William Saletan of Slate, in his article Lesbians of Mass Destruction, uses Mary Cheney as a jumping-off point to argue the suitability of same-sex parents. (This will be, I suspect, Mary’s ongoing role, intentional or not, in the same-sex parenting debate.) Saletan nails some points like:
If the direct evidence [against same-sex parents] doesn’t bear you out [say conservatives], look for indirect evidence. So conservatives have developed a subtler argument: On average, children do best when raised by their two married, biological parents.
Let’s take this argument a piece at a time. It’s true that two parents are better than one. It’s also true that married parents are better than unmarried ones. But those aren’t arguments against gay parenthood. They’re arguments for gay marriage.
He then wades into less clear waters. In rebutting the claim of Focus on the Family “that gay parenthood is unhealthy because ‘it is biologically impossible for a child living in a same-sex home to be living with both natural parents,’ Saletan asserts, “the chief problem isn’t stepparents; it’s men,” noting that the “key risk factors [for physical and sexual abuse] are living with a stepfather or the mother’s boyfriend.” “Women commit 3.5 percent of single-perpetrator sexual assaults and make up 7 percent of the prison population,” he relates.
That may be true, but we need to be very careful here. The case for lesbian-moms’ rights shouldn’t be built at the expense of gay dads. That’s not Saletan’s intent, but he runs the risk of misinterpretation in this regard, especially with his conclusion that “You want to protect kids? Here’s my proposed constitutional amendment: ‘Marriage in the United States shall consist of a union involving at least one woman.'”
Saletan’s point is that it’s ridiculous to base law on averages or overly broad characterizations. Do that, and we end up with laws like his “proposed amendment” above. That’s valid, and I don’t want to take his tongue-in-cheek statement too seriously. I just hope others don’t, either. If men are more likely than women to abuse children, some might say, then what is the risk of two men raising children together? A dangerous train of thought, especially because gay men are already seen as the perpetrators of child abuse far in excess of actual statistics.
The rest of his article is full of well-put nuggets like:
James Dobson, chairman of Focus on the Family, says Cheney’s pregnancy is a bad idea because a father “makes unique contributions to the task of parenting that a mother cannot emulate,” such as “a sense of right and wrong and its consequences.” You must be kidding. Cheney’s partner is a former park ranger. They met while playing collegiate hockey. If they want a night out to catch an NHL game, Grandpa Dick can drop by to read bedtime stories about detainee interrogation.
Kudos to Saletan for an article that goes beyond simply noting that the Republicans are hypocrites about Mary Cheney’s pregnancy (an important point, to be sure, but pretty well hashed out over the last few weeks). One to read and pass along.