<p>Most of the kids of gay parents I know are straight too.</p>
<p>I think this line of reasoning is nonsense.</p>
<p>“Children of gays are no more likely to be gay than the children of straight parents.”</p>
<p>kluge - Can you prove that? By saying that you are in essence denying the role that environment plays in child development.</p>
<p>I do not think that the statement is necessarily true, but gay parents deprive a child of having a father and a mother which is crucial to a childs development, to his social skills, and etc</p>
<p>Oh for heaven’s sake, Golani. Could you provide some evidence instead of just presenting your juvenile opinion as fact?</p>
<p>What about the single parent? Are their children lacking in social development and social skills? What is the parent was a single parent due to death of a spouse, rather than divorce, so their is no parent of the opposite sex at all? Those kids doomed, or what?</p>
<p>Allmusic - Did you say “Most of the kids of gay parents I know are straight too.”? </p>
<p>Well, then what percentage would you say are gay if “most” are straight. Would it be about the same percentage as an equal number of straight parents’ kids?</p>
<p>Too hard to compare, Leanid. There just are substantially fewer gay couples raising kids, for it to be a statistically sound sample! ;)</p>
<p>I think if you ask any single parent what one their biggest regrets was for their children is that they did not have a father/mother to help raise them.</p>
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<p>Hmm…this seems to be turning into a nature vs. nurture debate, so let’s be careful or the thread will be closed. </p>
<p>I understand your point, and would agree that, in general, kids would probably prefer a father and mother. The whole reasoning behind this is that kids want to fit in, and so anything that would make them different (gay parents) would, at least at first, be undesirable. However, you are speaking as if we lived in a perfect world where loving hetero parents exist for every child. </p>
<p>Given the options for some children, I think gay parents are far better than the alternatives and can be just as good at parenting as straight parents. Religious/Cultural arguments aside, I find it strange that so many people are blinded and cannot see that there are many children who would love to have a home.</p>
<p>Allmusic - Turn off the music for a moment and try to answer something directly instead of diverting it to other issues, and then insulting those who take issue with your willful blindness.</p>
<p>Yes, of course, kids from single parent or (worse) no parent upbringings are deprived of something. Does that mean that a two parent (hetero) family is not the most desirable to have, given a choice? What are you trying to prove?!</p>
<p>No willful blindness here.</p>
<p>I am simply one who looks at all sides of an issue, as opposed to the myopic views some use.</p>
<p>My point is that there are plenty of children who do not have the benefit of two parents, one mother and one father. As long as they are brought up in a loving home, those children also thrive.</p>
<p>I do think a two parent home is optimal, yes. It just isn’t always possible.</p>
<p>Leanid, here’s a summary from the American Psychological Association at <a href=“http://www.apa.org/pi/parent.html[/url]”>Internal Server Error;
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I don’t deny the role of environment in “child development” - I’m just denying its role in the establishing of whether a kid is right or left handed, tall or short, gay or straight.</p>
<p>actually I think the polygamy option might be preferable 
I would love to have had someone to help with the kids and the cooking & my wardrobe could double!:)</p>
<p>I know several single moms, who at one time or another, shared housing with another single mom- it worked pretty well- and actually from the moms point of view- better than sharing a home with a man who didn’t know how/want to be a father, had never cleaned a bathroom in his life and was not gonna start, and intended on living his life the way he would have if he didn’t have a family.</p>
<p>The kids had another mom who cared about them, had"siblings" that were even better than siblings, because they weren’t actually related, and their moms had support from one another, which resulted in a less stressful situation</p>
<p>I also know people who are living in shared housing, more how some families live in other cultures.
My sister in law for example, was raised in a compound with aunts and uncles, grandparents and cousins sharing daily life ( in colombia)
Some neighborhoods have adopted this as well, actually setting out to construct housing with shared spaces. I think that would be great, but my husband is more reclusive.
( no they aren’t “communes” but they do have shared play spaces for kids and food preparation spaces= although the homes also have their own kitchens etc- actually it sounds like a great place to retire- very busy)</p>
<p>However, we live in a neighborhood, where we are fairly close to several of our neighbors, driving them to dr appts, sharing produce from our yards and trading child care.</p>
<p>( Incidentally- I have also noticed that lately we have many more same sex couples in our community- it takes a while though to figure out if they are actually a “couple” or are just living together- not that it is my business of course- but I suspect there are many more out there than are acknowledged)
There are many ways to grow a community and a family-and to raise children.</p>
<p>Why dont we just then get rid of the family unit. After kids are born lets throw them in a big building where they eat, sleep, ****, and live together. Who needs parents. Let the community raise the kids, preferrably a same sex community</p>
<p>I think most people are against gay marriage because it does not impact them. See if these same people would support DOMA if you could only get married once and if divorced or widowed a new relationship was treated the same as a gay relationship. You could have your relationship but get no govt benefits. By the way if divorced should you have to return all govt benefits received from prior years?</p>
<p>kluge - I would love to believe that it is all nature and no nurture, for if it were there would be little to argue against gay marriage (aside from disgust), but I am just not convinced.</p>
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<p>No need for the govt. to interfere…society is doing that all on its own. The fact is, there aren’t enough “perfect” families to go around, so if there are same-sex couples willing to provide a loving home to children that wouldn’t receive it otherwise, why should you stop them?</p>
<p>so then why do people want government to interfere and change the def of marriage</p>
<p>“but I am just not convinced.”</p>
<p>Blinded by science?</p>
<p>“When it comes to a toddler its very hard to explain something like homosexuality to him because its soo unatural in its very essense and so unusual to a small kid.”</p>
<p>No it’s not. I’ve heard kindergartners explain it. “Some boys love boys and some girls love girls.” That’s all a toddler needs to know.</p>
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<p>Got me. I guess I’d be able to address that issue with more authority if I were actually a gay guy wanting to get married. Why do people want to do anything? If you are not in their position, I don’t think you can accurately determine how important being able to be married may be to them…nor can I.</p>