OK, but what about children of LGBTQ couples?
I get this a lot. People say, “Ok, I get that loving adults should have the right to marry whom they want. But what about the innocent children in LGBTQ-led families? What will life be like for them with two moms or two dads?”
Respected LDS scientist and historian Gregory Prince tackles this question. As a scientist, he published over 150 scholarly papers. As a historian, he published the award-winning David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism and many other books and articles. “Independent Mormon historian and scientist Gregory Prince holds fast to his faith, but he believes just as strongly that his church eventually must find a way to fully embrace its LGBT adherents,” said a Salt Lake Tribune article.
In his book Gay Rights and the Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences, Prince cites solid social science research over 30 years:
Page 339 – “A review by the Columbia Law School of seventy-nine scholarly studies about the well-being of children with gay or lesbian parents concluded, ‘Taken together, this research forms an overwhelming scholarly consensus, based on over three decades of peer-reviewed research, that having a gay or lesbian parent does not harm children’” (https://whatweknow.inequality.cornell.edu/topics/lgbt-equality/what-does-the-scholarly-research-say-about-the-wellbeing-of-children-with-gay-or-lesbian-parents/ ).
(Read more about Gregory Prince’s views in Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 of GayLDSCrossroads, a free e-book.)
Evan adds, “Rarely is there as much consensus in any area of social science as in the case of gay parenting. This is why the American Academy of Pediatrics and all of the major professional organizations with expertise in child welfare have issued reports and resolutions in support of LGBTQ parental rights” (Gay LDS Crossroads, Chapter 8, source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_parenting).
Thirty years of scholarly research? Seventy-nine peer-reviewed studies? That’s science. Turns out, being loved by grownups is good for children. Love is love, including parental love.
-Marci