Same same BUT different [v 2.0]

Page 1

DensityDesign Research Lab

SAME

SAME

BUT DIFFERENT

Mapping the online controversy over lgbt parenting

TEAM › › › ›


[version 2.0] Work made during the integrated

Faculty

Teaching assistants

Ciuccarelli Paolo Fattore Marco Mandato Stefano Ricci Donato

Matteo Azzi Michele Mauri Azzurra Pini Giorgio Uboldi


Index

0

Intro › › › › ›

1

From statements › › › › › ›

2

3

Query design Words mean by themselves Building the corpus Befining lgbt parenting Quick glossary Findings

15 20 22 24 26 28 34

35

› › › › ›

36 38 40 42 44

Seven macro actors The level of the debate A minority against the minorities Different priorities, different behavior Findings

From actors

To network

Up to the network The form of the debate A different overture to dialogue A prime role in the debate Similar even in relations Other’s macro actor networks Findings

From network › › › › › › › › › ›

5

To debate

4 6 8 8 9

From debate To actors

› › › › › › ›

4

Lgbwhat?! Lgbt parenting Research question Research methodology Research protocol

To cosmos

45 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 59

Pro ask for right Neutral lie in between Contra conuts on research From priorities to details Children growth & outcomes Parents abilities & rights Family structures & impacts Legal recognition & acceptance Scientific research references Findings

60 62 68 74 76 78 80 82 84 86

To cosmopolitics

87

From cosmos

› 30 years on: an enduring controversy › Findings

88 96

Table of contents

97

3


Lgbwhat?! Acknowledgements needed

L.G.B.T. is an initialism used to refer collectively to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and queeridentified people. Variations that are sometimes used include but are not limited to - adding “Q” for queer or questioning, “I” for intersex, or “A” for asexual. While LGBT is often used as a short way to refer to a variety of demographic groups, LGBT individuals themselves usually identify by other labels (such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer), or by no label at all.

Sexual Identity of each of us mature and is structured on the basis of an interaction between key components of our life as human beings. We can identify four of them:

so The initialism is an acronym intended to emphasize a diversity of sexual and gender identity-based cultures or groups and is sometimes used to refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual. (Wikipedia)

source:


Intro

1

1 Biological Sex refers to a person’s biological status and is typically categorized as male, female, or intersex (i.e., atypical combinations of features that usually distinguish male from female). There are a number of indicators of biological sex, including sex chromosomes, gonads, internal reproductive organs, and external genitalia.

3 Gender Identity refers to one’s sense of oneself as primarly male, female, or transgender (American Psychological Association, 2006). When one’s gender identity and biological sex are not congruent, the individual may identify as transsexual or as another transgender category (cf. Gainor, 2000).

2

3

4

2 Gender Role refers to the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a given culture associates with a person’s biological sex. Behavior that is compatible with cultural expectations is referred to as gender-normative; behaviors that are viewed as incompatible with these expectations constitute gender non-conformity.

4 Sexual Orientation refers to the sex of those to whom one is sexually and romantically attracted. Categories of sexual orientation typically have included attraction to members of one’s own sex (homosexuals), attraction to members of the other sex (heterosexuals), and attraction to members of both sexes (bisexuals). While these categories continue to be widely used, research has suggested that sexual orientation does not always appear in Shiveley & DeCecco, 1977) In addition, some research indicates that sexual (e.g., Diamond, 2007; Golden, 1987; Peplau & Garnets, 2000).

5


Parenting is the condition of supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. It refers so, to the aspects of raising a child aside from the biological relationship. (Wikipedia)

I

f we normally convey as a parent to be a condition depending by the biological relationship between two heterosexual persons which give birth to a child, we might even say that in the nowaday global society, parenting can be seen as a voluntary role which is chosen and which can be avoided. In many cases, children can receive parental care from non-parent blood relations, they may be

adopted or raised in foster care. Parenting can be considered so as a role, with skills and duties to be expected. But what about rights? Is it a right to be parents? If we try to give an answer, we might feel how culture and ethics make us hesitate. What if we focus on a community as lgbt people, well-known for being subject of stigma and discrimination worldwide?

Lgbt Parenting

Lgbt parenting refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender or intersex people parenting one or more children. This includes children raised by:

Same-sex couples

Single lgbt parents

Opposite-sex couple where at least one partner is lgbt


Intro

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people can nowadays become parents through various means:

1 233

Current of former relationship

out of

Coparenting Adoption

CHILDREN

under the age of 18 in United States comes from a same-sex couple

Donor insemination

source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 American Community Survey

Surrogacy

W

On one hand some researchers show that lesbian and gay

still debates over the impact of same-sex parents on children and the sociocultural sense of family.

heterosexual parents, and their children are as psychologically healthy and well-adjusted as children reared by heterosexual parents. On the other hand, some opponents argue that children needs the different role of a father and a mother to raise psychologically healthy.

e can refers to some outcome, even considering the possibility for lgbt people to elude the evidence cause of the fear of the discrimination. It is so an already known phenomenon, even studied by

W

hat we are interested to understand is how people react to the controversial question of lgbt parenting: What are the dinamics of the online debate on the web? How do people deal with this scientific both cultural matter of lgbt parenting?

7


Research Question

Is it right for lgbt people to have children?

Five passages to build the structure of the research. To guide the narration through a step-by-step in deep protocol, with the aim of analyze every aspect related to the research question.

Research Methodology The cartographic chain

A

fter a preliminary analysis on the topic and settled the research question, the project questions as being able and contextualize the topic itself. This research methodology, called cartographic chain, such have the aim to map as entirely as possible a controversy and it allows to represent the complexity of social debates

through an original visualization device, developed as a multilayered toolkit to trace and aggregate information. While facing a research on the world wide web, we adopted a variety of digital tools and procedures for humanities, such as added an essential component of manual choices, fundamental for the gap which automatic procedures cannot deal with.

1

From statements To debate

2

From debate To actors

3

From actors To network

4

From network To cosmos

5

From cosmos To cosmopolitics


Intro

Research protocol 1 From statements input

To debate

procedures

tools

a

Initial exploration of the topic

b

b

QUERIES

Gathering urls

› lgbt parenting › children in

same sex family

output

a

› google.com › wikipedia.org › google trend

b

› google scraper

a

Research question definition

b

200 URLS

settings: R5google.com

R first 100 results

c

c

200 URLS

Manual cleaning unrelated urls

d

d

Wikipedia url lgbt parenting

Wikipedia link analysis

c

CORPUS 1 183 URLS

d Gathering links

› link ripper

Manageing data

› excel

Broad visualization

› raw

d

Conceptual Map d

Glossary

Refinition

› adobe illustrator

9


Research protocol 2 From debate To actors input

procedures

e

CORPUS 1 183 URLS

e

Tagging and categorizing after reading › macro actor › position › interest › entity › content › geolocation

f

FINAL CORPUS 1 183 URLS

tools

e Manual processing Managing data

› macro actor › position › role › entity › geo location › content

e

FINAL CORPUS 1 183 URLS

› excel

f

Visualizing categories

output

f Broad visualization

› raw

Manual refining

› adobe illustrator

f

Visualizations


Intro

Research protocol 3 From actors To network input

procedures

g

g

FINAL CORPUS 1 183 URLS

Triangulation 2 list of urls per query

tools

output

g

› DMI triangulation

g

CORPUS 2 204 URLS

21 common host added to the corpus

h

h

CORPUS 2 204 URLS

Crawling

h Managing crawl

› HYPHE

h

CORPUS 2 (CRAWLED) Visualization 3126 Nodes

settings: R5Depth 1

R distance 0

i

i

CORPUS 2 (CRAWLED) Visualization 3126 Nodes

Manual cleaning unrelated urls Manual tagging and host blending urls from same host

i Managing data

› GEPHI › excel

i

FINAL CORPUS 2 283 Nodes

› macro actor › position

l

l

FINAL CORPUS 2 283 Nodes

Visualizing networks › macro actor › position

l Visualizing network

› GEPHI

l

Visualizations

filters: R5Degree > 2

R indegree > 1

11


Research protocol 4 From networks To cosmos input

procedures

m

m

TEXTUAL CONTENT 202 doc.txt

Semantic analysis docs grouped per position › pro › neutra › contra

n

TF graphic flows

tools

m Elaborating data

› SVEN

parameters: R5tf

n Manual processing

› adobe illustrator

o

TERM CORPUS 1

Cleaning biased terms

Manual processing

Categoring related terms

› Excel

p

FINAL TERM CORPUS 1

Visualizing sub issues taxonomy

q

q

FINAL TERM CORPUS 1

Visualizing macro actors argumentations

TERM CORPUS 1

TF graphic flows

o

P

m

m

R corpus

n

Visualizing main issues

output

o

Data managing

p Broad visualization

› raw

n

Visualizations

o

FINAL TERM CORPUS 1

P

Visualizations

Manual refining

› adobe illustrator q Reading processing Data managing

› Excel

Manual refining

› adobe illustrator

q

Visualizations


Intro

Research protocol 5 From cosmos To cosmopolitics input

procedures

r

r

QUERY

Gathering urls

› lgbt parenting

each year available on google TREND (2004-2013)

