I’m a lesbian mom, and I’ve always known I was a good parent to my two kids. I’ve also admired the parenting of other lesbian moms, so I wasn’t surprised by the recent study released in Pediatrics (the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics) that noted how well we are parenting.
Adolescent children of lesbians "rated significantly higher in social, school/academic, and total competence and significantly lower in social problems, rule-breaking, aggressive, and externalizing problem behavior than their age-matched counterparts," the study concluded.
This flies in the face of public opinion against same-sex marriage and parenting. Conventional wisdom holds that a married heterosexual couple is the model for raising kids. And some zealots taunt us by saying, "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" - or in this case, "Eve and Eve." But the claim that married heterosexuals make the best parents - or the converse, that same-sex parents can't do a good job - is no longer sustainable.
The study gathered data between 1986 and 1992 with 77 lesbian families who had raised children since birth. It focused on "key developmental outcomes, psychological adjustment, peer relationships, family relationships and progress through school."
The study suggests that since lesbian parents use less corporal punishment and are more actively involved with their kids, their children are better adjusted.
The arguments against same-sex marriage are collapsing, one after another.
By the time today's kids are grown up, may we all have the right to marry the person of our choice and to raise our children without prejudice.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Juneteenth
June 19, or Juneteenth, is Independence Day for many Americans of African descent.
Also known as Emancipation Day or Freedom Day, it commemorates the end of slavery, the seminal event in African-American history.
President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation took effect on Jan. 1, 1863, but the word did not spread instantly. According to one account, the Emancipation Proclamation was read to slaves in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, more than two years after it officially went into effect. As word of the end of slavery spread, Juneteenth was created to commemorate that day.
There are several different accounts of why the news of freedom took so long to arrive.
One story has it that slaves were intentionally kept ignorant about their freedom in order to allow crops to continue being harvested.
Another has one messenger traveling by mule to deliver the news, and it simply took more than two years to arrive from Washington D.C., to Texas.
Yet another story has the messenger being murdered before he could deliver the message.
No matter the origin of Juneteenth, the end of slavery is definitely worth celebrating.
And while much has happened in the nearly 150 years since slavery officially ended, its legacies still remain in the form of disparate salaries, educational levels and incarceration rates.
Juneteenth, which is now observed in 36 states and the District of Columbia, is a time to take stock of our progress — and of the work that remains.
Last year, for Juneteenth, President Obama said: “African Americans helped to build our nation brick by brick and have contributed to her growth in every way, even when rights and liberties were denied to them.”
We’re still building it.
Happy Juneteenth.
Also known as Emancipation Day or Freedom Day, it commemorates the end of slavery, the seminal event in African-American history.
President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation took effect on Jan. 1, 1863, but the word did not spread instantly. According to one account, the Emancipation Proclamation was read to slaves in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, more than two years after it officially went into effect. As word of the end of slavery spread, Juneteenth was created to commemorate that day.
There are several different accounts of why the news of freedom took so long to arrive.
One story has it that slaves were intentionally kept ignorant about their freedom in order to allow crops to continue being harvested.
Another has one messenger traveling by mule to deliver the news, and it simply took more than two years to arrive from Washington D.C., to Texas.
Yet another story has the messenger being murdered before he could deliver the message.
No matter the origin of Juneteenth, the end of slavery is definitely worth celebrating.
And while much has happened in the nearly 150 years since slavery officially ended, its legacies still remain in the form of disparate salaries, educational levels and incarceration rates.
Juneteenth, which is now observed in 36 states and the District of Columbia, is a time to take stock of our progress — and of the work that remains.
Last year, for Juneteenth, President Obama said: “African Americans helped to build our nation brick by brick and have contributed to her growth in every way, even when rights and liberties were denied to them.”
We’re still building it.
Happy Juneteenth.
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