The Movement Advancement Project (MAP) recently released a new report on LGBT families entitled "All Children Matter: How Legal and Social Inequalities Hurt LGBT Families" at an event held at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.
The report shows that more than 2 million children with LGBT parents have become collateral damage due to decades of anti-gay ideology and laws.
Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler made the opening remarks following introductions by Winnie Stachelberg, senior vice-president for external affairs at the Center for American Progress. The presenters were Jeff Krehely, director of LGBT research and communications at the Center for American Progress and Ineke Mushovic, executive director for the Movement Advancement Project.
Following the presentation, Washington Post reporter Jonathan Capehart moderated a discussion with panelists Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council; Bryan Samuels, commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families; and the Rev. Dr. Dennis W. Wiley of Covenant Baptist Church.
Gansler said that the report focuses the debate on what happens to the children of same-sex parents regarding the laws and policies affecting their families. Same-sex marriage is the key to securing equality for same-sex families nationally, Gansler noted.
The report's findings show that LGBT families are numerous and diverse but they are more likely to be poor due to tax inequities both on the state and federal level. Same-sex couples are not allowed to, by law, file federal taxes jointly which causes same-sex parents to pay more taxes on their separate incomes. For example, a straight couple with children who has a $45,000 yearly income and file taxes jointly receives a $50 refund compared to same-sex couples with children with the same income level who have to file taxes separately and end up owing $2,165 at the end of the year.
Nationally, 9 percent of married straight couples live in poverty, compared to 21 percent of male same-sex couples and 20 percent of female same-sex couples who live in poverty, according to the report. Also, cash assistance, health insurance, child-care assistance, educational loans and other forms of assistance may not be available to LGBT families due to safety net programs having a narrow definition of what makes a family.
Another finding was that same-sex couples with children are more racially and ethnically diverse, with 59 percent identifying as white; 73 percent of straight couples identified as white. Also, 96 percent of U.S. counties have LGBT families as residents, with same-sex couples more likely to be raising children in the South than other parts of the country.
As for foster care and adoption, the report shows that there are laws that either bar or discourage same-sex parents from fostering children (with 423,000 children in the foster-care system nationwide, with 115,000 awaiting adoption), which leaves many children without permanent homes. Joint adoption for same-sex couples is allowed in only 17 states and Washington, D.C., and is banned in five states, with 28 states silent on the issue, according to the report.
Parental recognition is problematic in the case of donor insemination, with the partner of the birth parent identified as a legal stranger to the child in many states. Mushovic said, "if a parent dies or if a relationship dissolves (in the case of same-sex couples) they might not be properly awarded custody and visitation because one of the parents is a legal stranger ... that affects everything from a parents health insurance coverage to the ability of a child to inherit or obtain social security survivor and disability benefits."
The report also shows that there are ways to eliminate the legal disparities that harm children of LGBT parents, including legally recognizing LGBT families in the areas of parental recognition, marriage rights and equal immigration and citizenship to binational LGBT families; gaining equal access to government-based economic protections; and expanding research into LGBT families.
Co-authors of the report include MAP, the Center for American Progress and the Family Equality Council. The report partners were Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere (COLAGE), The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and the National Association of Social Workers with the forward written by the Child Welfare League of America.
To read the entire report visit www.children-matter.org .