tools

output

r

› google scraper settings: R5google.com

s

HISTORY CORPUS 1 500 URLS

Manual tagging and categorizing

Manual processing

› geolocation

Manual processing

t

TEXTUAL CONTENT 30 PDF

Semantic analysis 3 pdf grouped per year keeping the 2 most used terms BUT most common

u

u

TEXTUAL CONTENT 30 PDF

Semantic analysis 3 pdf grouped per year

Common term list 20 terms

keeping the 20 most used terms

HISTORY CORPUS 1 500 URLS 30 PDF

R first 50 results R first 3 pdf

s

t

r

s

Managing data

s

HISTORY CORPUS 2 500 URLS

› excel

› adobe illustrator

t Elaboration data

› tag cloud cen. Managing data

s

Visualizations

t

Common term list 20 terms

› excel

u Elaboration data

› tag cloud gen. Managing data

› excel

Manual processing

› adobe illustrator

u

Single year list 10 years 20 terms u

Visualizations

13



What is the preliminary overview over lgbt parenting? T

1

From statements To debate

he lgbt parenting controversy, as well as presenting a complex mix of

it might be really hard for the not experts to fully understand the issue so that he’d be able to better understand the issue itself, and better understand the relations between factors meaningful for the debate. We did what any unexpert with an internet connection would do to clarify its mind: type in on Google. We aimed to understand how the issue is perceived and talked internationally, from the most global point of view, so we went for Google.com using english language.

data collecting TOOLS › google search › dmi google scraper › dmi link ripper data managing TOOLS › google spreadsheet/excel data visualizing TOOLS › raw.densitydesign › adobe illustrator

15


1

From statements To debate

Children of same-sex parents are healthier, families closer than straight-parent families. tracy miller for dailynews.com, June 2013

Junk Science

Targets Lesbian and Gay Couples. human rights campaign (hrc)

informing about a heavily-criticized study by sociologist Mark Regnerus, 2013

I am against homosexuality

and so were the Nazis. This is why I am wearing this uniform.

Nelson, student wearing a Nazi uniform during a demonstration against same-sex marriage in Taipei, December 2013

Well, in New York State we’re a family, but federally we’re not. andrew solomon talking about legal issues concerning lgbt families in

the U.S., April 2012

Study: Children of Same-Sex Parents Much Less Likely to Graduate From High School. NAPP NAZWORTH for christianpost.com, April 2012

Children with gay parents have ‘significantly better’ general health and greater family cohesion. dailymail.co.uk, June 2013


A weapon in Two dads the marriage wars, are better dressed up as than none. academic discourse. Familyscholar.Org, September 2012

Gay parents may be the best parents. stephanie pappas, Senior Writer at livescience, March 2013

paul cogan about Mark Regnerus’ controversial ‘New Family Structures Study’, November 2013

Christian School Boots Kids With Gay Parents For Failing ‘Biblical Moral Code’. Camille Beredjick for pahteos.com, November 2013

Kids of gay parents fare worse, study finds, but draws fire from experts. RYAN JASLOW for cbsnews.com, June 2012

Parenting is not easy even if you are a superhero.

Children in same sex families less apt to graduate than in mom-dad intact families.

Claims by an educational video on LGBT parenting, July 2013

Lois M. Collins for DeseretNews.com, October 2013

17


1

From statements To debate

World’s largest study on gay parents finds the kids are more than all right KATIE MCDONOUGH for salon.com, June 2013

Yet Another New Study: Children with Same-Sex Parents Fare Worse Maggie Gallagher for nationalreview.com, October 2013

Gay Parents As Good As Straight Ones. rick barlow for bu.ed, November 2013

The child can never be conceived by mistake. The amount we have to go through to make it happen - financially, legally and socially - for me, it feels like, that child is so wanted. the guardian, April 2012

I’m not the mum, but I am the mum. patricia moreno about carrying a

child conceived through IVF using her partner’s eggs and donor sperm, April 2012

the demand to view same-sex parenting as ”normal” imposes a silence on children about the wound caused by the loss of one parent or the other. Robert Oscar Lopez for the publicdiscourse.com,

July 2013


Canada Study: Kids in Gay Families

Hampered in School. thenewamerican.com, October 2013

There is no such thing as a

traditional family

anymore.

Say 55 percent of americans, according to a poll study conducted by The Oxygen Network, April 2013

Let

Love

Where is the ‘B’ in LGBT parenting? Title of a scientific paper on LGBT parenting, 2013

Social science research shows that children do best when raised by their own biological mother and father who are committed to one another in a life-long marriage. The family research council, October 2013

Not all children raised by gay parents support gay marriage: I should know, I’m one of them. ROBERT OSCAR LOPEZ for lifesitenews.com, October 2013

Define Family.

Gay Parents Are Like ‘5-Year-Olds Who Think They Can Drive Cars’.

hrc on lgbt adoption and foster

apostole paul david rodgers, while participating in a protest against

care, November 2012-July 2013

same-sex marriage in Illinois, October 2013

19


Query design For building a corpus that would comprehend different position over the theme and the presence of different kind of actors we might work on synonyms meaning the same concept, but with different connotations.

S

to the research method, it occurred us to think that we would have found an heterogeneous range of opinions and statements over the issue of lgbt presence in Wikipedia of controthere are various debates over different aspects on the theme. lgbt parenting itself, just intuitively exploring what could be the in opinions that we expected to obtain: we collected just a little number of contrary opinions, and many of the websites just included logistics and technical informations for lgbt communities and services. An interesting thing that emerged instead, was the presence in the content online of different words seemed to referring to the same concept, but with different cultural connotations.

We found out that for building a corpus that would comprehend different position over the theme and the presence of different kind of actors we might work on synonyms meaning the same concept, but with different connotations. Another signal we perceived from the results by online journalism and members Wikipedia itself, was an high interest for the field of childhood and the effects of the lgbt parenting over children outcomes. The second query then automatically became children in same sex family, so that completing the dark side of the debate would give us a wide perception of the controversy. By facing the results, we obtained looking for, so that we could start analysing and mapping the results.

Many opinions, many synonyms


1

From statements

To debate

Gay parents have healthier and less argumentative children. emman inner for dailynews.co.uk, June 2013

Same sex couples: child abuse?

Robert Oscar Lopez for the publicdiscourse.com, July 2013

S

ince it might be obvious to comment the statements as being almost surprised by the heterogeneous results, it is curious to consider how they are so different between them. It might seems that they come from really different cultures. As it might actually be, since we can see how the emphasis of tones suggest a range of opinions which in some cases have the form of beliefs and stereotypes. We found loads of URLs focused on children health and outcomes, such as many times we found titles referring to studies. This might give us a good overview on the debate we’re going to face. 21 23


Words means by themselves understand how we name things, words tell us deeply what we actually means by using them.

The initialism lgbt is an acronym intended to emphasize a diversity of sexuality and gender identity-based cultures and is sometimes used to refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual. Until the sexual revolution of the sixties of the twentieth century there were no words to describe generally known members of these groups who do not have a derogatory meaning. With the organization of the people for their sexual rights has needed a term that expresses who they were intergally, without discriminatons. Lgbt mens respect for all. This doesn’t mean that who doesn’t use this word for facing all the sexual and gender-based differences also doesn’t respect them, but for sure it means that they don’t pay the same sensible attention that those minorities are asking for. In fact, the lgbt term, also used in more intergral forms as lgbti (also considering intersexuals) or lgbtq (also considering queer people), has been taken in use from international organisations, both intergovernatives or not, and it is also used from research community referring to the minority group of nonheterosexuals.

Usually we also face the term gay with which most people doesn’t refer only to homosexual men, but all the group of homosexual people, so again referring to a sexual orientation-based difference by the heterosexuals. When used in this case, we didn’t intentions, but maybe the consciousness of bringing attention to something using a more controversial word. In fact, it seems it is equally used in titles, even when the content itself talk generally about lgbt people. Also the term same sex is usually used in the same way, not for gaining attention to some online content using the cultural taboo effect, but instead referring to the general minority group of the sexual orientationbased diverse. It apparently seems that who oppose lgbt parenting prefer to use this word. In any case, it is so rare that trans and intersex people have the same attention in terms, seeming to be a minority inside a minority.

The word parenting is mostly used as a technical term, or better, as expressing a condition, so is usually not culturally connotating anything particular and can be used both to talk about the role of the parents and the relation itself between them and the children. Family insted, is totally a cultural term, used both to refers to a common conventional idea, the idea of “how things must go”, an idea to defend for any reason; and then it is used talking even about a group emotionally tied in life. The use of the term then, also change by country and country, as by culture and culture. Then we faced two other terms not directly related to the parenting itself, but normally used to refers to a state, or relationship. It came up many times that couples and households are words more used by opponents the lgbt parenting, in relation to the presence of children within the “house”, as they prefer to talk about cohabitation instead of family.


1

From statements

To debate

Parenting Lgbt Couples Gay Households Same sex Family

A

lthough the not apparent complementarity of the two used queries, we menaged having in the corpus different opposed positions, which apparently use different words referring to the theme. The two emerged groups seems to have also different priorities: while who opposes lgbt parenting seems having as prior argumentation the health and the outcomes of children, who doesn’t, argue instead with a different range of interests, as legal rights and empowerment, parenting techniques and metodologies, marriage and relationship recognition, and aswell the children growth.

