In absolutely shocking news*, new research has found that children raised by same-sex parents are no worse off than children raised by any other family, and in fact it is discrimination, not the gender and/or sexuality of their parents, that does the damage.
*i.e. not shocking at all.
A paper published in the Medical Journal of Australia looked at four studies (three international and one Australian) that analysed the findings of more than 150 pieces of research on the wellbeing of same-sex families.
“The consensus of the peer-reviewed research is that children raised in same-sex parented families do as well emotionally, socially and educationally as children raised by heterosexual-couple parents,” the authors said.
However, an “increased public health risks exists” as a result of homophobic campaign messages for the entire LGBTQI community. The authors warn that should homophobic messaging continue, the wellbeing of these kids will likely decline.
“The research tells us that children and adolescents with same-sex parents are doing well, despite the discrimination that their families endure. This will not continue for long in the face of hostile debate,” they said.
“When damaging misrepresentations of the evidence circulate unchecked, the potential for stigmatising rhetoric to generate greater harm to this community increases.”
The authors also urged the medical community to speak up to prevent misinformation like that being circulated by the ‘No‘ campaign from going further.
“The entire LGBTIQ+ community is at risk of harm in the current debate concerning same-sex marriage, and the most vulnerable are children and adolescents.
“We need to speak up. Opportunities exist to add our voices to the public debate, through public statements as individuals and from our professional associations and workplaces.
“Inaction is not an option when harm is the likely result.”
If only people like Lyle Shelton actually cared about children, this might be the imperative they need to shut the hell up.
