Posted on 11/19/2006 7:16:53 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
Gay couples can't legally get married in Texas, but they are allowed to raise children. It's controversial, but very common — especially in San Antonio.
Census numbers show the city has a higher percentage of gay couples raising kids than any other city in the United States.
"We've chosen to have these children because we can't have them naturally," Andy Sutherland-Trevino said.
Nothing is stopping Andy Sutherland-Trevino from being a parent. He's fostered 21 children, adopted four and is in the process of adopting another child.
"People ask me, 'How do you do it,' and I just say, 'We just do. We just do,'" Andy Sutherland-Trevino said.
Andy is gay and raising these kids with his partner, Mark Sutherland-Trevino.
"They call me daddy and call Andy tata," Mark Sutherland-Trevino said.
The Sutherland-Trevinos share a hyphenated last name, a house on San Antonio's West Side and custody of their children.
"We come home from school, the kids do homework, eat dinner, have baths, the kids go to bed, and we do bedtime stories. There's nothing different. The only difference is we're two guys," Mark Sutherland-Trevino said.
Two men or two women raising children is not that uncommon anymore, according to a study in the Gay and Lesbian Atlas.
San Antonio has the highest percentage of gay couples raising kids, based on population. The 2000 census reports that 36 percent of same-sex couples here have children.
"That actually means that there's nearly 1,100 same-sex couples raising probably about 2,000 children in San Antonio," said Gary Gates, the study's author.
Gates is not surprised by the numbers because of San Antonio's Hispanic population.
"We found that nationally, Hispanics in same-sex couples were much more likely to have children than their white counterparts," Gates said.
The Sutherland-Trevinos said the Hispanic culture is accepting and has been pro-family. They also said the San Antonio Children's Shelter isn't faith-based and encouraged them to adopt. They also said that San Antonio judges are more family-oriented.
Attorney Rosie Gonzalez is on the board of Equality Texas and says we've come a long way.
"It's a positive thing for San Antonio. I think that, nationwide, there's a message being sent that we are family-oriented," Gonzalez said.
However, that's not the message everyone in San Antonio wants to hear. Some are against the idea for moral or religious reasons. Others are against it for psychological reasons.
"I don't think they (gay people) can be the kind of parents that a child needs. They may need that for themselves, but I question whether the child would have a valuable experience with that kind of a background," said Dr. Irv Loev, a marriage and family therapist.
Loev said based on his experience, children need a traditional family environment.
"I think men and women are different, very distinctively different, and I think a child exposed to both enables them to have a better identity of who they are," Loev said.
He said he can't imagine it being healthy, especially for the little girls being raised by two male parents, without a female influence in the home.
"Teaching the child puberty. I think them raising a female child would be very difficult," Loev said.
His other concern is the children might not fit in well at school. The Sutherland-Trevinos share that concern.
"One of our children was being taunted and picked on, but he was strong and said, 'My parents love me,'" Andy Sutherland-Trevino said.
Even with the criticism, Mark and Andy Sutherland-Trevino said they wouldn't have it any other way.
"We didn't mean to have seven children. We were just blessed with seven," Andy Sutherland-Trevino said.
Currently, the Sutherland-Trevinos have four adopted children and are adopting another child in December. They also care for two foster kids.
The study showed that gay couples with children are raising two kids on average.
And while San Antonio ranks first for gay couples raising kids, Houston comes in fourth, and Fort Worth and Arlington rank fifth.
But if we say it's unnatural....
i just heard about a new childrens book titled "and tango
"makes three". apparently, it's about two gay male penguins who
"adopt" a baby penguin. the story is loosly based on a pair of
male penguins at some zoo in the u.s. ~ not sure what zoo tho.
Welcome to San Maricon
Sure -- eventually everyone will be gay.
All that is needed is for several sucessive genrations of children to be raised by gays.
Doesn't that just want to make you go ga-ga?
Leni
And I thank God for my Mom and Dad (God rest their souls).
Little by little the queers are getting what they want. Because the rest of us are shrugging our shoulders.
There is a book which at present is causing some controversy in a childrens' library in Illinois. The title of the volume is, "And Tango makes Three". It is about a baby penguin being raised by two gay penguins. One of the reasons given for not removing the book from the library is the school district doesn't want to show any bias against another group.
Do they really have gay penguins in Illinois?
I wonder...is God getting fed up?
Especially penguins!
They found an abandoned egg and cared for it until the chick hatched and was able to live on its own. Then they both went and took female mates.
Gay ping!
Now, I don't know for sure if this is true in Texas, but other states PAY for foster and newly adopted former foster children. This is a profit center for many people who are not parental but want an income so they can stay at home. They "qualify" for fostering children but do not want to be a parent although cannot make that kind of money in the workplace. SAD and I am sad for the children in this story.
Is God getting fed up is a question I ask myself on a daily basis.My best guess would have to be yes,and I'm afraid He's going to do something about the state of the world and soon.
Well, that'll be the last generation. What children will then be raised?
I thought everything done by liberals was done "foooor the chiiiildren." I wonder how the chiiiildren will feel once they realize that they are second choices. Ideally, an adopting parent would tell his/her kids, "We chose you." OR "We needed you."
Maybe I'm off-track here; but this public statement bothered me.
"Yippie-ki-oh-K-Y..."
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