Family Equality

Every child has the right to a safe, loving, and caring home.

Equality Texas fights for our children regardless of their parent's sexual orientation or gender identity.

Sections:
Overview
Statement of Issues
Equality Texas Position
Equality Texas Action
Call to Action
Professional Support
Research

• Equality Texas successfully defeated anti-family bills in 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2005 that would have denied LGBT individuals and couples the right to adopt and foster children in Texas.
• Though state adoption law currently discourages discrimination based on sexual orientation, many judges, who make the final decision, blatantly discriminate based on sexual orientation, openly showing hostility toward lesbian and gay parents. However, some judges have granted adoptions to lesbian and gay individuals and to the second parent of a same-sex couple. Second-parent adoption also has been permitted in some Texas counties.
• The Texas Court system is discriminatory to gay and lesbian parents in custody and visitation disputes.
• Current legislator advocating restrictions on LGBT parenting is State Rep. Robert Talton (R-Pasadena). In 2005, he attempted to pass an amendment disqualifying "homosexual" and "bisexual" Texans from serving as foster parents and required Child Protective Services to investigate the sexual orientation of current and future foster parents, requiring the removal of thousands of children from their loving homes.

• A child's best interests are served when provided a safe, stable and loving home, including those homes with lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) parents.
• Child Welfare professionals should make adoption decisions not politicians.
• Love, stability, patience are most important characteristics of a parent.

• Oppose any effort to prohibit LGBT Texans from serving as foster or adoptive parents. For four sessions in a row, Equality Texas has successfully defeated legislation, which if passed, would have ripped children from their homes and cost the taxpayers millions of dollars. These bills sought only to codify personal biases and legalize discrimination against LGBT Texans. Equality Texas will continue to educate our legislators about, and to advocate on behalf of, LGBT families to defeat any restrictions on foster care or adoption.
• Coordinate lobby days and district lobby efforts to effectively communicate the personal stories of LGBT families.
• Advocate for protection of LGBT parents and their right to raise children in a loving and caring home.
• Tell your story to put a face on the loving and caring LGBT foster and adoptive families. Your story, whether as a LGBT parent or the child of LGBT parents, is a powerful tool to let other LGBT Texas families know they are not alone.

• Tell your story to put a face on the loving and caring LGBT foster and adoptive families. Your story is a powerful tool to let other LGBT Texas families know they are not alone. Log on to http://eqfed.org/campaign/our_stories1 to make a difference.
• Visit your Representative or Senator in their district office. You can visit the legislator's district office as a constituent. District office visits are one of the best opportunities for you to make an impact on your representative. Equality Texas can coordinate and assist you with these visits.
• Participate in an Equality Texas Home Visit with your elected officials. Equality Texas arranges small gatherings of supporters to visit with their legislator. In this informal environment, legislators are able to interact personally with LGBT and supportive allies to better understand our issues.
• Host or attend an Equality Texas House Party to increase support for our efforts to advance equality. The house parties are fundraisers to support Equality Texas' mission.
• Contribute to Equality Texas and support our efforts to achieve equality for all Texans and to eliminate discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Contribute at www.equalitytexas.org/contribute

• American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (1999)
• American Academy of Family Physicians (2002)
• American Academy of Pediatrics (2002)
• American Bar Association (1995, 1999 and 2003)
• American Medical Association (2004)
• American Psychiatric Association (1997 and 2002)
• American Psychoanalytic Association (2002)
• American Psychological Association (1976 and 2004)
• Child Welfare League of America (1988)
• National Association of Social Workers (2002)
• North American Council on Adoptable Children (1998)

• Scientific Studies:
  
  Research supports LGBT parents. Most recently, Dr. Ellen Perrin's October 2005 presentation at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition found "little to no difference between children raised in a two-parent homosexual or heterosexual environment." More than 15 studies involving over 500 children supported Dr. Perrin's conclusion. National professional groups oppose adoption and foster care bans, such as the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Child Welfare League of America, and the North American Council on Adoptable Children.
  
  All of the research to date has reached the same unequivocal conclusion about gay parenting: the children of lesbian and gay parents grow up as successfully as the children of heterosexual parents. In fact, not a single study has found the children of lesbian or gay parents to be disadvantaged because of their parent's sexual orientation. Other key findings include:
  
  • There is no evidence to suggest that lesbians and gay men are unfit to be parents.
  • Home environments with lesbian and gay parents are as likely to successfully support a child's development as those with heterosexual parents.
  • Good parenting is not influenced by sexual orientation. Rather, it is influenced most profoundly by a parent's ability to create a loving and nurturing home -- an ability that does not depend on whether a parent is gay or straight.
  • There is no evidence to suggest that the children of lesbian and gay parents are less intelligent, suffer from more problems, are less popular, or have lower self-esteem than children of heterosexual parents.
  • The children of lesbian and gay parents grow up as happy, healthy and well adjusted as the children of heterosexual parents.


• Social Science Research:
  
  • The High Cost of Denying Permanency (Prepared by Carl A. Schuh, J.D., M.A. and Karen M. Doering, J.D.)
  • Psychosocial Adjustment, School Outcomes, and Romantic Relationships of Adolescents With Same-Sex Parents (Child Development, Dec. 2004)
  • Technical Report: Coparent or Second-Parent Adoption by Same-Sex Parents (Ellen C. Perrin, American Academy of Pediatrics, 2002)
  • Adoption by Lesbians and Gays: A National Survey of Adoption Agency Policies, Practices, and Attitudes (Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, 2003)
  • Lesbian and Gay Parenting: Summary of Research Findings (Charlotte J. Patterson, American Psychological Association, 1995)
  • The Cost of Marriage Inequality to Children and Their Same-Sex Parents (Human Rights Campaign Foundation, 2005)


• Opposition Research – Paul Cameron, Family Research Council: Paul Cameron is consistently cited by the opposition as an expert in their efforts to deny LGBT individual rights. He was dropped from membership in the American Psychologist Association (APA) in 1983 due to his anti-LGBT misinterpretations of research. In 1985, the American Sociological Association (ASA) adopted a resolution which asserted that "Dr. Paul Cameron has consistently misinterpreted and misrepresented sociological research on sexuality, homosexuality, and lesbianism" and noted that "Dr. Paul Cameron has repeatedly campaigned for the abrogation of the civil rights of lesbians and gay men, substantiating his call on the basis of his distorted interpretation of this research."
  
  His articles and research have been self-published until May 2006, when the Journal of Biosocial Science published his article "Children of homosexuals and transsexuals more apt to be homosexual."