Stevie Ciardullo Professor Lloyd Refutation paper February 19th 2015 Can a gay family really be the same as traditional families There are certain topics that are to this day still sensitive to talk about because of different opinions and viewpoints One of those topics is gay marriage Out of the fifty states here in the United States thirty six of them have officially legalized gay marriage Since same sex couples can not physically have children they are legally allowed to adopt children There is a long going debate on whether kids who grow up in gay households are really a family just like a child growing up in a straight household I recently read an article that caught my attention because I firmly believe that gay people have every right that straight people do The article that I read stated that because the child does not have the normal father mother parenting roles that they child will not have the same upbringing These opinions come from the author of this article which is Austin Nimocks Nimocks does not believe that a couple of the same sex can raise a family together I think that this is absolutely ridiculous Parenting is all about how well the individual shows love and nurture and teach your child Two women who raise a baby can give it as much love and attention as a man and a woman would The author Austin Nimocks makes a claim Each a man and woman have different roles in the family This statement is true to some extent but I personally know someone who has two fathers and she is the absolute sweetest person She had a great childhood with no emotional or developmental issues Years ago our society was completely against the idea of same sex marriage but in today s culture it is actually a really common thing Unlike the gentleman who wrote the article I think that we should get over look the gender roles such as mother and father and have more generic parenting roles As long as the child is getting the necessary things they need for development there is nothing wrong with growing up in a gay family Also the author claims that a gay family is not a traditional family well what about the families with divorced parents I do not consider divorce traditional so are we going to make a law about getting divorced now too On another note I have found another piece of writing which supports my statement that children who grow up in gay families develop the same or better than those in a traditional family Researcher Simon Crouch created a study in Australia that showed that 80 percent of the kids had female parents and about 18 percent had male parents The children that had same sex parents scored around Six percent higher on general health and family cohesion then those who had opposite sex parents He also made it very clear that when it came to the emotional behavior or functioning of the child there was absolutely no difference between a child brought up in a gay family than those in a straight family Many studies suggest that the child s well being is affected more on their relationships with their parents than their parents gender roles or sexual orientation After doing some research I have found that there are even some benefits to growing up in a same sex couple family Gay parents seem to be more motivated and interactive with their children They tend to be more involved with their child s life One great thing about gay couples is that they actually want to be parents so they adopt the kids who need it the most There are so many children who desperately want a home no matter who the parents are A lot of children do not care what the sex of their parents is they just want love and affection There is proof that children who grow up in a gay family end up very well adjusted and successful later in life Researcher Goldberg collected a survey and interviewed adults who grew up in a gay household to get their opinions on how they ended up One man who was raised by a lesbian stated that he feels as if he is a better rounded person and more open since he was raised in a nontraditional household Everyone is always going to have his and her opinions on topics such as this one and while I do see some of the points that author Austin Nimocks makes I do not agree with his argument that children in gay families are not the same as traditional families I feel that if someone has the love and affection for a child it should not matter who the person is or who they re married too everyone should have the opportunity to experience parenthood I am hoping that within the next few years the remaining of the states will legalize gay marriage and promote the adoption of children into those gay families This society that we live in seems to change rapidly maybe one day more and more people will except same sex couples as parents Works Cited Bever L 2014 July 7th Children of same sex couples are happier and healthier than peers research shows Retrieved February 3 2015 from Washington Post http www washingtonpost com news morning mix wp 2014 07 07 children of same sex couples are happier and healthier than peers research shows Pappas S 2012 January 15th Why Gay Parents may be the Best Parents Retrieved February 3 2015 from livescience com http www livescience com 17913 advantages gay parents html Nimocks Austin R Gay Families Can Never Be the Same as Traditional Families Gay Parenting Ed Beth Rosenthal Detroit Greenhaven Press 2013 Opposing Viewpoints Rpt from One Man One Woman and the Common Good Marriage s Public Purpose Public Discourse Ethics Law and the Common Good 2011 Opposing Viewpoints in Context Web 3 Feb 2015
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