how many children are being raised by a gay or lesbian parent or parents because of many of the same factors that impact the determination of the number of same-gender couples. Estimates range between 1 and 10 million.5,6 The majority of these children were born in the context of a heterosexual relationship. Two thirds of these children live in the 42 states in which second-parent adoption is specifically forbidden or not guaranteed by statute or court ruling.‡
PUBLIC POLICIES REGARDING CHILDREN WITH GAY OR LESBIAN PARENTS
Census 2000 and related demographic research make it clear that parenting by same-gender couples is an established and growing part of the diverse structure of families in the United States. Public policies that aim to promote family stability and security typically are established without consideration for same-gender parents and their children, and they place these families at a disadvantage, as they do heterosexual unmarried parents, single parents, and extended-family caregivers.
Public policy designed to promote the family as the basic building block of society has at its core the protection of children's health and well-being. Children's wellbeing relies in large part on a complex blend of their own legal rights and the rights derived, under law, from their parents. Children of same-gender parents often experience economic, legal, and familial insecurity as a result of the absence of legal recognition of their bonds to their nonbiological parents. Current public-policy trends, with notable exceptions, favor limiting or prohibiting the availability of civil marriage and limiting rights and protections to same-gender couples.
Although some states and jurisdictions have recognized civil unions and domestic partnership arrangements, these legal constructs do not carry the same rights, benefits, and protections that are conferred by civil marriage. In 2004, the United States Government Accountability Office (formerly known as the General Accounting Office) identified a total of 1138 federal statutory provisions classified to the United States Code in which marital status is a factor in determining or receiving rights, benefits, and protections.7 Only Massachusetts currently allows same-gender couples to marry. (See Table 1 for a comparison of civil marriage, civil union, and domestic partner laws.)
With the exception of the states and jurisdiction mentioned in Table 1 and a small number of counties and municipalities, same-gender couples and their children are not afforded legal recognition or protection under the law. In fact, public-policy makers at all levels of government have moved to enact legislation to prohibit any type of legal recognition of same-gender partnerships and parenting. In addition, state constitutional amendments prohibiting same-gender civil marriage, civil union, and domestic partnership have established de facto blanket prohibitions on prospective legislation favorable to same-gender couples and their children, thereby restricting their access to the political process itself.
State Perspective: Marriage
Since the enactment of the federal DOMA in 1996, 42 states have enacted similar laws. With the exception of the provision regarding public policy, all of the measures replicate the federal DOMA. These laws generally contain at least 1 of the following 4 provisions.§
Definition of marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman.
Prohibition of recognition of same-gender marriages that are granted in other states.
Declaration of same-gender marriage as a violation of public policy.
Definition of spouse as only a person of the opposite gender who is legally married as a wife or husband.
Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, and Pennsylvania have laws that define marriage as a legal union between a man and woman, prohibit recognition of same-gender marriages granted by other states, and declare same-gender marriage to be a violation of the state's public policy. (Missouri's Supreme Court subsequently overturned the state's 1996 law, leading to a constitution