The Rally

I went to a rally at the capitol yesterday. Here's the email I received:

Join ALLGO tonight at the State Capitol as we stand against discriminatory legislation!

Senator Cornyn misrepresents LGBT families.
Join LGRL in front of the Texas Capitol tonight-July 13th- at 7:30 PM.
Our best defense against this attack is to show the world who we are!

(AUSTIN, TX) July 13, 2004: – The Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas (LGRL) condemns Senator John Cornyn’s attack on LGBT Americans during the Senate floor debate on the “federal marriage amendment”.

Statement by Randall Ellis, Executive Director
Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas

Once again Senator Cornyn has followed the lead of the religious right and misinterpreted scientific studies to suit his own agenda of intolerance. Mr. Cornyn asserted that the federal marriage amendment is necessary for the welfare of our nation's children. Mr. Cornyn went on to assert that scientific studies show that children fare better when they are raised by a mother and a father and, therefore, children raised in households headed by same-sex couples unduly suffer a long list of societal ills.

Mr. Cornyn’s statements are an inaccurate and irresponsible manipulation of what science has shown us regarding children raised in same-sex households.

Studies consistently show that children do best when they are raised by loving caring parents and that two parents are in a better position in terms of available resources, to raise a child than a single parent household. However, there are no credible studies that show children raised by same-sex parents experience any negative outcomes because of their parents' sexual orientation.

Furthermore, Mr. Cornyn irresponsibly omitted what credible research has shown regarding children raised in same-sex households:


The sexual orientation of parents does not harm the overall psychological well-being of their children.
Brewaeys, A. Ponjaert, I, Van Hall, E.V. & Golombok, S. (1997) Donor Insemination: Child Development and Family Functioning in Lesbian Mother Families. Human Reproduction, Vol. 12, No. 6, 1349-1359.

The sexual orientation of parents does not harm the self-esteem of their children.
Hugins, S.L. (1989) A Comparative Study of Self-Esteem of Adolescent Children of Divorced Lesbian Mothers and Divorced Heterosexual Mothers. Homosexuality and the Family.

The sexual orientation of parents does not harm their children’s ability to form healthy relationships.
Chan, R.W. (1998) Division of Labor Among Lesbian and Heterosexual Parents: Associations with Children’s Adjustment, Journal of Family Psychology, Vol.12 No. 3 (402-419).

The parenting skills of lesbian and gay parents are found to be the same as those of heterosexual parents.
Bigner, J.,Jacobsen, R.B., Miller, J.A. (1981) Journal of Homosexuality, Vol7 No. 1 49- 56.


Gay and Lesbian Parents in the United States are a reality. Because they can not assume the responsibilities and rights associated with marriage, Gay and Lesbian families are in turn left in a legal limbo. Family members in same-sex households are often viewed as legal strangers in the eyes of the law. This fact is precisely why today’s debate on same-sex marriage is completely misguided and irresponsible. Our nation must address and should focus its energies on how we extend rights and pro tections to same-sex households instead of how we should further discriminate against this segment of the American population.


The turn out wasn't so great, but it was well worth going!!!

Please, go out and register to vote. I got ERG to register!!