The Effects of Marriage, Civil Union, and Domestic Partnership Laws on the Health and Well-being of Children/In Reply

Previous research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual (LGBT) people has demonstrated that LGBT people as a whole ( 1 ) have a much higher incidence of drug addiction to methamphetamines and cocaine than heterosexuals,5,6 (2) were more likely to be victims of domestic violence,5,6 (3) were twi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pediatrics (Evanston) 2006-11, Vol.118 (5), p.2259
Main Authors: McConnell, Mark, Snyder, Andrew M, Hain, Paul D, Hain, Anne-Marie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bisexuality
Children & youth
Gays & lesbians
Health
Marriage
Men
Parents & parenting
Pediatrics
Personal relationships
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Summary:Previous research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual (LGBT) people has demonstrated that LGBT people as a whole ( 1 ) have a much higher incidence of drug addiction to methamphetamines and cocaine than heterosexuals,5,6 (2) were more likely to be victims of domestic violence,5,6 (3) were twice as likely to be on psychotropic medications,5,7 (4) have higher incidence of non-HIV sexually transmitted diseases,8 and (5) have a significantly increased risk of suicidal ideation and suicide completion.7,9 In addition, homosexual men have a life expectancy that is 8 to 20 years less than heterosexual men10,11 and are much less likely to be involved in monogamous relationships.12 Also, legal homosexual marriages in Norway and Sweden were more likely to end in divorce than heterosexual marriages.13 The Pawelski et al study fails to address the implications of these facts on the well-being of children. Confounding variables include the fact that many children of same-sex parents have experienced stigmatization and the divorce or loss of their biological parent(s), and none receive all of the benefits of civil marriage enjoyed by their heterosexual counterparts.
ISSN:0031-4005
1098-4275