Gay Parenting
...of Virginia
Like families headed by heterosexual parents, lesbian and gay parents and their children are a diverse group (Martin, 1993).
Unlike heterosexual parents and their children, however, lesbian and gay parents and their children are often subject to
prejudice because of sexual orientation that turns judges, legislators, professionals, and the public against them, frequently
resulting in negative outcomes such as loss of physical custody, restrictions on visitation, and prohibitions against adoption
(Falk, 1989; Editors of the Harvard Law Review, 1990). As with all socially stigmatized groups, the beliefs held generally in
society about lesbians and gay men are often not based in personal experience, but are instead culturally transmitted (Herek,
1991). The purpose of this summary of research findings on lesbian and gay parents and their children is to assist psychologists
and other professionals to evaluate widespread beliefs in the light of empirical data and in this way ameliorate the negative
effects of unwarranted prejudice.
Because many beliefs about lesbian and gay parents and their children are open to empirical test, psychological research can
evaluate their accuracy. Systematic research comparing lesbian and gay adults to heterosexual adults only began in the late
1950s, and research comparing children of gay and lesbian parents with those of heterosexual parents is of a more recent
vintage. Research on lesbian and gay adults began with Evelyn Hooker's landmark study (1957) and culminated with the
declassification of homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1973 (Gonsiorek, 1991). Case reports on children of gay and lesbian
parents began to appear in the psychiatric literature in the early 1970s (e.g., Osman, 1972; Weeks, Derdeyn, & Langman,
1975) and have continued to appear (e.g., Agbayewa, 1984). Beginning with the pioneering...
View Full Essay
