The Effects of Lesbian and Gay Parenting on Children’s Development

This paper explores the research regarding the effects of homosexual versus heterosexual parenting on children. Over the past two decades, researchers have begun examining the differences between the development of children with same-sex parents and children with heterosexual parents. These differences have been studied in terms of children’s cognitive development, gender role behavior, gender identity, sexual orientation, social and emotional development and the quality of parent-child relationships. In addition to the direct effect that homosexual parents have on their children’s development, some of these studies explore the indirect consequences of homosexual parents, such as the potential for children to face social stigmatization because of their parent’s sexual orientation and differences between children’s relationships with their parents and peers. This paper will address both the direct and indirect effects that homosexual parents have on their children’s development.