23


Building the corpus Once collected the ulrs and the results of the research, we built an integral corpus, for starting a deep analysis on the debate. The main effort went in defining the categories.

200

183

gathered from both queries

after cleaning

URLs

URLs

O

nce chosen 2 different queries for obtaining a wide range of results ( lgbt parenting and children in same sex family ), we faced up 200 URLs, that had been necessary to clean from the irrelevant results for the prior analysis, such as social networks. The URLs then became 183, within which there are only 2 URLs in common: one is the wikipedia.org page referring to lgbt parenting, which was for us the about the same theme. Then the other was a page from howstuffworks.com, arguing the myths and stereotypes over lgbt parenting. It might not be that meaningful, but by interpreting the fact, it is pretty curious to observe how the outcomes tell us that it’s necessary, while talking about lgbt parenting to face The cleaned URLs which we discarded from the corpus can be found in a list besides. Once we cleaned the corpus, we addressed all our attention in what we can say is one of the most tricky categories inherent relevant datas: the voice expressed throug the url, considered as actors (but not intending it as a single entity or host) and the content, or what the voices talk about, then we have datas on the URLs itself. Once settled the qualities analysis and investigation.

2

URLs

in common from both queries

First, we browsed quickly all the 183 URLs and the relative “about� page and we assigned 2 different tags each: one referring the role of the voices, depending by the kind of work the actors undertake; the other relatively their entity, their authority from a hierarchy point of view. By role we was meant to identify the interest the actors take in the debate depending by their aim itself. The entity instead, tell us the authority of the actors depending by their structure and it is referred to their position in relation to other actors themselves, determined by the extent of their communicative action. Then, we compared both tags and, as we expected, we realized that there were a congruency between them. So we then combined both tags as for obtain the main category of macro-actors name the groups themselves. If we faced any bias in combining tags in the main category, the interest always guided up further, clarifying our mind, as our priority was to understand the role of the macro actors. Then, by reading the entire content, issue discussed in the content itself, and the position that the voice expressed referring to lgbt parentng.


1

From statements

To debate

Common urls › wikipedia.org/lgbt_parenting › howstuffworks.com/gay-parenting-myths

Unrelated urls › Google › Facebook › Twitter › Youtube › Vimeo › Pinterest › Tumblr › Amazon › Prezi › Meetup

Categories url › Ranking › Query › Domain

voice › Macro-actor name › Position › Role › Entity › Geo

content › Interest

25


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gbt parenting comprehend many complex information that would prove the expertize of anyone which is not used to daily talk about it. First of all it is a theme so wide and heterogeneous that request a multidiplinary approach: laws, human studies, ethics and so on. Then, even if evolving, our society doesn’t put us in the position to deal with the issue with ease. Then again, such for the general inexperience over lgbt issues, we might face an amount of terms which we might not fully understand. For giving the reader the chance to have an overview on the needed knowledge, also considering that the lgbt parenting page of Wikipedia is a common link in both queries, and also the URLs, we assumed that it might be meaningful to explore its structure. Then, to illustrate a glossary useful to quickly catch the sense of related

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If knowledge lies in the relations between things, then knowledge lies in links . What does the links on Wikipedia means? They represent what you need to know, or at least someone suppose you need to know, for fully understand an issue.

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358 LINKS

for further research and related content 27


Quick Glossary Adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person’s biological or legal parent or parents, and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities, along with or parents. Unlike guardianship or other systems designed for the care of the young, adoption is intended to effect a permanent change in status and as such requires societal recognition, either through legal or religious sanction. Contemporary adoption practices can be open or closed. Open adoption allows identifying information to be communicated between adoptive and biological parents and, perhaps, interaction between kin and the adopted person. The practice of closed adoption (aka has not been the norm for most of modern history, seals all identifying information, maintaining it as secret and preventing disclosure of the adoptive parents’, biological kins’, and adoptees’ identities. See also

› Lgbt adoption › Step adoption › Joint adoption

Artificial insemination deliberate introduction of sperm into a female’s uterus or cervix for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility

treatment. assisted reproductive technology and insemination techniques available include intracervical insemination and intrauterine insemination. The insemination are heterosexual couples suffering from male infertility, lesbian couples and single women.[1] Intracervical insemination (ICI) is the easiest and most common insemination technique and can be used in the home for self-insemination without medical practitioner assistance.[2] Compared to natural insemination (i.e., insemiinsemination can be more expensive and more invasive, and may require professional assistance. There are laws in some countries which restrict and regulate who can donate sperms and who is able to consequences of such insemination. Subject to any regulations restricting who can obtain donor sperms, donor sperms are available to all women who, for whatever reason, want or need them. Some women living in a jurisdiction which does not permit travel to another jurisdiction which permits it. See also

› Assisted reproductive techniques › Sperm donation

Assisted Reproductive Techniques Assisted reproductive technology (ART) are methods used to achieve technology used primarily for infertility treatments, and is also known as fertility treatment. Some forms of ART are also used with regard to fertile couples for genetic reasons (preimplantation genetic diagnosis). ART is also used for couples who are discordant for certain communicable diseases; for example, AIDS to reduce the risk of infection when a pregnancy is desired.


1 Examples of ART include in vitro fertilization, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), cryopreservation and intrauterine insemination (IUI). There ART; its usage mainly belongs to the and infertility. Related terms

› Fertility treatment › Artificial insemination See also

› Donor insemination › In vitro fertilization › Surrogacy

Bisexual/Bisexuality Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior toward both males and females, and may also encompass romantic or sexual attraction to people of any gender identity or to a person irrespective of that person’s biological sex or gender, which is sometimes termed pansexuality. Related terms

› Bi › Bisex

Co-parenting Describes a parenting situation where the parents are not in a marriage, cohabitation or romantic relationship with one another. Concerning lgbt parenting there are usually between two and four adults who want to conceive and parent a child together. This could include: › a lesbian couple and a single man; › a single woman and a gay couple; › a lesbian and a gay couple. Co-parenting might conceive both the biological aspect of being a parent or just the attitude to raise a child. A co-parent is different from a known donor as he or she will play a more involved parental role in the child’s life. Related terms

› Elective parenting

Discrimination Discrimination is action that denies social participation or human rights to categories of people based on prejudice. This includes treatment of an individual or group based on their actual or perceived membership in a certain group or social category, “in a way that is worse than the way people are usually treated”.

Donor insemination Is a form of third-party conception that involves the use of cryobanked (frozen through cryopreservation) donor sperm to achieve pregnancy. The sperm is inserted directly into a woman’s uterus at the time of ovulation. DI is most commonly used by heterosexual couples where the male partner has fertility issues, by single women and by lesbian couples. Donor sperm can be obtained through a self-recruited known donor or an anonymous donor from a sperm bank.

From statements

To debate

a “foster parent”. The placement of the child is usually arranged through the government or a social-service agency. Foster care is one option for a samesex couple to enjoy the parenting experience.

Gay Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. In modern language, it refers to the people, especially to homosexual males - so males who express romantic or sexual attraction to other males - , and the practices and cultures associated with homosexuality. Related terms

› Homosexual › Same sex See also

› Homosexuality

Gender

See also

› Assisted reproductive techniques › Sperm donation

Elective parenting Elective coparenting - often referred to as “parenting partnerships” - may be used as a choice by individuals seeking to have children, who do not wish to enter into a conventional relationship. Such arrangements are common among gay and lesbian parents. Such relationships may be established among friends, or by use of certain websites or advertising media. Related terms

› Co-parenting

Foster care Is the term used for a system in which a minor who has been placed into a ward, group home, or private home of

Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to, and differentiating between, masculinity and femininity. Depending on the context, these characteristics may include biological sex (i.e. the state of being male, female or intersex), sex-based social structures (including gender roles and other social roles), or gender identity. Related terms

› Sex

Gender identity Gender identity is a person’s private sense, and subjective experience, of their own gender. This is generally described as one’s private sense of being a man or a woman, consisting primarily of the acceptance of membership into a category of people: male or female. All societies have a set of gender categories that can serve as the basis of the formation of a social identity in relation to other members of society. In most societies, there is a basic division between gender 29


attributes assigned to males and females. In all societies, however, some individuals do not identify with some (or all) of the aspects of gender that are assigned to their biological sex.

