Controversies Surrounding Same-Sex Marriage and Adoption

Running head: SAME-SEX MARRIAGE AND ADOPTION
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE AND ADOPTION
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SAME-SEX MARRIAGE AND ADOPTION
Same-sex marriage have been the centre of controversy for a long time. It has always
been seen as a cultural and social mark which was not acceptable to the people of the society.
Even though there have been several marches and laws which were passed in favour of same
sex marriage, in the minds of the people it was an unnatural and unacceptable phenomenon
(McCutcheon & Morrison, 2015). Another thing which was looked down upon was the
adoption of children by couples of the same sex. Their effectiveness in taking care of the
child have been a matter of doubt for many people.
According to Gato and Fontaine (2013) there not many studies which focused on the
parenting abilities of same-sex couples, however, there were many studies which dealt about
the attitudes of the society towards such couples and parents. According to the author, same-
sex parents were seen as less competent as compared to heterosexual parents. The research
shows that there existed a high level of problematic behaviour towards the children with
homosexual parents and this affected the psychological development of the child. Moreover,
there have been concerns regarding the understanding of the child’s own gender when raised
by homosexual parents. For example, a boy who is raised by two gay parents is said to have a
confusion about his own sexual orientation at a later stage, however, there have been no
proven statistics regarding the same. Whitehead and Perry (2016) further state that religious
views play a great role in the adoption by same-sex couples. It has been seen that people who
are more acceptable to same-sex marriage as well as adoption by homosexual couples are
young and less religious in their views. The research shows that people who practice religion
in a regular manner and read the Bible everyday oppose to the idea of same-sex adoption and
people who believe that the Bible is a book which contains legend and history are more
supportive to the idea of same-sex adoption.
Gato and Fontaine (2016) highlights the attitude of people towards same-sex adoption
in Portugal. The country viewed homosexual parenting as a sin and thought of it as an

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SAME-SEX MARRIAGE AND ADOPTION
abnormal phenomenon. The people of the country felt that homosexual parenting would lead
to the abandonment of the best interests of the children and deprive them of the perfect way
to grow up and perceive a role model of the appropriate gender. Similar to the other
researches, this article also confirms that the people feels that raising a child by homosexual
parents would lead the child to become confused about their own gender and hence they
would become lesbians or gay themselves at the later stage. Moreover, homosexual parenting
would lead to the child being bullied for majority of their lives which could create a mental
pressure on the student. There have also been several stereotypes which views gay men as
less competent in parenting than lesbian parents since they are viewed to be not capable of
nurturing the children in the right manner as women. As stated by Takács and Szalma (2013)
the opposition of same-sex adoption could also be a result of homophobia all around the
world, where people have a fear of same-sex couples and see them as an unnatural aspect of
the world. In the United Stated, same-sex parenting is much more accepted in current times
due to the belief that gender does not play a major role in the parenting of children, and what
matters is the care of the parents towards their child. This has seen a rise in the number of
homosexual parents in the last few years.
Figure 1: Household with children in the United States
(Source: Williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu, 2018)