Suppressed study on Gay Parenting

[Daniel]

See. We make great parents. Trouble is, the conservative government of Canada didn't want us to know that.

Well. We do now.

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/05/050707parent.htm

Suppressed Study Shows No Difference Between Same And Opposite-Sex Parents
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: May 7, 2007 - 5:00 pm ET

(Ottawa) A study prepared for the Canadian government shows children do as well, perhaps better, when reared by same-sex parents as they do by opposite-sex couples.

The study has just now become public even though it was commissioned by the government in 2003 leading to accusations that the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper attempted to burry the research.

When the study was ordered the Liberals were in power and courts across the country were beginning to strike down federal restrictions limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples.

The Liberals went on to legalize same-sex marriage in 2005. The party was defeated the following year by the Tories who promised to revisit the vote.

The study on child rearing was not complete until after the Conservatives came to power.

Last December a motion to reopen the gay marriage issue was defeated by Parliament. During the debate no mention was made of the study, by Prof. Paul Hastings at Concordia University, but Harper's Tories cited a French study that said same-sex parenting was not in the best interests of children.

The study only came to light when Hastings used freedom of information laws to obtain a copy which he provided to the Canwest News Service.

The 74-page study references about 100 studies on parenting. It says that although most of the literature study was empirical, the vast majority of studies show that children living with two mothers and children living with a mother and father have the same levels and qualities of social competence.

"A few studies suggest that children with two lesbian mothers may have marginally better social competence than children in 'traditional nuclear' families, even fewer studies show the opposite, and most studies fail to find any differences," the study says.

It also notes there is still too little research on gay male parents.

Canwest also found, using freedom of information laws, that after Hastings had obtained the government copy of his research that the Tories had prepared "talking points" on the study should the issue come up in Parliament.

Those "talking points" suggest MPs say that the Justice Department which had ordered Hasting's report, was distancing itself from the findings and concluded "[there has been] very little research in this area".

Hastings, a psychologist who specializes in analyzing data, rejects any suggestion that the study is biased.

©365Gay.com 2007