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The Catholic Church

After reading a number of articles and posts (including this one over at Daddy, Papa & Me) regarding the latest statement from the catholic church I had to go and dig up the original text for myself.

CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING PROPOSALS
TO GIVE LEGAL RECOGNITION
TO UNIONS
BETWEEN HOMOSEXUAL PERSONS

Overall there wasn’t that much that I didn’t expect. The catholic church has a long standing history of discrimination and condemnation of homosexuality which has resulted in violence and discrimination against the gay community. However there was one section of the text that I found particularly despicable:

“… Allowing children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean doing violence to these children, in the sense that their condition of dependency would be used to place them in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development. …”

Stating that children raised in gay households are being subject to violence due to the “the absence of sexual complementarity” (i.e. heterosexual married parents) is beyond appalling. I have had experience with many children raised by gay and lesbian parents and these children are being raised in some of the most loving and supportive environments imaginable. Furthermore, study after study has PROVEN that these children have grown to be well adjusted stable productive adults.

In contrast I have also seen many children who have been raised in extremely violent and abusive households where, while they had both a mother and a father raising them, they grew up witness to abuse between the parents as well as abuse to themselves personally.

As a very specific example, a friend of mine and his partner adopted a wonderful little boy from an at risk children’s adoption agency. This little boy was taken from his mother because his mother’s boyfriend was dunking the child in scalding water as punishment and now has permanent scars on both legs. Now he lives with two people who feed him, care for him, love him and protect him. In which environment do you think he is better off?

You be the judge. Personally, I think gays and lesbians have the potential to be just as effective and loving parents as their heterosexual counterparts and, in many situations, better because they have to fight that much harder to become parents in the first place.

For the catholic church to accuse them of violence is not only ignorant and irresponsible – it is ultimately hurtful to many families throughout the world – gay and straight alike.

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