Doug Brooks (left) and Rusty Wolf (right) with their kids. Gay parents? Sure. And also great parents.
Gay parents might be a fairly new topic. But it’s also a hot one. This post has garnered more page views, by far, than anything I’ve posted here. It’s a couple of years old, but timeless. (Updated January 2017)
Here’s a story that proves two points. First, good stories can be short. Second, Facebook and other social media sites can be great ways to share them.
Doug Brooks (left) and Rusty Wolf (right) of Atlanta have three young kids, including Sophie. She has a great ability to state things clearly and simply, in that genius way that only children seem to have.
Here’s a Facebook post from Doug
Me: “Sophie, I heard that girl, Isabella, at the pool asking why you had two Dads, but I didn’t hear your answer. What did you say?”
Sophie: “I said, ‘Because they’re gay.'”
Gay parents in the United States
It’s hard to say how many gay parents there are in America. It’s also hard to say with any certainty how many LGBT Americans there are.
A study by the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute estimates that 37% of LGBT Americans have had a child. The study says that means as many as 6 million American children and adults have a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender parent, according to findings from a national study released today by Williams Institute Distinguished Scholar, Gary J. Gates.
“These analyses highlight the diversity and prevalence of LGBT parents and their children in the U.S.,” said Williams Institute Distinguished Scholar Gary J. Gates. “The data show that LGBT families are clearly part of modern American life.”
“LGBT Parenting in the United States” also says:
- Same-sex parents and their children are more likely to be racial and ethnic minorities.
- LGBT parents live in states from coast to coast.
- States with the highest proportions of same-sex couples raising kids include Mississippi (26%), Wyoming (25%), Alaska (23%), Idaho (22%), and Montana (22%).
Information and perspective
Such findings are important, and I hope we see more responsible reporting on gay parents in the future.
I also hope we see more kids — and Americans of all ages — react with Sophie’s almost comical matter-of-fact approach.
Says it all, doesn’t it?
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