Massachusetts study supports same-sex marriage and parents

Issues of gay rights have been widely reported in the news in recent weeks as the U.S. Supreme Court considers the issue. If the Supreme Court rules that a ban against same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, the lives of many gays and lesbians in Massachusetts and across the United States could be positively affected. Recently, one of the Supreme Court justices expressed concern over the decision he was forced to consider. His main concern was about the well-being of children parented by same-sex couples. A recent study conducted by Boston University should put any concerns at rest.

The results of the study indicate that a parent’s gender has little effect on a child’s outcome. More important than gender is the type of relationship the child has with the parent. Additionally, the level of support from society and economic security plays a larger role than gender. Based on the study, it seems that the empowerment a same-sex couple could receive from a Supreme Court ruling in their favor could potentially benefit these children.

Some drawbacks of the study include a relatively small sample. The author of the study, however, blames this on the fact that are a relatively few gay couples raising children in the United States. The study does, however, discredit past studies that portray same-sex parenting negatively. For example, one study focused on children whose heterosexual parents divorced as a restful of an affair to children whose heterosexual parents were in a stable relationship.

The authors of the study hope their results remove any legislator’s concern over the well-being of children with gay or lesbian parents. People from Massachusetts and all over the nation can rest-assured that research suggests that children who have a good relationship with their parents, regardless of their gender, are generally considered well-adjusted. Certainly, concern for these children should not prevent same-sex marriage.

Source: Futurity.org, “Kids raised by gay parents are ‘doing just fine’,” Rich Barlow-Boston, April 22, 2013