 Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 228-242, 239.

[57] Sandfort, above n.15, pp 85-91.

[58] J. Michael Bailey, ‘Commentary: Homosexuality and Mental Illness’ (1999) 56(10) Archives General Psychiatry 876-880.

[59] Joane M. Hall, ‘Lesbians Recovering from Alcoholic Problems: An Ethnographic Study of Health Care Experiences’ (1994) 43 Nursing Research 234-244.

[60] Richard Herrell, Jack Goldberg, and William R. True, ‘Sexual Orientation and Suicidality. Co-twin Control Study in Adult Men’ (1999) 56 (10) Archives of General Psychiatric 867-874.

[61] S.E. Gilman, S.D. Cochran, V.M. Mays, M. Hughes, D. Ostrow, and R.C. Kessler, ‘Risk of Psychiatric Disorders among Individuals Reporting Same-sex Sexual Partners in the National Comorbidity Survey’ (2001) 91 American Journal of Public Health 933-939.

[62] R.S. Hogg, S.A. Strathdee, K.J. Craib, M.V. O’Shaughnessy, J.S. Montaner & M.T. Schechter, ‘Modelling the Impact of HIV Disease on Mortality in Gay and Bisexual Men’ (1997) 26 International Journal of Epidemiology 657-661.

[63] T.G. Sandford, R.de Graaf, R.V. Bijl and P Schnabel; ‘Same-sex Sexual Behavior and Psychiatric Disorders’ (2001) 58(1) Archives of General Psychiatry 85-91.

[64] W. R. Schumm, ‘Children of Homosexuals More Apt to Be Homosexuals? A Reply to Morrison and to Cameron Based on an Examination of Multiple Sources of Data’ (2010) 42 (6) Journal of Biosocial Science 721-742

[65] Loren Marks, ‘Same-Sex Parenting and Children’s Outcomes: A Closer Examination of the American Psychological Association’s Brief of Lesbian and Gay Parenting’ (2012) 41 Social Science Research 735-51.

[66] Mark Regnerus, ‘How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who Have Same-Sex Relationships? Findings from the New Family Structures Study’ (2012) 41 Social Science Research 752-770.

[67] N. Gartrell, H. Bos, and N. Goldberg, ‘Adolescents of the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: Sexual Orientation, Sexual Behavior and Sexual Risk Exposure’ (2011) 40 Archive of Sexual Behavior 1199-1209.

[68] F. Tasker and S. Golombok, ‘Adults Raised as Children in Lesbian Families’. (1995) 65 American Journal of Orthopsychiatric Association 203-215.

[69] Judith Stacey and Timothy J. Biblarz, ‘How Does the Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter’ (2001) 66 (2) American Sociological Review 159-183.

[70] Ibid.

[71] David Fergusson, L. John Horwood and Annette L Beautrais, ‘Is Sexual Orientation Related to Mental Health Problems and Suicidality in Young People?’ (1999) 56 (10) Archives of General Psychiatry 876-880.

18 thoughts on “Children’s Welfare in Same-Sex Families

  • ramul2@bigpond.com says:

    Impressive round-up, thank you. Whilst some may argue that the institution of SSM may help alleviate some of the poor statistics quoted, there’s no getting around same sex sex has some plumbing and equipment issues regarding procreation. In each case a homosexual couple will have to, of necessity, enter into an arrangement of some kind with a third party or institution if children are to be involved.

    • Warty says:

      I’m afraid you’ll have to explain why you consider the statistics quoted as being ‘poor’, or is this an example of ambiguity? Are you in fact suggesting it’s a ‘poor’ show that same sex relationships have the outcome they appear to have and that the adopted children ultimately suffer the way they are deemed to?

      • ramul2@bigpond.com says:

        Warty,
        I have not reason to doubt the statistics, they aren’t poor. It was the outcomes to which they point overall that are poor, as in something less than ideal. I hasten to add that statistics are a numbers game and make no comment on individual cases.

    • rosross says:

      Given the modern practice where babies can be purchased like ice-cream, we need laws in place to protect children. One would have thought we might have learned something from the suffering caused by insensitive forced adoption in times past, but it seems we have not.

      Beyond the fact that IVF, or artificially conceived human beings is an experiment, the full effects of which will not be known for at least two generations, another 30 – 40 years at least, in a world where sperm, egg and even womb are bought on the open market, and all three constitute biological parents, we need to ensure the rights of humans created in this way are acknowledged.

      All children raised by non-biological parents should have in law, right to knowledge of all their biological parents in childhood and right to contact all biological parents as adults.

      For those brought up in same-sex marriages, children should have a right to a surrogate parent for any missing biological mother or father.

      In this way we might diminish the damage done by what is an experiment in human biology and nature.

      • DRTBLYNCH@MSN.COM says:

        I once did a house call on a dying left wing Bishop. He asked me what I thought of IVF. I replied – My Lord that is just adultery in a test tube and if you are going to commit adultery you might as well enjoy it.
        In 1975 the obstetricians asked me to open a sperm bank. I said – Boys the sperm bank is open right now; but I live in the laboratory and have a very dull life; besides you need high quality sperms; and fresh is best; I’ll do the job myself; I am still waiting for the first patient.
        I used to do fertility tests by collecting from the vaginal vault. One time a general practitioner rang me and said that girl got pregnant from your fertility test. So I said – We always try to please.
        I operated the first Eye Bank in Queensland. I tested every donor for syphilis. We didn’t know why corneal transplants worked. They work because there is a ring of stem cells at the limbus.
        The Westmead sperm. Bank killed four mothers with AIDS in 1984. They didn’t realise that all the donors were homosexuals. They were checking the donors chromosomes instead of their venereal diseases. Blood Banks from 1900 have been testing for Syphilis. Sperms are not a laboratory reagent.
        At the same time there was an epidemic of HIV in the Brisbane blood supply, unearthed by my good friend the late Dr J F O’Duffy. Even before that I had imposed Quarantine against the Brisbane Blood Bank – based on instinct, not logic. The director was a homosexual; he encouraged his friends to become blood donors to get free tests for Syphilis and Hepatitis; they all had HIV. That was when I realised that art is getting things right with incomplete information. The director did the right thing and committed suicide.

  • bemartin39@bigpond.com says:

    The mighty force called Political Correctness sweeps away everything and everyone that gets in its way. Reason, logic and sober common sense don’t get a look in. One feels compelled to send a hyperlink to this article to all the illustrious supporters of SSM, such as Penny Wong, Michael Kirby and their ilk. Of course, they will dismiss it as homophobic, fascists propaganda, disregarding all the research referenced in the article.

  • ramul2@bigpond.com says:

    How or why SSM will be superior to a civil union, already available to same sex couples is something I don’t understand.

  • ian.macdougall says:

    Dr Augusto Zimmermann: Well done. A most timely article.
    As the old Chinese proverb has it, ‘let the waters recede, and the stones will emerge.’
    I am against same sex marriage, partly because what’s next? Marriage to farm animals?
    Happiness of the children in whatever household or adult relationship has to be absolutely paramount. I have no doubt that a gay spokesperson such as Senator Penny Wong and her female partner can provide a loving and well-resourced home for children. But I agree also with RobK: marriages should be confined to heterosexual couples, if only to avoid confusing the rising generation.

  • colroe says:

    I would prefer to call homosexuals just that. From what I have witnessed over many years there is little in these relationships that could be considered “gay”.

    • rosross says:

      While grooming and predatory behaviour exists in heterosexual society, what many fail to recognise is that it is even more prevalent in homosexual and lesbian cultures. One has only to look at the fact that relationships between the old and very young are common in ‘gay’ cultures.

  • Warty says:

    Clearly the AMA has been thoroughly infiltrated and authentic studies on same sex relationships simply present an unpleasant truth to be avoided at all costs.
    Society has undergone a profound metamorphosis in any case, from when I was a young man and I can’t say for the good. There are those of us who’ll turn away in horror at the suggestion that paedophilia is currently regarded in pretty much the same light homosexuality was back in the 1960s and 70s, and I still remember the general sense of revulsion back then. It was said that homosexuality existed in all walks of life, and the same is proving to be the case with paedophilia today. But what happens when they begin to get purchase in the MSM and after years of quiet campaigning there is a shift in the public mindset?
    Back in 1960 I would never have envisaged the changes that have occurred, so what will things be like thirty, forty years hence? A slippery slope?

    • ianl says:

      > “Clearly the AMA has been thoroughly infiltrated …”

      Nope. The Executive of the AMA has been infiltrated by activists, who then issue these decrees without polling the full membership, in fact deliberately bypassing it, sandbagging it. Past AMA Presidents have now objected to this publicly, but are ignored. Membership of the AMA is not a professional requirement (although it was regarded as desirable by medical practitioners in earlier times) so the AMA loses some more members – those who find this strident partisanship professionally distasteful but who do not have the time or energy to oppose it in public.

      This is a copybook example in real time of my earlier comments on the subversion of professional bodies by activists within the relevant Executives. The resulting pronouncements are *not* representative of the membership body. This ugliness has been particularly acute in the various scientific associations on AGW.

      Trollster, take note. Your straw men will be ignored.

      • Warty says:

        Informative and reassuring in a way (in that the entire ‘body’ hasn’t been contaminated). In the world of Federal politics we have two conservative alternatives to the now seemingly centre left Liberals (The Australian Conservatives and One Nation) so perhaps with the rise of the conservative ‘voice’ we’ll begin to see the same happening with regards to other (once esteemed) entities like the AMA. Let’s hope so.

      • Warty says:

        By the way, perhaps you could remind us of your ‘example in real time of my earlier comments on the subversion of professional bodies by activists within the relevant Executives’.

  • MattP says:

    Augusto wrote: “..the AMA has released a document stating that there is no peer-reviewed study suggesting children of same-same couples struggle more than those of traditional families.”
    One of the greatest misnomers is that same-sex couples are as “good” as traditional families. Well, as Mark Regnerus has noted (Hijacking science, 2016): “The children of gay or lesbian single and stepparents appear, on average, to fare comparably to those of straight single and stepparent counterparts. Hence there tend to be “no differences” across types of solitary, fractured, and reconstituted households.”
    We can therefore conclude that same-sex couples are on par with fractured, step-family arrangements; not with Traditional Families. Yet that is the myth that is constantly presented to us.
    Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, in her seminal article, Dan Quayle was Right (1993), noted that “Compared with children in intact families, children from disrupted families are at a much higher risk for physical or sexual abuse.”
    The overreach is staggering, when, there are some who claim that, because gay couples are wealthier, and loving couples, they are actually better and more dedicated parents than many heterosexual couples. There you have it in a nutshell, the refusal to acknowledge the broken status of said “families”, especially when children are imported into those relationships from former heterosexual families.
    There has been a wealth of research into dysfunctional families, step-families, etc.. Thus, it ought be clear that, by category, same-sex families have been covered extensively in modern research.
    The AMA is merely refusing to acknowledge the elephant in the room: at best same-sex families are step-families. Either that, or it has bought into the lie.

Leave a Reply