A recent study has shown that children of lesbian parents do not
suffer from the lack of a prominent male role model. Researchers
from the University of Amsterdam and UCLA's Williams institute have
rebutted the common accusation, often pitted against lesbian
families.
The results throw doubt on recent research conducted by
conservative sociologist Mark Regenerus that claimed to find same
sex children fare worse than their straight-parented
contemporaries.
Henny Bos, the leader of the UCLA/Amsterdam study looked at 78
adolescents with lesbian parents and asked whether they felt they
had a strong male role model in their lives.
Critics said they believed that lesbian parents foster unmanly
traits in young boys. This theory was tested too, with teens asked
to rate how much they identified with typically masculine traits
(competitiveness) and typically feminine ones (understanding). They
were also required to fill in questionnaires designed to measure
their levels of psychological adjustment.
The results showed that a male role model did not effect gender
trait development and that boys were likely to identify with
typically masculine attributes and girls feminine ones. Both
genders were equally likely to associate themselves with masculine
ones. There was also no evidence that the lack of a father figure
caused an imbalance in psychological development. The teen's
questionnaires proved to show no more levels of stress, anxiety or
depression than present in any 'normal' teen.
The study, which was conducted in real time, commenced in 1986
and has tracked the children of out lesbian identified families
from birth into their teens. Nancy Gartrell, the study's co-author
says this gives the research "an entirely different level of
validity".
The lack of a male role model has been used as an excuse to bar
lesbian parents from adopting. It is hoped this new research will
go some way to ending issues of discrimination around gay
parenting.
