研究:同性戀夫妻纔是最好的父母!

Gay marriage, and especially gay parenting, has been in the cross hairs in recent days.

同性戀結婚，特別是同性戀雙親，近日頗受關注。

On Jan. 6, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum told a New Hampshire audience that children are better off with a father in prison than being raised in a home with lesbian parents and no father at all. And last Monday (Jan. 9), Pope Benedict called gay marriage a threat "to the future of humanity itself," citing the need for children to have heterosexual homes.

1月6日，來自共和黨的總統候選人裏克•桑託姆對新罕布什爾州的觀衆說，比起那些被女同性戀撫養，根本就沒有父親的孩子，那些父親身處監獄中的孩子境況更好。上週一（1月9日）教皇本篤以孩子需要異性戀的家庭爲論據，將同性戀婚姻稱作對“人類未來”的威脅。

But research on families headed by gays and lesbians doesn't back up these dire assertions. In fact, in some ways, gay parents may bring talents to the table that straight parents don't.

但是對同性戀家庭的調查並不支持這一可怕的言論。事實上，在某些方面，同性戀父母可能會激發孩子的才能，而性取向正常的父母卻不能。

Gay parents "tend to be more motivated, more committed than heterosexual parents on average, because they chose to be parents," said Abbie Goldberg, a psychologist at Clark University in Massachusetts who researches gay and lesbian parenting. Gays and lesbians rarely become parents by accident, compared with an almost 50 percent accidental pregnancy rate among heterosexuals, Goldberg said. "That translates to greater commitment on average and more involvement."

同性戀父母“比異性戀父母普遍更有動力、更勇於承擔，因爲他們做父母是出自自己的選擇，” 艾比•高伯如是說，她是馬薩諸塞州克拉克大學的心理學家，研究同性戀父母對子女的養育。異性戀夫婦約有50%的人是意外懷孕從而成爲父母的，而同性戀很少是意外成爲父母的，高伯說，“這就解釋了同性戀父母爲什麼普遍更勇於承擔，在撫養子女上投入更多。”

And while research indicates that kids of gay parents show few differences in achievement, mental health, social functioning and other measures, these kids may have the advantage of open-mindedness, tolerance and role models for equitable relationships, according to some research. Not only that, but gays and lesbians are likely to provide homes for difficult-to-place children in the foster system, studies show.

研究表明，同性戀父母撫養的孩子在成就、心理健康和社交及其他方面和其他孩子並沒有什麼不同，這些孩子可能在某些方面還具有優勢，如思想開明、寬容，他們在平等關係方面也有人做榜樣。研究顯示，同性戀父母還可能收容那些福利系統難以安排的孩子。

Research has shown that the kids of same-sex couples — both adopted and biological kids — fare no worse than the kids of straight couples on mental health, social functioning, school performance and a variety of other life-success measures.

研究顯示，同性夫妻的孩子，不管是養子還是親生子，在心理、社交、學業還有很多其它人生成就方面都不比正常夫妻的孩子差。

Children of gay parents also reported feeling less stymied by gender stereotypes than they would have been if raised in straight households. That's likely because gays and lesbians tend to have more egalitarian relationships than straight couples, Goldberg said.

比起正常家庭成長起來的孩子，同性戀父母撫養的孩子較少因爲性別受到阻礙，高伯說，這很有可能是因爲同性戀夫妻比異性戀夫妻的關係更平等。

"Men and women felt like they were free to pursue a wide range of interests," Goldberg said. "Nobody was telling them, 'Oh, you can't do that, that's a boy thing,' or 'That's a girl thing.'"

高伯說，“同性戀家庭中成長起來的男性和女性都覺得他們可以自由地追求廣泛的愛好。沒有人會對他們說，‘噢，你不能這麼做，這是男孩該做的或這是女孩該做的。’”

詞彙點津：

in the cross hairs: 受到關注

role model: 榜樣角色；模範