Gender role Gender role is a theoretical construct involving a set of social and behavioral are widely considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a roles includes attitudes, actions, and personality traits associated with a particular gender within that culture. Gender roles are predominantly considered within a family context as well as within society in general and may collectively be referred to as gender stereotypes. There is ongoing debate as to which gender differences in behavior and personality are due to innate personality of the person and which are due to cultural or social factors, and are therefore the product of socialization, or to what extent gender differences are due to biological and physiological differences. Gender roles are culture based, and while most cultures distinguish only two genders, some recognize more. Androgyny, for example, has been proposed as a third gender. See also

› Normal/Normality

Heterosexism/ Heteronormativity Is a system of attitudes, bias, and discrimination in favor of oppositesex sexuality and relationships. It can include the presumption that other people are heterosexual or that opposite-sex attractions and relationships are the only norm and therefore superior. Heterosexism as discrimination ranks gays, lesbians, bisexuals and other sexual minorities as second-class citizens with regard to various legal and civil rights, economic opportunities, and social equality in many of the world’s jurisdictions and societies. Heterosexism is often

related to homophobia. The lgbt rights movement works towards ending heterosexist discrimination. See also

› Normality › Discrimination › Homophobia

Heterosexual/ Heterosexuality Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between persons of opposite sex or gender in the gender binary. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality refers to “an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectionate, physical or romantic attractions to persons of the opposite sex”; it also refers to “a person’s sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions”. Many cultures are considered heteronormative while referring to heterosexuality as to the norm, normality, regularity, nature of humans, basing on the logic of the biological needs for procreation or referring to the norms of religions. Also, it might be considered the norm because of the perceived majority of behavior among the society. Related terms

› Hetero › Straight See also

› Sexual orientation › Heterosexism

Homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). It can be expressed as antipathy, contempt, prejudice, aversion, or hatred, may be based on irrational fear, and is sometimes related to religious beliefs.

Homophobia is observable in critical and hostile behavior such as discrimination and violence on the basis of sexual orientations that are non-heterosexual. See also

› Discrimination

Homosexual/ Homosexuality Homosexuality (from Ancient Greek meaning “sex”) is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As an orientation, homosexuality refers to “an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectionate, or romantic attractions” primarily or exclusively to people of the same sex. “It also refers to an individual’s sense of personal and social identity based on those attractions, behaviors expressing them, and membership in a community of others who share them.” Along with bisexuality and heterosexuality, homosexuality is one of the three main categories of sexual orientation within the heterosexual–homosexual continuum. While some hold the view that homosexual activity is unnatural,[6][7] research has shown that homosexuality is an example of a normal and natural variation in human sexuality and is not in and of itself a source of negative psychological effects. The most common terms for homosexual people are lesbian for females and gay for males, though gay is also used to refer generally to both homosexual males and females. The number of people who identify as gay or lesbian and the proportion of people who have cult for researchers to estimate reliably for a variety of reasons, including many gay people not openly identifying as such due to homophobia and heterosexist discrimination. Related terms

› Gay › Same sex See also

› Sexual orientation


1 › Gender › Gay › Lesbian

Human sexuality Human sexuality is the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. A person’s sexual orientation may attraction for another person. Sexuality may be experienced and expressed in a variety of ways, including through thoughts, fantasies, desires, beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviors, practices, roles and relationships, which may manifest by way of biological, physical, emotional, or spiritual aspects. See also

› Sexual orientation

Intersex Intersex, in humans and other animals, is a variation in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, or genitals that do not allow an as male or female. Such variation may involve genital ambiguity, and combinations of chromosomal genotype and sexual phenotype other than XY-male and XX-female. Intersex infants with ambiguous outer genitalia may be into a socially accepted sex category. However, this is considered controvercomes. Others may opt, in adulthood, for surgical procedures in order to align their physical sex characteristics with their gender identity or the sex category to which they were assigned at birth. Others will not become aware that they are intersex—unless they receive genetic testing—because it does not manifest in their phenotype. See also

› Third gender

In vitro fertilization Is a process by which an egg is

fertilised by sperm outside the body: in vitro. IVF has provided a means by which many couples across the world have managed to get pregnant when they would otherwise be unable to do so. IVF is a popular treatment for infertility, but is also used often by same sex couples to either get pregnant if female, or birth a child via surrogacy if male. Through IVF a lesbian couple has the option that one partner provides the eggs while the other one is carrying the pregnancy. The eggs are harvested from one partner, then fertilized in the laboratory with donor sperm, with the resulting embryos placed in the uterus of the other partner.

From statements

To debate

gay, bisexual, or transgender. To recognize this inclusion, a popular variant adds the letter Q for those who identify as queer and/or are questioning their sexual identity as LGBTQ, recorded since 1996. On the one hand, some intersex people who want to be included in LGBT groups suggest an extended initialism LGBTI. Related terms

› LGBTQ, LGBTQI, GLBT › Lgbt movement See also

› Sexual orientation › Gender identity

See also

› Assisted reproductive techniques › Donor insemination › Surrogacy

Lesbian A lesbian is a female who expresses romantic or sexual attraction to other females, whether primarily or exclusively, or a female who self-

Lgbt adoption Refers to the adoption of children by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. This may be in the form of a joint adoption by a same-sex couple, adoption by one partner of a same-sex couple of the other’s biological child (step-parent adoption) and adoption by a single lgbt person. Lgbt adoption is currently legal in 14 countries and in some territories. Related terms

Related terms

› Homosexuality › Same sex

LGBT LGBT is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/transexual. In use since the 1990s in reference to the community beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, as many felt the term gay community did not accurately represent all those to whom it referred. The initialism has become mainstream as a self-designation and has been adopted by the majority of sexuality and gender identity-based community centers and media in the United States and some other English-speaking countries. The initialism LGBT is intended to emphasize a diversity of sexuality and gender identity-based cultures and is sometimes used to refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual instead of exclusively to people who are lesbian,

› Step adoption › Joint adoption

Lgbt movement Since the end of the 19th century, there has been a global movement towards increased visibility, recognition, and legal rights for homosexual people, including the rights to marriage and civil unions, adoption and parenting, employment, military service, equal access to health care, and the introduction of anti-bullying legislation to protect gay minors. See also

› Rights

Normality Normality is the state of being normal. 31


Behaviour can be normal for an individual when it is consistent with the most common behaviour for that person. Normal is also used to describe individual behaviour that conforms to the most common behaviour in society of normality vary by person, time, place, and situation – it changes along with changing societal standards and norms. Normal behaviour is often only recognized in contrast to abnormality. In its simplest form, normality is seen as good while abnormality is seen as bad. Someone being seen as “normal” or “not normal” can have included, excluded or stigmatized by larger society.

Queer Queer is an umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities that are not heterosexual, or gender-binary. Originally meaning strange or peculiar,queer developed a usage as a pejorative term for homosexual in the late 19th century. Beginning in the late 1980s, some political and social lgbt groups began to reappropriate the word to establish community and assert a political identity, with it becoming the preferred term to describe some academic disciplines and gaining use as a descriptor of non-heterosexual identities. Queer may be used by those who reject traditional gender identities as a broader, less conformist, and deliberately ambiguous alternative to lgbt. The term is now used in the name of some academic disciplines, such as queer theory, to denote a general opposition to binary thinking. Queer arts, queer cultural groups, and queer political groups are examples of expressions of queer identities. Criticisms of queer include those who associate the term with its pejorative usage and those who associate it with political radicalism. See also

› LGBT

Rights

is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory. Rights are of essential importance in such disciplines as law and ethics, especially theories of justice and deontology. Rights are often considered fundamental to civilization, being regarded as established pillars of society and culture,[2] and the history of social of each right and its development. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “rights structure the form of governments, the content of laws, and the shape of morality as it is currently perceived.” There is considerable disagreement about what is meant precisely by the term rights. It has been used by different groups and thinkers for different purposes, with different and beyond having something to do with normative rules of some sort or another, is controversial.

Sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring personal quality that inclines people to feel romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generally subsumed underheterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality, while asexuality (the lack of sexual attraction to others) is sometimes The demographics of sexual orientaa lack of reliable data. However, the history of human sexuality shows that attitudes and behaviour have varied across cultures. The considerable “nature and nurture” debate exists over whether predominantly biological or psychological factors produce sexual orientation in humans. Candidate factors include genes, the exposure of fetuses to certain hormones (or lack thereof) and environmental factors. The APA people believe that sexual orientation

Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that

orientation develops across a person’s

lifetime”, a reversal from the recent past, when non-normative sexuality was considered a deviancy or mental ailment treatable through institutionalization or other means. See also

› Asexuality › Bisexuality › Heterosexuality › Homosexuality

Surrogacy Or better said suggorate pregnancy, is an arrangement in which a woman carries and delivers a child for another couple or person and relinquish her parental status. This is an option for gay couples who wish to have a child together without sharing responsibility with the child’s mother. As of 2013, locations where a woman can legally be paid to carry another’s child include India, Georgia, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine and a few U.S. states. Surrogacy involves complicated legal issues. Related terms

› Surrogate pregnancy See also

› Assisted reproductive techniques › Donor insemination › In vitro fertilization

Third gender The terms third gender and third sex describe individuals who are categorized (by their will or by social consensus) as neither man nor woman, as well as the social category present in those societies who recognize three or more genders. The term “third” is usually understood to mean “other”; some anthropologists and sociologists some genders. The concepts of “third”, “fourth” and “some” genders can be within Western conceptual categories. Although biology usually determines genetically whether a human’s biological sex is male or female (though intersex people are also born), the state


1 of personally identifying as, or being neither the male or female genders is considered relative to the individual’s gender role in society,gender identity, and sexual orientation.

