TOPIC: ALTERNATIVE FAMILY STRUCTURE

Alternative Family Structure

Alternative Family Structure

Introduction

This topic is important to many families, alternative and traditional, because it affects their relationships with each other and their children. This topic discusses that the white extended-families consisting of grandparents and drug addictions and its social issues. Politicians are continually pushing to restrict access to services such as insurance, education, and equal protection from harassment for alternative families. The structure of an alternative family varies greatly; from grandparents raising grandchildren to gay and lesbian parents, even people responsible for raising their siblings. Politicians and the conservative 'Christian' community focus on gay and lesbian families because they are the most controversial and are therefore more susceptible to attack from extremists.

Discussion

What most people object to about gay marriage and parenting is the notion of sanctifying homosexual relationships in the same way as heterosexual relationships. Courts have voiced three major fears about the influence of lesbian and gay parents on children.

The first of these fears is that development of sexual identity will be impaired among children of lesbian and gay parents. For instance, one such concern is that children brought up by lesbian mothers or gay fathers will show disturbances in gender identity and/or in gender role behavior. It has also been suggested that children brought up by lesbian mothers or by gay fathers will themselves become lesbian or gay.

A second category of concerns involves aspects of children's personal development other than sexual identity. For example, courts have expressed fears that children in the custody of gay or lesbian parents will be more vulnerable to mental breakdown, will exhibit more adjustment difficulties and behavior problems, and will be less psychologically healthy than other children.

A third category of specific fears expressed by the courts is that children of lesbian and gay parents may experience difficulty in social relationships. For example, judges have repeatedly expressed concern that children living with lesbian mothers or gay fathers may be stigmatized, teased, or otherwise victimized by peers. Another common fear is that children living with gay or lesbian parents may be more likely to be sexually abused by the parent or by the parent's friends or acquaintances. Results of research to date suggest that children of lesbian and gay parents have positive relationships with peers and that their relationships with adults of both sexes are also satisfactory. The picture of lesbian mothers' children that emerges is one of general engagement in social life with peers, with fathers, with grandparents, and with mothers' adult friends-both male and female, both heterosexual and homosexual.

What the general public is not made aware of are the reasons alternative families seek equal access to services. Alternative families of all kinds cannot carry their children on their health or life insurance because their family does not fit the 'norm' in many states. This lack of access tends to perpetuate the incidence of poverty throughout the United States, because now these families must carry separate insurance policies, both health and life insurance, for ...