Реферат: Gay Parenting Essay Research Paper Lesbian and

role behavior (Falk, 1989; Hitchens & Kirkpatrick, 1985; Kleber, Howell, & Tibbits-Kleber, 1986). It has also been

suggested that children brought up by lesbian mothers or gay fathers will themselves become gay or lesbian (Falk, 1989;

Kleber et al., 1986).

A second category of concerns involves aspects of children’s personal development other than sexual identity (Falk, 1989;

Editors of the Harvard Law Review, 1990; Kleber et al., 1986). For example, courts have expressed fears that children in the

custody of gay or lesbian parents will be more vulnerable to mental breakdown, will exhibit more adjustment difficulties and

behavior problems, and will be less psychologically healthy than children growing up in homes with heterosexual parents.

A third category of specific fears expressed by the courts is that children of lesbian and gay parents may experience difficulties

in social relationships (Editors of the Harvard Law Review, 1990; Falk, 1989; Hitchens & Kirkpatrick, 1985). For example,

judges have repeatedly expressed concern that children living with lesbian mothers may be stigmatized, teased, or otherwise

traumatized by peers. Another common fear is that children living with gay or lesbian parents may be more likely to be sexually

abused by the parent or by the parent’s friends or acquaintances.

Sexual Identity

Three aspects of sexual identity are considered in the research: gender identity concerns a person’s self-identification as male or

female; gender-role behavior concerns the extent to which a person’s activities, occupations, and the like are regarded by the

culture as masculine, feminine, or both; sexual orientation refers to a person’s choice of sexual partners–i.e., heterosexual,

homosexual, or bisexual (Money & Earhardt, 1972; Stein, 1993). To examine the possibility that children in the custody of

lesbian mothers or gay fathers experience disruptions of sexual identity, research relevant to each of these three major areas of

concern is summarized below.

Gender identity. In studies of children ranging in age from 5 to 14, results of projective testing and related interview

procedures have revealed normal development of gender identity among children of lesbian mothers (Green, 1978; Green,

Mandel, Hotvedt, Gray, & Smith, 1986; Kirkpatrick, Smith, & Roy, 1981). More direct assessment techniques to assess

gender identity have been used by Golombok, Spencer, and Rutter (1983) with the same result; all children in this study

reported that they were happy with their gender, and that they had no wish to be a member of the opposite sex. There was no

evidence in any of the studies of gender identity difficulties among children of lesbian mothers. No data have been reported in

this area for children of gay fathers.

Gender-Role Behavior. A number of studies have examined gender-role behavior among the offspring of lesbian mothers

(Golombok et al., 1983; Gottman, 1990; Green, 1978; Hoeffer, 1981; Kirkpatrick et al., 1981; Patterson, 1994a). These

studies reported that such behavior among children of lesbian mothers fell within typical limits for conventional sex roles. For