Although many children of gay and lesbian parents have openly stated in court that their parents’ ability to marry has negatively affected their lives, four adult children of gay parents have a completely different outlook.
Calling themselves the “quartet of truth,” these four adults have now submitted court briefs to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to go against the legalization of same-sex marriage. The adults state that growing up with gay parents was not pleasant or normal, and don’t believe that other children should be subjected to it. The court is currently deciding whether to uphold marriage laws in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
One of the adults, Katy Faust, writes that every child should have two rights as they grow up, “First, the right to live. Second, the right to have a relationship with his/her father and mother.”
Another adult, Dawn Stefanowicz, recalls that her gay father was so focused on having sex, that he and his lover would both proposition boyfriends that she brought home in high school.
The third adult, B.N. Klein claims that her mother and partner kept her in the dark about heterosexual relationships, so she had no idea about the interaction between a man and a woman until she was placed in foster care.
Finally, Robert Oscar Lopez, the fourth adult, says that his emotionally confusing upbringing led him to turn to gay prostitution as a teen.
In the ongoing court battles, groups such as COLAGE and Family Equality Council have argued that families with gay parents are typical with the “same joys and challenges as families led by heterosexual partners.”
The “quartet of truth” beg to differ. Ms. Stefanowicz wrote in her brief that she felt as if she never had a “real home” saying, “Our home environments have unique and unstable characteristics.”
She continued, “I was exposed to overt sexual activities like sodomy, nudity, pornography, group sex, sadomasochism and the like.” Ms. Stefanowicz also says she, along with many other daughters of gay parents, believes that her femininity was not respected by her parents.
Although many people may write these four adults off as extreme cases of bad parenting, one of the adults, Ms. Faust, claims that she loved her parents, did not have an abnormal upbringing, but still does not support gay marriage.
She writes, “It wasn’t until I had children of my own that the wholeness and worth of having both father and mother raising their children together hit me like a freight train,” Ms. Faust said recently. “My kids need both of us” and “marriage law should always encourage and promote that ideal of mothers and fathers parenting their children together.”