are experiencing the same problems. In both instances they are trying to live a normal life, but because of how society was and is they face hardships that most of the time are unnecessary obstacles. In both the essay and the novel people are questioning the ability of two people and how well they will be able to raise a child. In both cases they are not given a fair chance to show how well they can actually parent. One situation that both same-sex couples and Angela and Malachy faced is that people already looked down on them from the start.
In Angela’s Ashes people look down on the McCourt’s because Malachy is from Northern Ireland where they support the English. In Limerick anyone who had anything to do with the English was already looked down upon, it didn’t help that Malachy was known for drinking away any wages or dole that he had in his pocket. Similarly, same-sex couples are looked down on because of their sexual orientation. Some people say that just because they are the same sex means that they cannot parent a child or it will influence whether the child is heterosexual or homosexual. There are only nine states in which allow same-sex couples to jointly adopt couples, and six more are considering making it
legal. In both instances, another hardship they face is that they are continently questioned on their ability to parent. Since the McCourt’s’ live in a lane and are in poverty it is automatically assumed that have made bad choices and cannot be good parents. They are also assumed bad parents when people see the McCourt boys running around with worn and torn clothing. This is a completely false accusation, their ability to parent their children has nothing to do with their poverty level and how much they can afford. In this century people still doubt same-sex couples’ ability to parent because they aren’t the traditional couple. People argue that a child should grow up with role models in both genders. This can still happen, in most cases same-sex couples have mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, and grandmas and grandpas who can be role models in the child’s life. Although Angela’s Ashes and Laws Should Support Loving Households, Straight or Not were written in different time frames but they both share the theme of overcoming hardships.