Are the Kids All Right? Avuncular Reflections on the Gayby Boom

Abstract

The author discusses the transformation of the mid-20th century “gay liberation movement,” which was influenced by antiwar protests, the African-American civil rights movement, second-wave feminism, and the sexual revolution into the modern gay civil rights movement seeking greater assimilation with heteronormative ideals. The bottle-throwing protestors at Stonewall, the Gay Activist Alliance members who disrupted meetings of the American Psychiatric Association, or the sexual outlaws of Christopher and Castro Streets could hardly have imagined today's world, in which the most pressing gay civil rights issues are to serve openly in the military, to get married, and to obtain legal parental responsibilities for raising children. “Gay lib” primarily evolved into a pragmatic, slightly left of center politics and values. Inevitably, however, support for gay rights emerged on the right wing of the political spectrum as well. Today, even religious gays seek to integrate a modern gay identity with traditional and even fundamentalist religious values. This paper offers some thoughts about this social transformation. It then goes on to briefly review research findings on gay parenting and how this culture war issue plays out in the media. The author, who has no children, concludes with some personal reflections on the growing phenomenon of gay parenting.

KEYWORDS:

• American Psychiatric Association
• culture war
• gay baby boom
• gay parenting
• homosexuality
• marriage equality
• research
• sexual revolution