Assessing Gay and Straight Marriages from a Parenting Perspective .
The re-ordering of family relationships is re-shaping the way western society .
considers the role of each parent, with the traditional roles for men and women .
significantly changing in the last two decades. The creation of nuclear families .
from same-sex partners is one of the fastest growing demographic segments in .
the United States for example (Black, Sanders, Taylor, 2007) despite the stigma .
and discrimination that same-sex couples face. There is also the implication of .
the economics of same-sex couples choosing artificial insemination, adoption or .
other means to have a child forces an exceptionally high cost on them while at .
the same time providing no guarantee of their being accepted into their .
community, or their child being viewed as equal and acceptable by their peers. .
This aspect of the decision of same-sex parents to have children is in fact a .
courageous one as it is uncertain as to how they will be perceived, accepted or .
ostracized from their communities (Lindsay, Perlesz, Brown, McNair, et al., .
2006). Same-sex parents however seek out and create communities of .
supportive couples who share their common sociological risks and concerns, .
thereby creating a more extended family as a result (Almack, 2008). It is .
common for the children of same-sex parents to also have more of an .
appreciation of how egalitarian-based relationships work and how division of .
labor concerning housework is more focused on attaining results and less on .
dominance of one partner over another (Almack, 2008).
Supporters of same-sex parenting couples also stress the fact that children .
raised in these families also have a stronger sense of how to appreciate and .
tolerance between people (Krause, 2000) leading to them being more capable at .
adaption into non-traditional work and social environments. There is also the .
factors of how same-sex couples present the outside world - either from a .
