ABSTRACT
A child being raised by same-sex parents challenges the conventional assumption that, for normal development to occur, a child needs both a male and female parent (Golombok, 2000). As a result, gay men and lesbians as parents have come under close and critical scrutiny from many areas of society. It appears that negative attitudes towards same-sex parents remain, despite the evidence that gay men (Bigner & Jacobson, 1989; Dunne, 1999) and lesbians (Bos, van Balen, & van den Boom, 2004; Parks, 1998; Patterson, 1992; Tasker, 2005) have similar parenting practices and skills to heterosexuals parents and that children raised in a family with one or more gay or lesbian parents develop psychologically, intellectually, behaviourally, and emotionally in positive directions (Allen & Burrell, 1996; Brewaeys, Ponjaert, Van Hall, & Golombok, 1997; Chan, Raboy, & Patterson, 1998; Fitzgerald, 1999; Golombok,
2000; Golombok & Tasker, 1996; Parks, 1998; Patterson, 1992, 2000, 2002; Tasker, 2005).
