I wrote a month ago about new results from the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS) that showed the teen children of lesbian parents were happy, healthy, and in many cases better adjusted than their peers.
The results spawned the usual spate of articles shouting that lesbian parents are better, or even implying that dads are not necessary for any child. I took umbrage with all that over at Change.org.
Heidi Stevens of the Chicago Tribune also saw through the nonsense, and wrote an article discussing how it’s not really about sexual orientation or gender—it’s about good parenting. She also cites some positive studies about opposite-sex couples and the increased role of dads in their kids’ lives. Smart stuff, and worth a read.
Thank you for this, Dana. While I’d love to appropriate the NLLFS for my own purposes (specifically, to give a shout out about my lesbian mom!), the fact is that she parented my siblings and me in the same manner while married to my father for nine years as she did when they divorced and she moved in with a woman. One good parent makes all the difference to a child.
Regardless of the gender of her partner, my mom approached motherhood with creativity, engagement, curiosity, and unconditional support. It’s these qualities, rather than her partnership with a man or woman, that helped my siblings and me to become happy, healthy adults.