Bad News For Utah Homophobes: Children of Gay Parents Are Growing Up Just Fine

shutterstock_166750586Utah’s ban on gay marriage was intended to preserve the family unit. After hearing personal testimonies from the children of gay parents, we discover that quite the opposite is true.

National and state gay rights organizations filed an amicus brief to challenge Utah’s gay marriage ban before the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.

The brief contained children’s testimonies that discussed what it was like to grow up with gay and lesbian parents and how the same-sex marriage ban has affected their lives.

Supporters of the same-sex marriage ban in Utah argue:

“The state of Utah, like many gay marriage opponents before, argued in a lengthy brief last month that allowing gays and lesbians to marry “poses real, concrete risks to children.” When the state restricts marriage to straight couples, it encourages “child-centric” marriages and “selfless parenting,” the state’s lawyers wrote. Their brief suggests that if wedding doors are opened to gays, generations of children will be harmed.”

Yet it is funny that a young child’s response makes the most sense of all:

“I’m perfectly fine. My brother’s perfectly fine. There’s nothing wrong with us,” said Riley Hackford-Peer, a 12-year-old whose moms were married in December.

The state’s argument is “kind of bully-like,” he added.

All the children interviewed said that the most difficult aspect of having gay parents in a conservative state like Utah has nothing to do with the quality of parental support.

Thanks to my very religious upbringing, I am more than familiar with this unfortunate anti-gay sentiment. But in the midst of this ridiculous, ongoing court battle, the kids are the voice of reason. The children of gay parents aren’t having difficulties because of the quality of their family unit. They are having difficulties because the state continues to bully and discriminate against them.

(Image: Syda Productions/Shutterstock)

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