same sex? heterosexuals, obviously. i mean, really -- obviously.

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https://www.voteforchange.com/

Poverty is significantly related to incidence rates in nearly every category of maltreatment. Compared to children whose families earned $30,000 or more, children in families with annual incomes below $15,000 were:

More than 22 times more likely to experience maltreatment under the Harm Standard and 25 times more likely under the Endangerment Standard.
More than 44 times more likely to be neglected, by either definitional standard.
Over 22 times more likely to be seriously injured using either definitional standard.
60 times more likely to die from maltreatment under the Harm Standard.

(Executive Summary of the Third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect, September 1996 and Reid, T. (1996). News NIS-3 Data. APSAC Advisor, 9 (3).)
Children whose parents abuse drugs or alcohol are put at a greater risk for violent victimization (National Commission on Children, 1993).

There are many more contributing factors to child abuse than whether or not the guardians of a child are gay.

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"I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution." March 4, 1869, Grant's First Inaugural Address

Posted as a cut and paste from here.

Physical and Sexual Abuse

The journal Pediatrics reported in 2002 that, “Children residing in households with adults unrelated to them were 8 times more likely to die of maltreatment than children in households with two biological parents. Risk of maltreatment death was elevated for children residing with step, foster, or adoptive parents.”21 It is critical to note that it is impossible for a child living in a same-sex parented family to live with both biological parents. It should deeply concern us that that child will be living in one of these family forms that increases risk of death by maltreatment.

Research published in the journal Child Abuse and Neglect found that a girl is seven times more likely to be molested by a stepfather than a biological father. The study goes on to report that when biological fathers did molest their young daughters, a mother was not residing in the home who could protect the child. What is more, the nature of sexual abuse by stepfathers was more severe than by biological fathers.22 Every little boy in a male same-sex home will be living with at least one non-biological father as well as with a biological father without a protective mother present. The research says this child will be in much greater danger than a boy or girl living with a married mother and father.

Another study published in the same journal reports that children living with a single biological parent is nearly twice as likely to be sexually abused compared with a child living with a married mother and father.23

Marriage is a rich personal resource for children and their parents. It protects them from poverty and sexual and physical abuse. It improves their physical and mental health. It helps them do better in every measure of educational development and ultimately go to college. It helps them stay away from violent, criminal and sexual behaviors. Marriage protects kids from substance abuse. This means teachers are not burdened with children who cause problems or have difficulty learning. Marriage protects our welfare systems by reducing the number of young adults who have dropped out of school and not working or who are having children in their teen years. Police being bothered by kids with married parents is rare. Marriage produces healthier children who do not stress our nation's medical system and insurance costs.

If we are to concern ourselves with the welfare of children, we have to be concerned with the health of marriage in our culture. For, as marriage goes, so go our children – and with them – the future of humanity.

Glenn T. Stanton is Director of global insights and trends, and Senior Analyst for marriage and sexuality at Focus on the Family.

21 Michael Stiffman, et al., “Household Composition and Risk of Fatal Child Maltreatment,” Pediatrics, 109 (2002), 615-621.
22 Michael Gordon, “The Family Environment of Sexual Abuse: A Comparison of Natal and Stepfather Abuse,” Child Abuse and Neglect, 13 (1985): 121-130.
23 David Finkelhor, et al., “Sexually Abused Children in a National Survey of Parents: Methodological Issues,” Child Abuse and Neglect, 21 (1997): 1-9.

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"I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution." March 4, 1869, Grant's First Inaugural Address

JMS, this is silly. You are in denial my friend.

Silliness !! JMS, you are in denial.

So, if we are to follow the example that produces the least likely sexual abuse, a gay male couple should not have a boy, but they can have a girl. They did not say anything about lesbian couples, but I assume it is safe to say the least likley sexual abuse will result with them having a boy. There study seemed to only cover half the possabilities. A straight married family with a boy was not covered, and a lesbian couple was not covered either. They also only concidered a gay couple with a boy, not a girl. Nothing else in their report seemed to support their concludions about marriage, at least not strictly a straight marriage. It basically said marriage was better because it provided better materially for the child, which a gay couple can do too. All in all, if someone is to look at this article with a completely unbias perspective, it seems to condem straight couples just as much as gay couples, and seems to suggest that gay male couples are the best couples to raise females, and lesbians are the best couples to raise males when at least one of the partners is the biological parent.

It also doenst seem to say much about children in the custody of the state. Is a child more likely to have mental/economic problems being raised under the custody of the state, or by a gay couple. Intuition tells that in general, a gay couple is better than the state.

Pedophiles are attracted to kids. Gender is almost irrelevant.

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Man up.

Yet what your link doesn't discuss is that that risk is *extremely* low.

In 2002, 1,500 kids died of maltreatment, according to the CDC.

Roughly 25% of the population is under 18; 6.8% is under 5.

Given a population of 300 million, that means that:

1. For kids under 18, the death by maltreatment rate is 2 per 100,000. 99.99998% were just fine.

2. Even if you assume that all the kids who died were under 5 years old, that means that the death by maltreatment rate is 7.4 per 100,000. Meaning that 99.99993% of kids were just fine.

It simply makes no mathematical sense to base marriage or "who can have kids" rules on differences in such vanishingly small abuse rates.

Only if you think all adoptive and step-parent households should similarly be eliminated.

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Man up.

heres a link about conversion therapy. ive heard of people doing it and it worked for them. there was a special on it a coule of years ago about religious therapy that changed gays into straights. i still remember it because i didnt believe it could happen.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy