Gay/Lesbian Rights and Definitions of the Family 225door to consideration of a parent's sexual orientation and may introduce a certain
level of subjectivity as far as court decisions about child custody, visitation rights,
and adoption cases. Most states, however, utilize the Best Interests standard by con-
sidering the parent's homosexual conduct, only as far as it can be shown that this has
some adverse effect on the child. Indeed, the evidence to date suggests that home
environments provided by gay and lesbian parents are as likely as those provided by
heterosexual parents to support and to enable children's psychosocial growth (C. J.
Patterson & Redding, 1996). Accordingly, social scientists can work to expand the
body of research on lesbian and gay families and can make efforts to ensure that
the results become available to the public and policy makers through appropriate
publications. Not only can scientific evidence help alleviate misconceptions about
lesbian- or gay-headed households, it can also facilitate changes in judicial or legisla-
tive decision-making processes. Thus, as certain elements change within the legal
system, securing child custody cases and gaining adoption rights may eventually be
a less arduous process for gay or lesbian families.Suggestions for Future ResearchResearch on lesbian and gay families is still relatively new, and additional work is
needed if we are to expand our understanding of the lives of homosexual parents
and their children. Future research which explores the predominant child-rearing
styles of such families and their effects on children's adjustment in comparison to
heterosexual families is certainly needed. Less research is conducted on children of
gay fathers than on children with lesbian mothers. There is a lack of research assess-
ing the development of children of gay or lesbian parents during adolescence and
adulthood. Longitudinal studies which follow gay or lesbian families over a certain
time period are also needed. However, the costly and time-intensive nature of such
studies have, to date, hindered such efforts. Nonetheless, longitudinal studies of
representative samples of homosexual and heterosexual families, including obser-
vational as well as questionnaire and interview assessments, would be better able to
enhance our understanding of parents and children within these contexts. Research
in this area would help expand our understanding of families such as Sarah's and
many others headed by gay fathers and would elucidate more fully the dynamics of
such families.