See also

› Intersex › Third gender › Gender identity

From statements

To debate

Related terms

› Trans See also

› Transgenderism › Gender identity

See also

› Intersex › Transgender

Transgender/ Transgenderism Transgender is the state of one’s gender identity or gender expression not matching one’s assigned sex.Transgender is independent of sexual orientation; transgender people may identify as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, etc; some may consider conventional sexual orientation labels inadequate of transgender includes: › “Of, relating to, or designating a person whose identity does not conform unambiguously to conventional notions of male or female gender roles, but combines or moves between these.” › “People who were assigned a sex, usually at birth and based on their genitals, but who feel that this is a false or incomplete description of themselves.” non-presentation as, the sex (and assumed gender) one was assigned at birth.” A transgender individual may have characteristics that are normally associated with a particular gender and identify elsewhere on the traditional gender continuum, or exist outside of it as other, agender, gender-neutral, genderqueer, non-binary, third gender, etc. Furthermore, many transgender people experience a period of identity development that includes better understanding one’s self-image, individuals feel genuine, authentic, and comfortable within their external appearance and accept their genuine identity is referred to as transgender congruence. Related terms

Transsexual/ Transsexualism Transsexualism is when an individual or not culturally associated with their assigned sex, i.e. in which a person’s their psychological gender. A medical diagnosis can be made if a person experiences discomfort as a result of a desire to be a member of the opposite gender, or if a person experiences impaired functioning or distress as Transsexual people often desire to establish a permanent gender role as a member of the gender with which they identify. Some transsexual people pursue medical interventions as part of the process of expressing their gender. These medically based, physical alterations are collectively referred to as sex reassignment therapy, and may include female-to-male or male-to-female hormone replacement therapy, or various surgeries. Transsexualism is stigmatized in many parts of the world, but it has become more widely known in Western culture since the mid to late 20th century, concurrently with the sexual revolution and the development of sex reassignment surgery (SRS). In popular culture, transsexualism is often incorand cross-dressing. Transsexualism is often included within the broader category of transgenderism, which is generally used as an umbrella term for people who do not conform to typical accepted gender roles. It includes cross-dressers, transvestites, and people who identify as genderqueer. condition in the transgender realm. Although a crossdresser and transsexpeople, their conditions differ radically.[28][29] Though some people use transgenderism and transsexualism interchangeably, they are not synonymous terms.

› Trans 33


Findings 1

From statements

To debate

S condition of parenting for lgbt people, which both seem to refer even to studies and researches and ethics; both positions apparently focus on effects of parenting, even with an heterogeneous distributions of topics; argumentations: the same concept might be expressed with different words, meaning broadly the same but with different cultural connotations; debate; it is clear anyway, from people emotional reaction, that since we’re facing strong cultural belifs and ethics, we have so emphatic tones; us how this issue is controversial and in case of condition of parenting for lgbt people, still subject of studies; used nor object of attention from the society; people is generally not to understand clearly the sense of some passages without clarify some assumption of the multiple aspects of the issue itself, which comprehend both tecnichal and multidiscplinary factors; further investigations in the next steps of the protocol.


Who are the macro-actors and what is their role in the debate?

2

From debate To actors

N

the debate and the complete dataset for starting the analysis, we can afford in investigating the controversy itself. First question to set, after been talking about the different broad positions? Who takes that position? What’s the nature of the macroactors? What are their role inside the debate? Is there any macroactor with a particular importance? What does they care by expressing their voice?

data managing TOOLS › excel data visualizing TOOLS › raw › adobe illustrator

35


Seven Macro Actors

Independent media Actors working in the field of media and journalism with the primary task of information and inquiry for the public interest.

At this point, let’s understand who take place in the debate by exploring the features of the categories and their relations from each others.

A

As explained in the previous step in the protocol, we’ve been browsing the 183 URLs and we read both the “about” part of the websites and content. qualitatively multiple questions: who talk about lgbt parenting? What’s their role and interest? What’s their authority? URLs and the dataset we built, it went automatic to try and understand who To do so, as the last moment to care the two quesies as two different sources, we considered relevant to visualise both the provenance and the amount of the outcoming macroactor category. Since we adopted the sencond query as a way for having a wide range of positions, and so for having more opponents the lgbt parenting, we can realize how the group of conservatives (which we’ll analyse furthermore), such come only from the second query itself. Then we can realize how journalists (independent media) most come from the second query, which might suggest us that they are most interested in controversial issues, as their’re probably interested in being catalysts of the debate. Another difference in macroactors’s amount by query is in activists group: as numbers suggest, they’re probably more interested in having a role of promoters of empowerment, and care more the rights of lgbt people (probably theirself) than taking part in the debate on children. As we can see through numbers, even without much difference from others, the debate is mainly speech

through newspapers and journalist media platforms, just followed by activistm websites and advicing communities. One thing that we might suppose actually, is that activists and advicing communities are two kind of macroactors so alike: both related to lgbt parenting with the aim of promotion and visibility. The main difference between them is priorly in the way they face the communication of the matter: most activists aim to empower a gap, while advicing communities aim to tell the exstistence and advice who want to become parents. Let’s say that the former refers to the “others” as addressee of their message, while the latter to members of the community of lgbt parents itself. A good importance in the debate also have the for us, since means that authoritative members intrested in sciences and education address their attention in the issue itself. Just less importance have legal actors and medical agencies, which is not a big deal, as we might suppose that they mainly appear in the results as offering a service for lgbt parenting, so probably their voice does not express a controversial position. This discourse is mainly valid for medical agencies than for legal actors.


2

Activists Actors with the aim of advocacy, promotion, empowerment and care for the rights of lgbt people.

Conservatives All those actors which politically oppose lgbt rights as one of their prioritary deals.

Lgbt parenting

Advicing org & communities

From debate

To actors

Scientific community

Actors whose purpose on the web is to share their experience and advice to the community they’re part of.

Actors which take part to the scientific debate, research and study progress: universities, institutes, etc...

Legal actors

Medical agencies

Actors providing legal attendance for lgbt people.

Actors providing medical services for lgbt people who want to become parents.

25%

Independent media

49%

Activists

Children in samesex family

21%

Advicing org & communities

21%

51% Scientific community

Conservatives Legal actors

14,5%

7% 7%

Medical agencies

4,5% 37


The level of the debate Considering the entity of the macro actors, their authority and the relative position, shall we realize what’s the level of the debate?

T

alking about the “level” of a discourse, is pretty a tricky, qualitative consideration to be allowed, but it might be also a relevant information, which maybe we can realize considering the form of the actors, the authority they have. As we can see from the graph besides, most of the actors are media, a form of popolar actor, which we might say it was pretty expected by the consistency of the matter. It appears clear how important this form of actor is, by realising that the opponents most use it by expressing their voice, such as the most frequent form for expressing the interest in ethics. The second most appeared type of actors are NGOs (non governative organisations), which as expected are the prior way for activism to express its voice, and we can even see how the position of advancement for lgbt parenting use this form, such as media platforms and then communities.

Then, another consideration is that interests for information for the minorities and logistics for local social groups are obviously expressed through communities, such again as activism. Science and education interests then are expressed through centres and institutes and publishers and mostly form through governative organisations and companies. We can say through this information that the level of the debate is pretty biased, divided through the popolarity of media platforms and communities and the authority of NGOs, universities and governative organisations. We expected to see more authoritative positions such as governative organisations and centres and institutes for being able to say that the debate is speech at an high of consciusness, but we’re anyway happy considering how low is the number of companies.


2

Macro actors per 0

10

20

30

40

From debate

To actors

entity 50

60 urls

Legend › Independent media

Media platform

› Activists

Ngo

› Advicing org & communities

Community › Conservatives

University

› Legal Actors › Medical agencies

Government Company Person Publisher

Journalism

Pro

Media platform

35%

Ngo

26%

Community

17%

65%

Activism

Information & logistics Neutra Science

Education Law Medicine Ethics Psychology

22,5% University

10%

Government

5%

Company

4,5%

Contra

Person

4,5%

12,5%

Publisher

3%

39


A minority against the minorities Two are the clear role which comes by comparing the opinions, both meaning a coherent position. The activists, with the role of promotion and the conservatives, with their socio-political aim of admonishment.

B

y analysing the positions of the macro actors, the

a minor group of opponents use mostly the media even through the authority of NGOs and education institutes. Most of neutral voices instead, have a different meaning. In case of indipendent medias, the neutral voices means they just report an event or a story without expressing any opinion about. In case of activists and advicing communities the meaning is so different: since their aim is to a point of reference for the group of lgbt people, in most cases, the neutral voice means that their’re not expressing anything, but giving logistics and information for organizing local groups activities. So they’re not meant to be neutral, they simply give useless or untreatable information for the debate itself. Same meaning has the neutral position of medical agencies, since as the alike groups before, they care to give a service for them. communities and legal actors is instead alike the indipendent journalists’ one: they report information without expressing an opinion. A consistent information comes instead from the position of conservatives, which - as politics and referents of ethics - can’t do anything else but being coherent with their political and social role.


