This
new article by Jonathan Rauch and Bill Meezan is one of the
best yet on same-sex marriage and gay parenting. Among the research
findings:
[T]here is no evidence that children of lesbian and gay parents are confused about their gender identity.
And:
[I]n general, children raised in same-sex environments show no differences in cognitive abilities, behavior, general emotional development, or such specific areas of emotional development as self-esteem, depression, or anxiety.
And finally, on the issue of being teased and
ridiculed:
The evidence is mixed, however, on whether the children have heightened difficulty with peers, with more studies finding no particular problems.
The PDF version includes a textbox describing the new study of
same-sex parenting by Patterson et al. - a true population-based
sample that should (but probably won't) put to rest questions
raised by anti-gay activists at the Family Research Council and
elsewhere about the methodology of earlier research.