For the Children

From Family Research Council's Washington Update, December 8, 2006, by Tony Perkins:

"Study after study demonstrates that no amount of care or financial privilege can compensate for the missing physical and emotional benefits experienced by children who enjoy the lifelong love and presence of a married mother and father.

"Comprehensive studies published in the peer-reviewed journals Archives of General Psychiatry, Interpersonal Violence, Social Service Research, Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Nursing Research, Developmental Psychology, Adolescence, and others too numerous to list here, all cite the devastating effects of domestic violence, increased substance abuse, mental health problems, sexual identity confusion, depression, and suicide associated with the homosexual lifestyle. A child fortunate enough to escape those realities still faces a distinct disadvantage throughout childhood--the irreplaceable influence of the missing biological parent. In rearing children, the complementary contributions of a mother and father are rooted in the innate differences of the two sexes, and can no more be arbitrarily replaced than can the very nature of male and female."


As a neurologist I don't keep up with any of the journals cited, so I'm not aware of any of those studies. But what the FRC and its ilk don't seem to understand or refuse to acknowledge is that the benefits to a child of having "lifelong love" don't necessarily have to come from a married mother and father. Some married parents are abusive and cruel, whereas some homosexual parents can easily provide the love and nurturing that children need. There may be a lot of psychopathology among a subset of homosexuals, but I suspect that much of that is due to their marginalization by society and their fear of persecution, not their homosexuality itself.

Comment by a friend (RO):
"The tremendous conceit among these people is that they present the mother/father/children nuclear family scenario as some sort of universal, ancient and timeless form that has served humanity since we got thrown out of Eden. What needs to be done to counter their argument is to point out constantly that not only is the American/Western/Christian nuclear family a recent phenomenon, its present form bears no resemblance to only a few decades ago. Furthermore, the fact of abuse, mental despair and dysfunction in the very family structure these outfits claim to be the one and only road to stability makes their very claims transparent and false. Sometimes a scholarly article or two appears on this subject, but the argument needs to go mainstream and constant -- if only to counter the immersion tactics these groups use to make their message seem to be the only one."