2

Position per 0

10

20

30

From debate

To actors

entity 40

50

60 urls

Legend › Pro actors

Media platform

› Neutral actors

Ngo

› Contrary actors

Community University Government Company Person Publisher

Independent media

Activists

Advicing org & communities

Scientific community

Conservatives

Legal Actors

Medical agencies

41


Different priorities Different behaviors Independent media

Activists

Advicing org & communities Scientific community

38 Children growth

28,5 Rights empowerment


2

Two are the main broad interests of macro actors: children outcomes and rights empowerment for lgbt parenting. Two different interest for two opposed needs and orientations. The two alike promoter macro actors face the empowerment of equal rights as an assumption of the discourse, while others are mainly interested in facing the effects of the parenting condition on children.

From debate

To actors

F

or sure, we can say and verify how the effects of lgbt parenting is the most controversial theme that matters for the voices emerged in the debate. Both indipendent media and conservatives, which we know comprehend the higher amount of position opposing the lgbt parenting, use the children growht and outcomes such as phychological health and adjustment as a argumentation for facing their activity. We’re not surprised in verifying how also since of course it is their own role to study it. It is then curious to verify how it apparently might not be an ideological adversion the problem at the base of the controversy, but a divergence of assumpions, so a certain form of egoism face the worry for a possible effects which is not that easy to know for the nature of the parenting itself.

Conservatives Legal actors Medical agencies

Interest per

macroactors

Relative interest into

the corpus

16 Parenting techniques

6,5 Law

5

3 3 Marriage Family

Children discrimination 43


Findings 2

From debate To actors

S

ince in the second step of the protocol our aim was to clarify who are the categories of macro actors which took part in the debate and what’s the role, we can for sure make some considerations based on our outcomes: queries: we can realize by comparing the provenience of the categories how the whole amount of conservatives and the majority of newspapers (independent media) most come from the second query, which might suggest us that they are most interested in controversial issues; Even without much difference from others, the debate is mainly speech through independent media and media platforms in general, just followed by activistm websites mostly in form of organisations and advicing communities; advising communities. Both with mostly the same position, their main difference might be in the direction of the communication. structure of entities (which also suggest as a biased level of the debate, both with more social actors and authorities); a relevant consideration is that most opponents express mainly through media and NGOs, avoiding instead a personal position at all; URLs and analysing the positions of mostly having voice through conservatives websites and medias; conservatives, which might further be verified as two polarity of the debate. It seems that their nature and interest just mantain them coherent; most controversial and argumented theme inherent lgbt parenting. Most controversial positions (within independent media and conservatives) such talk about it, while activists and advicing communities show instead a main interest for rights empowerment, which is the second most discussed topic. All those results and conclusion are for sure our assumptions for better understand and deeper investigate in the further step in the protocol.


How are actors connected? How do they talk to each other? A

3

From actors To network

fter relizing who are the macro actors and seeing their broad interests, we can now try and understand something about their

between the actors inside their context and between them. Since the entities may contain links to other entities, we might visualize those links, as they mean relations with other actors in the network of the debate. Is there then any actors linked many times from others? So is there any hub? What’s the nature of the network? How the actors talk to each other? What’s the role of actors depending by the discussion they afford?

data collecting TOOLS › dmi triangulation › dmi issue crawler › dmi link ripper data managing TOOLS › excel › hyphe

data visualizing TOOLS › gephi › adobe illustrator

45


Up to the network It is here explained the procedures afforded for being able and visualize the network of the debate.

1

2

Triangulation

Tagging

21

183 STARTING URLS

3

Crawling

B

efore of being able and visualizing the network of actors, we faced a process for having a more meaningful representation, emphasizing the “relevance” of common host linked by the starting entities. Before of making a crawl through the Hyphe tool by Media Lab (Sciences-Po), we made a triangulation between the two lists of URLs from the different queries, and we added so 21 common entities to our corpus. The list of added entities added is visible besides. Then we checked their content and tagged them for giving them a category as type of macro actor and position. Once done that point, we proceeded to the crawl (depth 1, distance 0) and tagged again the crawled actors, only by type of actors. We then had to clean the results from urrelevant and unrelated hosts such as social networks and finally we could visualize the network through Gephi. Once on Gephi we had to make some adjustement for having a readable network. First, we merged URLs from the same host into a single entity, summing both inlinks and outlinks, so that in the network one node correspond to one single website. Then we applied a filter, so that now what we can see are entities with at least two degree connections (at least two links, both inlinks and outlinks) and at least one inlink, so that we are sure that those entities actually are part of a debate.

NEW ADDED URLs from triangulation

4

5

Tagging & Cleaning

Visualized Network in Gephi

Unrelated hosts › Google › Twitter › Facebook › Myspace › Linkedin › Slideshare › Autostrabble › Feedsburner › Stumbleupon › Tumblr › Blogger › Youtube › Vimeo › Pinterest › Addthis › Flickr › Yahoo › App › Apple › Amazon › Aol › 123greetings › Theme

› Androezrs › Reddit › Tinyurl › Imdb › W3 › Meetup › Omniture › Microsoft › Adobe › T.co › Creativecommon › Digg › Examiner › Statcounter › Cafepress › Wordpress › Instagram › Delicious › Glaad › Disqus › Addoublequick › Mozo › Domain


3

From actors

To network

Common hosts added › Colage.org › Familyequality.org › Hrc.org › Proudparenting.com › Pflag.org › Ohchr.org › Equalityhumanrights.com › Affirmation.org › Apadivision44.org › Glma.org › Growinggenerations.com › Children-matter.org › Glad.org › Lambdalegal.org › House.gov › › Baaf.org.uk › Familystructurestudies.com › Thepublicdiscourse.com › Mercatornet.com › Englishmanif.blogspot.com

Activist Activist Activist Activist Activist Activist Activist Activist Medical agency Medical agency Medical agency Legal actor Legal actor Legal actor Legal actor Legal actor Advicing org Conservative Conservative Conservative Conservative

Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Neutra Neutra Neutra Contra Contra Contra Contra

47


The form of the debate

By the relative position of the connected actors and the form of the network itself, could we understand something of the debate?

Qpocshoutouts.Com

Thespermbankofca.Org

Nclrights.Org Therainbowbabies.Com

Pink-Parenting.Com

Familyequality.Org

Equalfamily.Org

Colage.Org Growinggenerations.Com Apa.Org Hrc.Org

Stonewall.Org.Uk

Pflag.Org

Bbc.Co.Uk Itsconceivablenow.Com Wikipedia.Org

Affirmation.Org

Theguardian.Com

Lambdalegal.Org Childwelfare.Gov

Jerry-Mahoney.Com Aap.Org Newsroom.Melbourne.Edu

Abcnews.Go.Com

Hhs.Gov

Huffingtonpost.Com Examiner.Com

Nytimes.Com

Advocate.Com

Patheos.Com

Achess.Org.Au

Pinknews.Co.Uk Mercatornet.Com Freerepublic.Com

Familyscholars.Org

Familystructurestudies.Com

Thenewamerican.Com

Thepublicdiscourse.Com Cnn.Com

Catholicnewsagency.Com Foxnews.Com Sciencedirect.Com Utexas.Edu Cbsnews.Com

Austlii.Edu.Au

Catholicexchange.Com Humanrights.Gov.Au Kids.Nsw.Gov.Au


3

T he disposition of the entities in the there are two separeted clusters which tends to have not many relations to each other but that mainly communicate thanks to the independend media actors and the the separation between the two main roles or aims in the debate: the promotion and defence of lgbt rights for parenting and the relative admonishment and opposition. We even can see how the majority of the nodes concentrate between most pro actors are, and advicing communities.

From actors

To network

T

he same clustering phenomena is visible by visualizing the position of the actors, and we can again consider how they tend to connect with other actors of the same type, instead of having relations with actors with opposed positions. The clustering of neutral actors seems to have different reasons or possible interpretations: in the higher part of the network we have a group of medical agencies, while in the center are concentrated neutral members and legal actors related with activists and in bottom of the network we can see some legal actors and again one member mostly related with conservatives and independent media. In any case, a sure thing that we can realize is the huge importance of independent media and newspapers for the closure of the network and the needed relation between activists and pro actors with conservatives and opponents.

Legend › Pro actors › Neutral actors › Contrary actors › Unknown (crawled) › Independent media › Activists › Advicing org & communities › Conservatives › Legal Actors › Medical agencies

2 degree

45 degree

Network visualizing positions 49


A different overture to dialogue

By comparing networks visualizing separeted outlinks and inlinks, we can realize both a different approach to the dialogue between the type of actors and when there’s some important actor which others relate with.

A 1 2

3

C

4

5 7

B D

6

8

G

9

15

I

L

13 16

H

10 11

12

E

F

M 14

F

irst visible thing by combining the two network is that actors that link most other actors, so that have more relations in the debate, come from the higher part of the network, so are mainly pro or in some case neutral, as wikipedia (8). While in the lower part of the graph we can see how the most talkative entities are primarly three: mercatornet (11), a form of journal interested in ethics, which anyway mantain a neutral position, Familystructurestudies (12), which outcomes taking part in the debate, led by Dr. Mark Regnerus of the University of Texas; and then we have an important media platform, Thepublicdiscourse (13) present both in the outlink and the inlink network.

