Taking part in meaningful conversations with conservatives about same-sex parenting can be frustrating. Our friends at COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere) provide the following information as a tool for debate:

• Same-sex couples raising chidren live in 96% of all counties nationwide in the United States. (2000 U.S. Census analyses by the Urban Institute and Human Rights Campaign)
• Daughters of lesbians have higher self-esteem than daughters of straight women. Sons are more caring and less aggressive. (Hoeffer, 1981)
• Most “problems” that kids of LGBT parents face actually stem from the challenges of dealing with divorce and the homophobia in society rather then the sexual orientation or gender identity of their parents.
• As of 1990, 6 million to 14 million children in the United States were living with a gay or lesbian parent. (National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, a service of the U.S. Administration for Children and Families.)
• There is absolutely no evidence that children are psychologically or physically harmed in any way by having LGBT parents. There is, however, much evidence that shows that they are not.
• People with LGBT parents have the same incidence of homosexuality as the general population, about 10%. No research has ever shown that LGBT parents have any affect on the sexuality of their children. (Patterson, Charlotte J. 1992)
• Research claims that children with LGBT parents are exposed to more people of the opposite sex than many kids of straight parents. (Rofes, E.E., 1983, Herdt, 1989)
• Studies have shown that people with LGBT parents are more open-minded about a wide variety of things than people with straight parents. (Harris and Turner, 1985/86)
• On measures of psychosocial well-being, school functioning, and romantic relationships and behaviors, teens with same-sex parents are as well adjusted as their peers with opposite-sex parents. A more important predictor of teens’ psychological and social adjustment is the quality of the relationships they have with their parents. (National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, 2004)
• The highest percentages of same-sex couples raising children live in the South. (2000 U.S. Census analyses by the Urban Institute and Human Rights Campaign)
• 15 bills were introduced in 7 states during the 2005 legislative session that were written to ban homosexuals from adopting or serving as foster parents. Multiple states already have bans.
• 5 states introduced constitutional amendments in 2006 written to ban LGB adoptions.
• 7 additional states will likely introduce bills to accomplish the same purpose.

Source: Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere (COLAGE)