discrimination - parenting - Rainbow Reporter

Rainbow Reporter

E-mail Subscription

Receive an e-mail notification of new posts on this site:

Vimu Subscription

discrimination parenting - Rainbow Reporter

Foes of same-sex parenting damage children

December 22nd 2008 08:25

Pic from Parentbloggers

Lesbians great parents, says 22 year study

“The longest-running study into lesbian parents in the United States has found that discrimination and not the sexual orientation of their parents harms children.”

Backing up every other well-designed and reputable study into the subject, the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS) shows that the children of lesbian parents are happy, healthy and ‘high-functioning’.

The only handicaps faced by the children of same-sex parents are those created by outsiders who do not approve of their family structure.

And even the setbacks due to this prejudice, discrimination and homophobia can be overcome when the children live in communities and attend schools that are pro-actively accepting of diversity.

Those who claim they oppose lesbian parenting for the good of the children are in fact the ones causing any suffering the children experience.

“The NLLFS confirms the findings of over 40 other studies on the children of lesbian and gay parents, and supports the positions of all major professional associations on the well-being of children growing up in lesbian and gay families.”

Time for the opponents of same sex parenting to shut up and start working to overcome their prejudice – for the good of the children.

Vote

Shared on

Rainbow Reporter

Doug Pollard Friends

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: gay rights, gay marriage, equality, same-sex, gay politics, discrimination, parenting

Email this Post to a Friend

Genetic basis of homosexuality – Part II

December 7th 2008 01:26

Come Out for Christmas

Merry Christmas. Here is a present for every gay woman and man on the planet. Your sexuality: not a sin, not a disease, not your fault, not your parents fault, but simply nature's gift.

The previous post on this topic is one of the most popular I’ve written, so I thought it was about time for an update. Fortunately there is a great article here, which saves me from doing all the work: I will summarise briefly.

“Researchers are finding common biological traits among gay men, feeding a growing consensus that sexual orientation is an inborn combination of genetic and environmental factors that largely decide a person's sexual attractions before they are born.”

That’s right – although out-and-out proof is still elusive, more and more evidence is coming to light all the time that makes it virtually certain that being attracted to your own sex has nothing to do with choice - you are born that way.

The only choice you have is whether to act on that attraction or suppress it: it cannot be stopped entirely, changed, or prayed away. The so-called "ex-gay" programs runs by some money-grubbing pseudo-Christian organisations can only teach you to supress your natural inclinations and ruin your long-term mental health.

Most researchers now agree “attraction is dictated by biology, with no demonstrated contribution from social factors such as parenting or other factors after birth.”

So it wasn’t your mom’s fault for being too close, nor your father’s for being too distant – it was all laid down long before they met you.

Instead the cause seems to be a combination of genetic predisposition combined with events that happen while you’re in the womb.

Homosexuality is part of the natural order: every species studied in depth has been shown to have a percentage of homosexual individuals, from crocodiles to fruit flies.

The strongest evidence that sexuality is genetic, and not created by parenting or social conditioning, comes from studies on children born male but with deformed or ambiguous genitals. Doctors used to surgically create an artificial vagina and tell the parents to raise them as girls: in virtually every case, the child born male but raised female was attracted to women.

Michael Bailey, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University, said 'If you can't make a male attracted to other males by cutting off his penis, castrating him and rearing him as a girl, then how likely is any social explanation of male homosexuality?'

Women’s sexuality is a little more fluid. Lisa Diamond, a professor of psychology and gender studies at the University of Utah said. 'Some lesbian women are predominantly attracted to women, but some of them have found themselves becoming incredibly close to their best male friends, sometimes having sex with them. It does not make them straight. It's not, since you had a one-night stand with your male friend, that you can choose to become straight.'

The same mechanism means that some straight women will also have sex with their close women friends, even though their basic orientation is straight.

