GAY TRUTH

Is this true? Discrimination, not same-sex parents, harms children.  Today , Australian newspapers stretched research to imply that stigma not gay parents harm kids. Newspapers used that line to blame "No" campaign for mental health degradation of children of homosexuals parents. What is the basis for journalists making this claim?  Medical Journal of Australia says: "13 specialists, who include Professor Frank Oberklaid from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute , and Associate Professor Michelle Telfer, from the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne said - "The research tells us that children and adolescents with same-sex parents are doing well, despite the discrimination (stigma) their families endure. This will not continue for long in the face of hostile debate. When damaging misrepresentations of the evidence circulate unchecked, the potential for stigmatising rhetoric to generate greater harm to this community increases."   Who

Accurate, replicable scientific research results can and do influence our personal decisions and self-understanding, and can contribute to the public discourse, including cultural and political debates. When the research touches on controversial themes, it is particularly important to be clear about precisely what science has and has not shown. For complex, complicated questions concerning the nature of human sexuality, there exists at best provisional scientific consensus; much remains unknown, as sexuality is an immensely complex part of human life that defies our attempts at defining all its aspects and studying them with precision. For questions that are easier to study empirically, however, such as those concerning the rates of mental health outcomes for identifiable subpopulations of sexual minorities, the research does offer some clear answers: these subpopulations show higher rates of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicide compared to the general population.