The kids are OK: it is discrimination not same-sex parents that harms children

Knight*, Ken W; Stephenson*, Sarah EM; West*, Sue; Delatycki, Martin B; Jones, Cheryl A; Little, Melissa H; Patton, George C; Sawyer, Susan M; Skinner, S Rachel; Telfer, Michelle M; Wake, Melissa; North, Kathryn N; Oberklaid, Frank

doi:10.5694/mja17.00943

Topics

Environment and public health

Sexual health

Pediatric medicine

Social determinants of health

An update on the evidence, and implications for the medical community

The current public debate about same-sex marriage raises a number of significant issues for medical professionals and researchers in Australia. Misinformation is circulating in the public domain that children and adolescents with same-sex parents are at risk of poorer health and wellbeing than other children. An increased public health risk exists as a result of homophobic campaign messages for the entire lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) community, including a mental health risk for same-sex couples, their children, and young people who identify as LGBTIQ+.

1 Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC
2 University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC
3 Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC
4 Victorian Clinical Genetics Services, Melbourne, VIC
5 Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW
6 Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, NZ

Correspondence: frank.oberklaid@rch.org.au

* Joint first authors

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

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