Hayley+A's+Op-Ed+Article

=**Ignorance is Never Bliss**= -Hayley A.

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Nearly 50 years ago in 1965, the results of a national survey showed that 58% of American women and 82% of American men believed that homosexuality represented a “clear threat” to the American way of life. I thankfully believe that if you took an identical survey today, not nearly as many Americans would claim this highly offensive remark as their opinion.

But unfortunately, some still do.

“55% of Americans would object to having a gay elementary school teacher.” “49% of Americans would object to having a gay doctor.” “11% of Americans would object to having a gay airline pilot” – Seriously? They don’t even have to see the airline pilot, or talk to the airline pilot, and it //still// bothers them?

But what bothers me the most is the objections that many “traditional” families have against gay and lesbian families. I have lived in one my entire life and I can firmly attest to the legitimacy of their parental skills and the unremitting love they have given me for the last seventeen years. As the straight child of gay parents, I feel like I have some authority on the subject, but those that would argue that my life is forever ruined will remain. In Timothy Daily’s book, //Getting it Straight// (very clever), published in 2004, the following claims are made:


 * Children of homosexuals perform inadequately, and at significantly lower rates than straight children, in: “language, mathematics, sport, sociability, attitude to school and to learning, parent-school relationship, sex identity (e.g. gender roles), school related support (e.g. parents’ help with homework), and parental aspirations (for their children’s education and career)”
 * Children of homosexuals are also especially prone to: “premarital childbearing”; “illicit drug use”; “arrest”; “health, emotional, or behavioral problems”; “poverty”; and “school failure or expulsion”.

Thank you for enlightening me, Mr. Daily. I can see my future clearly now. Since my parents apparently have no aspirations for me whatsoever and clearly want me to fail, and also because I perform “inadequately” on pretty much every subject ever, I might as well drop out of all those silly AP classes I’m taking and get on with my inescapable destiny of drugs, babies, and jail time. Thanks for saving me from college and other time-wasters like that.

They also go on to report another reason why gay and lesbian couples make bad parents: they have lower life expectancies! Which is an interesting statistic. But Mr. Daily, I hope you realize that gays and lesbians who make up 2-3% of the population, account for 30% of all suicides, after they’ve been literally teased to death by people like you. Hello, lower life expectancy.

The sad part is that Americans listen to people like him. Courts in 11 US states have ruled that lesbians and gays are “unfit” parents and therefore are not allowed to receive custody of their children. 6 of which blatantly outlaw it, and the others skirt around it. Are we really that narrow minded? If you ever hear anyone accuse lesbian or gay parents as being any less of a supportive family than straight parents, please refer them to me. I would LOVE to have a chat with them.