A new study published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology, a peer reviewed publication of the American Psychological Association, finds that living in an anti-gay red state can have an adverse impact on the mental health of same-sex couples.
Same-sex couples with adopted children living in states with anti-gay adoption laws and attitudes had more mental health issues in their first year of parenthood than couples with adopted children living in more accepting states, a new study has found. In addition, same-sex couples with adopted children who perceived higher support from their family and workplace and lived in more gay-friendly neighborhoods reported better mental health than those who did not.
Not that this or any corroborating study could possibly have much impact, considering that the anti-gay politicians running these red states are also profoundly anti-science.
This is why, no matter how poor I become/am, I will never move in with my folks, who moved to Mississippi after I’d gone to college. My wallet weeps, but my soul survives.
Anti-science, yes. But also, by definition, anti-gay politicians don’t actually want to make things better for same-sex couples!
Oh, they won’t go all anti-science on this one. If anything, they will point to this study as scientific proof that gay couples raising kids is unhealthy.
I’ll add my two cents: My partner and I got the hell out of Wisconsin (where both our families live) when they passed an anti-gay constitutional amendment in 2006.
Not a day has passed that I don’t feel good about my decision to move to a more enlightened part of the country.
Hell, living in a red state made me crazy (not to mention depressed and a smoker) and I’m not even gay.
From the article:
This is sort of what I expected. Invalidating environments, where you are told you are feeling something different or where you try to convince yourself you are feeling something else, are psychologically devastating. While these types of environments typically hurt gay kids the most, adults are still susceptible. We are social animals, and when everyone around you says “gays are evil” it will start to fuck with your head.
Yet another reason we in the productive Blue States shouldn’t subsidize these welfare queeen Red States and their unproductive antediluvian ways.
That includes high speed rail. And airports. And crop subsidies. And fuel ethanol subsidies.
I know there are same-sex couples who would stay, to fight the “good” fight (just as they have for the past several decades against intolerant hate-filled attitudes and legislation) which is fine as they are entitled to autonomous decisions; but, knowing the high risk of damaging their kids’ self-esteem and mental health, IMO, it’s just not worth it.
Find a better state (even if the jobs pay less, your house is tiny, the grandparents complain you’re taking the kids farther away, etc.), move now before your kids get bullied by TPTB (who made me want to smash my monitor when I saw their “It Gets Worse” campaign).
Many of the Red States are having real difficulties filling jobs – even while offering surprising attractive salaries and bonuses and a lower cost of living – because no one wants to move there.
I certainly don’t, but now we have an official study that says if I do, I’ll go bananas. Well, I kinda knew that, but now I have documentation.
This makes me cry. I have some real-life examples from here in Cincinnati. The saddest was my beloved lesbian neighbors who relocated back to Toronto after having their child and Ohio voting in its gay-marriage ban (both in the same year).
Environment shapes behavior. This is a widely accepted scientific fact. Stress is at the tippy top of this list.
@3 Yeah, it’s almost too easy writing the bigoted response:
“Look! Science confirms that gays and lesbians who are allowed to have kids go nuts! Obviously this means they shouldn’t have kids!”
Naturally, there’s no thought at all given to why people might have problems; far, far to easy to deliberately push the presumption that it’s just something intrinsic to being gay. That neatly gets you off the hook for any responsibility you have for causing harm and also scores points with the homophobes out there.