According to family.findlaw.com, a parent is defined as the person who has the right to live with a child, make decisions about the child's education, well being, and health, and must also support the child financially (Legal Issues for Gay and Lesbian Adoptions).
What makes a parent "good'?
Although there are many different opinions on "good parenting", many will agree on the characteristics of love, affirmation, worth, trust, and unity as being vital psychological needs of any and every child.
Can anyone be a parent?
Legally, no. National, as well as state, laws have banned the rights of same-sex parenting. Two humans that could both be placed in the category of "good parenting" are not capable of having the joy of children simply because of their sexually preference.
In the United States, there are only five states that allow a joint gay adoption and have accepted the lifestyle of same-sex parenting. This leaves over 90% of the country that still believes adoption centers are a more suitable environment for a child to be raised in as opposed to a loving home. Scientific research has shown that LGBT parents are as fit and capable as heterosecual parents, and their children are as psychololically healthy and well-adjusted as children raised by heterosexual parents.
Tyler Oakley, a well known youtuber and gay rights activist, has created several videos on the legal issues of the topic. In one specific video, "Why Gay Marriage is WRONG", Tyler is using a very sarcastic tone to explain why gay marriage as well as gay adoption is "wrong". Throughout the video he is able to make many valid points that I personally agree with. One problem in the U.S. as well as all over the world is the number of children withought parents. It is said that there are over 100 million orphans worldwide. Many of these children will never have the luxury of a home life and will be forced to live in orphanages until they become adults. In response to the number of gay couples wanting to adopt, Tyler sarcastically stated, "It's not like our orphanages are fully or anything" (Oakley).
"If we had gay marriages, they would raise gay children, and why would we want that? I mean, if you look at it, straight parents only raise straight children, so why would we want to make more gay children in the world" (Oakley)? One major reason many people are against gay adoption is because they automatically assume that simply because a child is raised in a homosexual environment, the child themself will also be gay. In my opinion, this is an absurd statement for anyone to make. Obviously, straight couples raise gay children all the time. Also, there are many straight men and women that were raised by gay couples. Tyler's quote gives an excellent example to prove this point.
"Having two moms or two dads is far better than having no parents at all" ("Wisconsin State Journal").
"Legal Issues for Gay and Lesbian Adoption." family.findlaw.com. Findlaw, n.d.. Web. 17 Feb 2011. http
Johnson, Ramon. "What They Aren't Telling You About Gay Adoption." gaylife.about.com. about.com, n.d. Web. 20 Feb 2011
"Why Gay Marriage is WRONG." youtube.com. Web. 20 Feb 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment