Gay Adoption
Current Social and Moral Issues
Final Paper
Gay Adoption:
Gays Should Be Allowed to Adopt Children
Political scientists define political tolerance as the willingness of individuals to respect the democratic rights of groups they don’t like. For example, people are tolerant under this definition if they do not like evangelical Christians, but they are willing to allow group members to run for political office, teach children, or hold political rallies. However, some political theorists argue for a view of political tolerance that requires more from people (Moore 1). According to these theorists, people should take action to protect each other’s freedom to be different. Such an obligation should lead people to help others who belong to unpopular groups, so they can “lead the good life” and share in society’s benefits. It is also found that among those prejudiced against gays and lesbians, positive tolerance leads to some support for the rights of gays and lesbians to both marry and adopt children. Some of the positively tolerant people overlook their negative group effect to support gays and lesbians in “living the good life” (Moore 1). Allowing gay males to marry and raise a family continues to be a controversial issue. There are many arguments in support of preventing gay males from adopting children. The most common argument is that gay males have an agenda to influence their children to become gay. “Others argue that gay-male couples have poorer than average parenting skills, relative to accepted social norms. There are also others who question the mental health of gay males because of their sexual orientation. Another claim is that children raised by gay males are more likely to be suicidal” (Lobaugh 5-6). These and many other issues prevent gays from adopting children and raising families. This is why the gays’ battle for adoption rights has been fought for many years. Because of many prejudices among people, this
Final Paper
Gay Adoption:
Gays Should Be Allowed to Adopt Children
Political scientists define political tolerance as the willingness of individuals to respect the democratic rights of groups they don’t like. For example, people are tolerant under this definition if they do not like evangelical Christians, but they are willing to allow group members to run for political office, teach children, or hold political rallies. However, some political theorists argue for a view of political tolerance that requires more from people (Moore 1). According to these theorists, people should take action to protect each other’s freedom to be different. Such an obligation should lead people to help others who belong to unpopular groups, so they can “lead the good life” and share in society’s benefits. It is also found that among those prejudiced against gays and lesbians, positive tolerance leads to some support for the rights of gays and lesbians to both marry and adopt children. Some of the positively tolerant people overlook their negative group effect to support gays and lesbians in “living the good life” (Moore 1). Allowing gay males to marry and raise a family continues to be a controversial issue. There are many arguments in support of preventing gay males from adopting children. The most common argument is that gay males have an agenda to influence their children to become gay. “Others argue that gay-male couples have poorer than average parenting skills, relative to accepted social norms. There are also others who question the mental health of gay males because of their sexual orientation. Another claim is that children raised by gay males are more likely to be suicidal” (Lobaugh 5-6). These and many other issues prevent gays from adopting children and raising families. This is why the gays’ battle for adoption rights has been fought for many years. Because of many prejudices among people, this