This is the latest edition of the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study. We are still waiting for anyone to criticize this study for not using a random sample, or for saying stability doesn't matter to children (see Pediatrics 2010, Gartrell).
In this latest edition they are reporting that children raised by two lesbian moms do not do better if they report having a "male role model":
"...About half of the young people in the study, both boys and girls, report having a significant male role model in their life, even though they have two mothers. But there was no difference in psychological well-being between those who have such a role model and those who do not. There was also no evidence that the presence of a male role model affects traits commonly associated with gender roles or that boys require a male role model to be well-adjusted.
Previous research based on this study has found no difference in well-being between children raised in lesbian families and and those in heterosexual two-parent families. The study is confined to planned lesbian families, meaning that both partners identified as lesbian before having children. Researchers recruited participants between 1986 and 1992 and have checked in with them at various points in their lives. Most of the participants are middle-class." -- The Advocate
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Yes, we are waiting to hear thorough criticisms of this study--just like we heard of Regnerus's.
But we won't hold our breath!
You know what's interesting--and things could change over the next few days--but the only outlets really reporting these results are LGBT news sources.
I'm searching Google, and I see a little coverage from the Daily Mail.
There is no doubt that Regnerus's study has made a huge impact on the same-sex parenting conversation.
A few months ago, everyone would be reporting on this study. Not today. Perhaps because it is now widely acknowledged that this study is far more flawed than Regnerus's.
One of the researchers said that they are recording events in real time, as opposed to ones that occurred thirty years ago.
Well…um…measuring a 17 year old in “real time” is nice. But it’s even better to see where a 35 year old is *today.*
I’m not intending to spam the page, and I apologize for multiple, consecutive posts.
But something came to me after pondering this study for a little while. The implications are huge.
This study compared the children in the lesbian sample to each other! It explored whether gender development was impacted by the presence of a male role model, and found that it is not.
However, this simply means that the children raised fatherless did not differ from *each other* and suggests, if anything, that children without a father do not harvest benefits from outside male role models (as SSMers often suggest).
The authors of the study acknowledge this, though they go on to expound on the “implications” of the study, which go far beyond its scope:
“To explore this interpretation further, future studies might compare gender roles of mothers in lesbian two-parent families with those of mothers and fathers in heterosexual two-parent families.”
This study DID NOT do this.
And yet ThinkProgress is true to form, making widespread generalizations that cannot be gathered from a study that compares fatherless lesbian children to fatherless lesbian children.
“There is nothing ‘ideal’ about having both a mother and a father, because the roles that mothers and fathers play is interchangeable.”
Goes to show how much even the flawed same-sex parenting research has been distorted over the years by the media and LGBT outlets.
"There is no doubt that Regnerus's study has made a huge impact on the same-sex parenting conversation."
I hope you're right, Ash.
Perhaps the allies of gay advocates are feeling sheepish about pushing questionable studies as conclusive.
The gay lifestyle is immoral, unhealthy, and destructive. The Constitution nor the common law gives to the practice of perversity a cherished position of a human right. A recent comprehensive study by the University of Texas reveals the debilitating effects on children from gay parenting. The name of the study is New Family Structures Study. The outcomes of the study show the damage to children. See outcomes graph:http://americansfortruth.com/2012/06/15/washington-times-graphic-on-homosexual-parenting-study-reveals-risks-of-having-lesbian-mothers/.
Keep up the great comments, Ash. They are always thoughtful and intelligent.
@Ash @Craig, The reason why Regnerus' study is attacked is because people use it as evidence against same-sex parenting, but it has absolutely nothing to do with same-sex parenting.
The Regnerus study compares kids raised by opposite-sex, heterosexual parents, and kids raised by opposite-sex, homosexual parents, who are in a traditional marriage and basically faking their sexuality in order to be married and have a family. The study itself doesn't directly claim to talk about same-sex parenting, but the wording is very confusing and thus people like Craig interchangeably use "gay parenting" or "children of lesbian mothers". Gay parenting implies two same-sex parents, not a lesbian mother who is married to a man that she is not actually attracted to sexually.
I've posted this many times in these comments but no one seems to want to talk about this. Please stop using the Regnerus study as evidence against same-sex, homosexual parents.
Jon, you prove a point I've been making for a while now. Critics of Regnerus are responding to how people are using his study, as opposed to the actual study and the researcher's own comments on it.
As I've noted to you on a few occasions on this blog, the vast majority of the previous research also focused on lesbian women who married a man, had children, and then divorced--comparing them to heterosexual divorced and single mothers.
The lesbian women of previous research were not representative of lesbian motherhood in this country for a number of reasons. And even that body of research doesn't directly compare children raised by an intact family to the same-sex couples you describe as the ideal research focus.
This study *does* have something to do with same-sex parenting. Using representative data, Regnerus describe the incidence of young adults who have ever lived with a same-sex couple in a romantic relationship, and the true state of same-sex parenting arrangements. It may not be the glamorized version of same-sex parenting that you have in mind; but the same-sex parenting that you describe hasn't been adequately measured by *anyone*--at least not in any way that matters.
"The Regnerus study compares kids raised by opposite-sex, heterosexual parents, and kids raised by opposite-sex, homosexual parents, who are in a traditional marriage and basically faking their sexuality in order to be married and have a family."
This is false. If a homosexual parent remained in an opposite-sex marriage during their child's formative years, then they would be classified as belonging to the intact biological family. If the respondent reported that s/he had lived with their biological married parents from birth, they were put into the intact category, regardless of whether their parents were "faking" as heterosexual.
Let's be clear and not misrepresent the study. All of the conclusions drawn about adults raised by a lesbian and/or gay parent were based on data from adults whose parents had a same-sex romantic relationship at one point. No doubt that the relationships were rather short lived and came about after a failed heterosexual relationship. But no children in the lesbian and gay categories were raised by a married intact family wherein which their homosexual parent was "faking" their sexuality.
You should respond to Craig and I separately. We were obviously discussing different topics. I was merely noting how the new longitudinal lesbian study results from Gartrell and Bos are not getting a lot of press coverage outside of the LGBT media, precisely because of Regnerus's new study.
You may not feel Regnerus's study is valuable. I do for a number of reasons. But there is no doubt that his findings have changed the landscape of the discussion. Every time you, or anyone else, criticizes Regnerus's work, you destroy the previous research that was used to promote same-sex parenting.
Jon, I just submitted my response.
It seems like every time I try to respond to you on the subject of same-sex parenting, my comment goes to the filter.
Oh well. It should show up at some point...this week?