R

Q

N P

O

The way the former talkative actors are instead not linked at all by other actors, tell us that they’re not that authoritative in the debate, or that at least other actors are avoiding to link them. Another relevant actor present in both network is huffingtonpost (9H), an important newspaper which give voice to lgbt themselves. Another consideration is that various contra actors emerge by referring their inlinks, such as Achess.Org.Au (I), a website of an australian research on children outcomes again, and APA.Org (E), the American Psychological Association, in our case expressing a contra opinion on lgbt parenting.


3

From actors

To network

Legend › Independent media

› Pro actors

› Activists

› Neutral actors

› Advicing org & communities

› Contrary actors › Unknown (crawled)

› Conservatives

2 degree

› Legal Actors

44 degree

› Medical agencies

A 1 2

3

B

7

C

4

5

D 6

8

F

G

9

H

10

13 16

15

I

L

11 12

E

M 14 R

Outlinks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Fenwayhealth.Org Therainbowbabies.Com Pink-Parenting.Com Baaf.Org.Uk Equalfamily.Org Itsconceivablenow.Com Affirmation.Org Wikipedia.Org Huffingtonpost.com Examiner.Com Mercatornet.com Familystructurestudies.Com Thepublicdiscourse.Com Catholicexchange.Com Powerlineblog.Com Psychologytoday.Com

Q

N P

O

Inlinks A B C D E F G H I L M N O P Q R

Gayparentmag.Com Nclrights.Org Familyequality.Org Colage.Org APA.Org HRC.org Abcnews.Go.Com huffingtonpost.com Achess.Org.Au Nytimes.Com Thepublicdiscourse.Com Cnn.Com Smh.Com.Au Foxnews.Com Sciencedirect.Com Utexas.Edu

51


A prime role in the debate Since in the previous step we found two opposite roles depending by the contrary position of activists and conservatives, now we found what let them somehow express and talk to each other: independent media are the binding agent of the debate.

Independent media

T

he matter is not that without them the network wouldn’t have its closure; the matter is that journalists and newspapers have in this debate the essential role of permitting two opponent positions with nothing in common to express. Although this is for sure not the main aim of the independent media, they cover a role without which we would have two clusters with very little links in common. Now we can realize much more why they’re so various in content and positions aswell. Independent media have many connection with many different other actors. They’re connected with more relevant entities of activists such as with most important

Thestar.Com

Bbc.Co.Uk Washingtonblade.Com Theguardian.Com Thinkprogress.Com Abcnews.Go.Com Dailymail.Co.Uk Huffingtonpost.Com Examiner.Com Nytimes.Com

Deseretnews.Com

Mercatornet.Com

Healthland.Time.Com

Thenewamerican.Com Cnn.Com

Slate.Com

Cbsnews.Com

Foxnews.Com


3

From actors

To network

Familycare.Utoronto.Ca

Apa.Org

Wikipedia.Org Aap.Org Newsroom.Melbourne.Edu Ncbi.Nlm.Nih.Gov Hhs.Gov Achess.Org.Au

Familyscholars.Org

Sciencedirect.Com Psychologytoday.Com Utexas.Edu

Legend › Independent media › Activists › Advicing org & communities › Conservatives › Legal Actors › Medical agencies

Science community

A

similar role as the one covered by the independent media, is

with their work of researchers, they give both the activists and the conservatives material on wich base their position. The same material is also precious for independent media for facing their role of catalysts of information and of the debate. In the besides graph we can realize different related groups: in the center of the graph, the biggest node is wikipedia, as important reference for broad knowledge. Then two important studies on children’s outcomes are both from the University of toronto and achess.org.au. And then again in the bottom of the network, next to the conservatives, there are again studies as their sources. 53


Similar even in relations properties and behavior of activists and advising media are so alike. They cover much the same part of the network, and relate with most similar actors. Qpocshoutouts.Com

Nclrights.Org

Ourfamily.Org Lgbtqparentingconnection.Ca Proudparenting.Com

Familyequality.Org

Colage.Org

Pink-Parenting.Com

Equalfamily.Org Nashvillegayparents.Com

Hrc.Org Pflag.Org

Stonewall.Org.Uk Itsconceivablenow.Com

Affirmation.Org

Activists

A

ctivists are placed tight with the majority of the actors in the highest part of the network. They have lot of connections between communities, such as with part of the independent media. Then they also have, suprisingly, connections with conservatives. It’s the case of three actors, weak ties without which the activists wouldn’t have relations with the opponents, then so important. A consideration is that the relations with and between advicing communities, are in most cases stories: blogs and local communities that tell something about the

Jerry-Mahoney.Com

Advocate.Com

Pinknews.Co.Uk


3

From actors

To network

Thefeministbreeder.Com

Education.com

Therainbowbabies.Com

Gayfamiliesinthemaking.Wordpress.Com

Advicing org & communities

W

Legend › Independent media › Activists › Advicing org & communities › Conservatives › Legal Actors

hile activists seems to have a certain relation with the

controversy, the advising community members neighter link nor are linked by most of them: neighter conservatives not independent media. They seem to avoid the opponents, as not having much to tell them, and also are not linked by them, as they’re not that important in the debate. In fact, they mostly are communities, so without a good authority. In their corner on the top of the network, advising communities, without much many important members, only have relations with actors which give a service, aside from their brothers activists.

› Medical agencies

55


Mainstreetplaza.Com

Patheos.Com

Lifesitenews.Com

Freerepublic.Com

Familystructurestudies.Com Thepublicdiscourse.Com Worldmag.Com

Catholicnewsagency.Com Catholicexchange.Com Couragerc.Net

Conservatives

A

s we can se from the graph above, conservatives are not many in numbers but are tight in relations. They tend to relate to each other, as gathering strenght. By observing their relations, we might see how they only have relations with a certain kind of actors, such as members of endependend journalism and they take references, in many cases. Then we have, as saw before, some relation with activists, which are an important talkative community and a politician, meaning maybe that they want to relate with a certain level of authority, which we might read as a certain tendency to closure.

Glad.Org

Baaf.Org.Uk

Lambdalegal.Org Childwelfare.Gov

Thenewcivilrightsmovement.Com Splcenter.Org

Austlii.Edu.Au Powerlineblog.Com

Humanrights.Gov.Au Kids.Nsw.Gov.Au


3

Thespermbankofca.Org Fenwayhealth.Org

From actors

To network

Legend

Prideangel.Com

› Independent media

Circlesurrogacy.Com

› Activists › Advicing org & communities › Conservatives

Theafa.Com

› Legal Actors › Medical agencies

Growinggenerations.Com

Biomedcentral.Com

Legal actors

W

hile legal actors are not many in the network, by their position and relation with other actors, they are so meaningful in term of authority. It is clear how they are independent actors, which don’t need to have relations to each other, but are instead considered a relevant source for the rest of the network. It is curious to realize how they totally don’t have relations with conservatives, which might mean that there’s no real relation between law and ethics in this debate, but also that conservatives don’t need relation with legal actors for advancing their opinions.

Medical agencies

A

n opposite sense in term of needs for the communication within the debate have the mecidal agencies: they only give a service, so as we can’t expect from them any meaningful expression in the debate itself, we only can verify how they in fact mainly are linked with actors instead relevant for lgbt people.

57


Findings 3

From actors To network

T

he third step of the protocol, aimed to visualize how actors are interconnected, give us a clear and meaningful vision of the debate and the relations which take form: two main roles or aims in the debate - which see activists facing the conservatives - by the division of the relatives groups in two clusters; have a essential role for the closure and the communication within the debate itself; and seeing both their tight relation and how they give importance to the function of storytelling; can both suppose a difference in overture to dialogue, so that we can see how activists are so more talkative then conservatives, which instead only tend to have relations only with few kind of actors (independent media considered important as a source to refer to; can suppose our role in the debate itself. We already talked about the is placed besides groups for which they are a source where to gain informations for the actors’ argumentations. Legal actors might be considered independent authorities (such because they even comprehend governmental organizations) when needed to relate with. Advising communities appear as support to the action of promotion of activists. Finally, medical agencies only relate with groups which they’re aimed to offer their service to. The analysis of the networks gave us essential information for realize the mechanisms of the debate and for understand the behavior of the actors.


What are the priorities of actors while discussing on lgbt parenting?

4

From network To cosmos

H

ere it’s time to go deep in the debate, to show what actors really say about lgbt parenting, starting from their prior points of discussion and getting to details that build their opinion. The content analysis began with the collection of all the texts of our corpus, and their elaboration through Sven software. After having divided the corpus into three groups by actor position (pro, neutral, contra), Sven gave us back, for each group and for each actor inside it, the rank of the most used words, which have been considered by us as main topics inside the discussion. Starting from those big topics we formulated ten hypotetic questions, and actors answers have been extracted through a meticolous reading of all the texts. Moreover, for every question we established some sub-issues which represent a more detailed look into actors priorities. These issues came out while analysing the complete dataset that Sven gave us in the step before, but also while reading and realizing all the important points inside the discussion.

data managing TOOLS › SVEN › EXCEL data visualizing TOOLS › SVEN › raw › adobe illustrator

59


Pro ask for rights

Parents Sci 35 3O

Six radar graphs to show how pro actors are building their opinion, choosing rights and acknowledgment as priorities for their discourse.