So there you have it: it wasn’t your parents, it wasn’t a choice, you didn’t decide to be gay. In common with around 10% of most species on the planet, you were born that way. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Merry Christmas! Enjoy!

Vote

Shared on

Rainbow Reporter

Doug Pollard Friends

Comments (6)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: religion, gay rights, equality, discrimination, parenting

Email this Post to a Friend

Sham 'conscience vote' on Assisted Reproduction Bill

October 24th 2008 09:43

How Stuff Works - A Liberal/National 'Conscience' Vote

Q: When is a conscience vote not a conscience vote?

A: When you are told that you are of course free to exercise your conscience – just don’t be surprised if you’re out of a job come pre-selection time

That’s the situation facing Liberal and National members of the Victorian upper house, as the vote on Assisted Reproduction Treatment draws near – perhaps as soon as next week.

Both major parties have allowed their members a conscience vote – but the Liberals and Nationals are determined they won’t lose this one.

They lost on the same-sex relationship register, stem cell research and abortion, but now the party hierarchy has drawn a line in the sand.

‘They’ve had their three strikes,’ I was told, ‘one more and they’re out.’

The party is of course at liberty to impose discipline and insist all members toe the line – provided they do so publicly. Everyone would then know the party policy on the issue.

But if the LibNats do that, it’s an invitation to Labor to do likewise – and then the bill would almost certainly pass.

As it stands, by maintaining the illusion of a free vote by all members, some Labor members feel free to vote against the bill. Combine that with a 100% LibNat ‘No’ vote, and the bill goes down.

Of course, on the record it’s all above board, no pressure, totally free. But off the record it’s a different story. Members being told that if they vote for the bill – as their conscience dictates – then they can expect ‘very close scrutiny of your preselection’, according to one upper house member.

It’s not hard to work out who must be under this kind of pressure, whatever they may feel obliged to say in public. Genuine Liberals in the traditional Menzies mould, such as Matthew Guy, Andrea Coote, Wendy Lovell and Donna Petrovich, who have a record of supporting gay and lesbian issues, are obvious targets for this sort of bullying.

‘I wouldn’t use words like “threatened”, or “bullied”,’ said one source.

Being told you have to vote against your conscience while pretending to do the opposite, under threat of losing your job, sure looks a lot like bullying and threatening to me.

And it seems to work. There was a free vote in the lower house on the ART Bill – and not a single LibNat voted in favour. That’s rather too large a coincidence for me, even without the leaks now coming from the upper house.

The Victorian Liberal Party, that famously ‘broad church’, suddenly seems terribly narrow, doesn’t it?

UPDATE SUNDAY

I have been in touch with a Liberal or two and have been told that this story is, according to them, 'crap'. I have been told by a gay Liberal:

The Liberal Party simply doesn't work that way.

Opponents have thousands of letter writers. We have about three people. If you had three letters vs one thousand, which way would you go?

Well in my book a conscience vote means you vote according to your own personal conscience in the matter. Not the policy of your party, and not the conscisnce of your constituents, you PERSONAL conscience.

This 'reassurance' seems to me to affirm what I have been told - that pressure is being applied to get people to toe the line.

There are legitimate concerns about the Bill. I have told Corey they need to consult and find a way to split off sections of the Bill that will be palatable and get through.

Vote

Shared on

Rainbow Reporter

Doug Pollard Friends

Comments (1)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: gay rights, equality, Melbourne, Victoria, gay politics, Australian politics, discrimination, parenting

Email this Post to a Friend

Don’t let them kill the kids (LINK)

July 24th 2008 07:59

Gay Straight Alliances Save Lives

If there’s one thing that gets me steaming mad it’s those so called compassionate loving etc. pseudo-Christians who try to block sex ed from including gay topics, oppose gay-straight alliances in schools, and generally try to keep kids in ignorance and fear.

And now this, which really has me infuriated

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Shared on

Rainbow Reporter

Doug Pollard Friends