Blog Post #5: Outline

Thesis Statement: When compared to children of heterosexual couples, children who are raised by same sex couples are not at a disadvantage, nor are they less likely to be happy, have academic success, and have strong parent-child relationships.

I.              How children of same sex couples compare to those of heterosexual couples:

A.    General happiness

B.    Academic Success

C.    Parent-child relationships

D.    (note: depending on the amount of research I find on these three topics I might split it into multiple paragraphs)

II.             Rebuttal (Children suffer from having homosexual parents):

A.    Kids need a mother and a father

B.    Societal beliefs/standards of what an “acceptable” or “good” parent is

C.    Homophobia/prejudice toward same sex couples
D. Religious views

E.    Rebuttal is weak because it is based only on homophobia

III.            What happened to the children’s voice?

A.    People are concerned for “the children” and what is best for “the children”

B.    The children have no voice in this argument

C.    Adults and parents are taking over the argument and turning it in their own favor, not the children’s.

IV.           Myths about same sex parents and their children:

A.    parents’ gender and sexuality negatively affect their children

·         Only gay and lesbian couples are critiqued for influencing their children’s sexuality, even though heterosexual couples (especially homophobic ones) tend to influence their children more.

B.    Children are at risk of sexual abuse

C.    Children do not develop properly if there is not both a mother and a father

Conclusion: The issue of unhappy families and children is not in the gender or sexuality of the parent; it is in the lack of love and support the parent has for the child. Therefore, children of same sex couples are just as able as children of heterosexual couples to be happy, excel in academics, and form strong bonds with their parents.

I commented on Britainy and Andrew's blogs.