W

e have six actors taking part of pro group, having excluded conservatives because of their opposing position to LGBT parenting. At

25

Act

Ind

20 15 10 5

Leg

Med

actors give importance mainly to parents rights and law, concerning adoption. The concept of sion, where it is also given a big importance to research references.

Adv

Research Sci 35 3O 25

Legend

Act

Ind

20

› Independent media

15

› Activists

10

› Advicing org & communities

5

› Conservatives › Legal Actors › Medical agencies Med

Leg

Adv

Most used words from

34 Parents

pro actors

19 Children


4

Children

From network

To cosmos

Family Sci

Sci 35

50

3O 40

25

Act

Ind

20

Act

Ind

30

15

20

10 10

5

Leg

Med

Leg

Med

Adv

Adv

Adoption

Law

Sci

Sci

45

35

40

3O

35

25

3O

Act

Ind

25

Act

15

15

10

10

5

5

Leg

Med

Leg

Med

Adv

18 Family

Ind

20

20

Adv

12 Research

9 Adoption

6 Law 61


Neutral lie in between Neutral actors choose the same topics as pro actors for building their opinion, but giving less proportional contrast between the topics.

Parents Sci 50 40 30 20

Adv

Ind

10

N

eutral actors stand without medical agencies and activists, which have a little voice in comparison to their pro position. They give an adding spot of importance to parents, followed by a notable reference to research, but in general they show their neutral nature by considering at almost equal levels children, law, family and adoption.

Con

Leg

Law Sci 50 40

Legend

30

› Independent media

20

Adv

› Activists

Ind

10

› Advicing org & communities › Conservatives › Legal Actors › Medical agencies

Con

Most used words from

Leg

neutral actors

29

23

Parents

Research


4

From network

To cosmos

Children

Research Sci

Sci 35

100

3O 80

25

60

20

40

Adv

Ind

15

Adv

5

Con

Con

Leg

Family

Leg

Adoption

Sci FAMILY

Sci

50

100

40

80

30

60

20

Adv

Ind

40

Adv

10

Children

Ind

20

Con

17

Ind

10

20

Leg

12 Law

Con

10 Family

Leg

9 Adoption 63


Contra count on research Contra actors choose and refer a lot on children and research as priorities for validating their opinion.

Children Con FAMI LY 50 40 30 20

Sci

Ind

10

C

onsidering a contrary position to lgbt parenting, the group of actors is build without medical agencies and activists which mainly have a pro position. Here we can see the incoming of new main issues which turn out Adv

are the main topics involved, in relation to two Douglas, which attributes worse graduation rates to children from lgbt families, who are also supposed to have worse outcomes according to Mark Regnerus study.

Leg

Parents Con FAMI LY 50 40

Legend

30

› Independent media

20

Sci

› Activists

Ind

10

› Advicing org & communities › Conservatives › Legal Actors › Medical agencies

Adv

Most used words from

26 Children

Leg

contrary actors

23 Research

All


4

Con FAMI LY

Con FAMI LY

35

60

3O

50

25

40

20

30

15

Ind

10

Sci

20

Adv

Leg

Graduation rates

Sci

23

len study

Leg

Regnerus study

Con FAMI LY

Con FAMI LY

80

80

60

60

40

40

Ind

20

Adv

Ind

10

5

Adv

To cosmos

Allen study

Research

Sci

From network

Sci

Ind

20

Adv

Leg

15 Parents

Leg

10

3 Regnerus study

Graduation rates

65


na

Conceptual clustering

in

g

ren e Pa pl am ip e s nsh d tiv tio ol ta a eh en Rel us Ho

Sub-issues

Pr ld os efe p T ns Faecti wo e f m ve un ily d

e

es pr Re

Rais Ken eachil yon d.U farr s ow

nn

bl

al aci y nsr enc Tra Ag

For building the question and try to give an answer to the main arguements of the actors in the debate, we needed to visualize both main topics and sub-issues presented by actors, so to have a conceptual map and orientate ourself for the next step. Here all the possibile sub-issues have been taken out into a circular dendogram, to be then resumed into questions.

Pl a

St a

Na tio

ns tio k Opdboook n Bo g n i t Ha es ren nc pa rie Co pe s Ex nt ta ed bi itt ce ha m an CoComAlli

From priorities to details

Pa C re An oup nts d le ga M y ot Ch he ild r ren o M Skil f Ma oder ls n rr Rea l life He iage a am F lthy eric an amily fam ily Act ivism Lgbt Equali ty pare Tran nting sgen d C e onsti r Huma tu n righ ts cam tional p Reprod aign ucti Adoptiove n American Family at schoo l Private Outcomes Friendly Elementary Straight Gay parents Matter

nting Lgbtq pare nting Lgbt parefamily Lgbt nt justmaen li Kids ad austra ilies s ie il x fam y area fam ealth Same se Ba Add hnting re bt pa rsial lg e v o Contr

Study

ip larsh Scho stion Que tive a t li Qua gical holo ple Psyc Sam nal r Jou

r

che ear

Res

lar

ho

ire Se Re cto se So nat So r rod ar cie e ch ty cia ne Pri B e me l tr y u en cro rea rs mi ds om u nis

lar ho fic Sc enti ts i c ul S Ad

ali ty

na tio

na

ld

Sc

ee qu

tarting from the main issues that came out in Sven graph, we built this circular dendogram adding and linking two levels of sub issues, trying to come up with a detailed and complete map. The sub issues came out in two ways: by searching for main issues into Sven dataset and picking related terms, and by reading the texts of our corpus and adding by sense and need the missing words.

ce

en

sci

rri ag

S

ial

c So

Ma

Main topics

h arc rese ry nce an claglas e i c Sus dou ouchn ial s n r Soc le c e l Al mon R. Alberg Si K. old erus G Dr. . n E A. rk reg h arc ic Ma ese em te e r Acad ebaive c D ect Law ien l l sc rsp na cia Pe ur ary y So Jo m ac m m Su giti ily le m Fa tle Lit


Affects childre n Tota Oppol Again sition st

Inta ct Opp osit

Environment

ion Way of g Becomin Parents

Pare ntin g

w La

lia

l orien tation Sexua

rria

ge Ma

Rese

arch

Safe Ideal Strong family bonds

& human de velopment & family liv & gender es & fertil identity it Of pa y rents Equa lity Gen d Sam er Righ e sex Tra t & fa ditiona m l Law ily life He Be tero Bo nefit sexu al nd s of ma La rria ge Ac w t Co un try Au str a

re n

ild

Ch Ame r

ica

Lgbt Relationship

ian b Les

Family

School

tion

67

Straight Foster Coparent

ing

Same sex Lgbt Lgbtq Pink L G T Q

L l G sracia Tran rseas rent Ovecond pats Se plican hts Ap bt ive rig Lg roduct nting n & rep r pare minatio te & fos or inse & don l sexua Hetero

ate r st de l Unedera F

g in nt re ily ion ips h Pa am opt F d t ions ition y y dent r A b t Lg la gn ju lic ce Re co l in po pre Re ga l & al Le ega leg e L ad ns B efe Td

ic

ship

Quality Aspira ti Policy on Resp onsib C o n t rove ilities rsial stud y

Scientific evide nce Status

Sexual orientation

tion us rela Previo ation Insemin ion at Egg don Foster Coparenting Ivf

p Ado

b r ho te sp at an M n /tr tio bic tec pho Pro o le m Ho nsib ment Se title En ue Val lity a Equ ical log Bio

A N men Auew yodme stra rk nt a lian s m ct Ch ild ma arria ren rria ge Ch be ge equ ild ne ren eq ali Tru fits ual ty a e ity ct nat De ion Bo ba al d nd te irec Eq s tor Sa ua rod m lit Am e s y b ney ex ill cro e No nd b om i N ll m e Ok ys rth en c lah t ar o om lin a a

ste re me rk ev Coupport in rud les rs o S d fp Ch tudy & c aren ildr hild ting en Wo devel stres rk o o s f pa pmen ren t App Inten ting ropr t iate ions plan

Pe r

io d

Or

ig in

Safe ty

Hea lth De vel op me Ed nt uc ati on Ou tco me Cu s sto dy

g

cto

Ab Se use p Safecurity reventio n Mal spac trea e tme Ps nt Psyychiat We chol ry llbe ogy ing G Adrowth jus tm Be e nt D ha R e m vio Gr elati ocra ur a d o n t ic ua sh co Be tio ips mp ne nr ete fit W ate nc Ch elfa s s e Re ild re Aff sp ca r ec on e s F tio ib B os n ilit A io te y Sp do log r pt ica e rm iv l Ea e Gr rly an c ban k dc hil h i dh ld oo re d n

Pa Adole rents sce t n s Organ ization s

Publis Foster pare her nting Ad Controversial parentin option g study Activists

Adult Children Status

in nt

Righ ts

ts en sc le o Ad y Ga t b Lg

rt Suppo y p otera Psych Rights force Task y Bab ily Fam tor ca Edu mily pfa tes a Ste n voc Ad optio y Ad Stud

Pre di

Am e ri c an Am psycho Ameri erican psycanalytic as can psy s h ch iatric as ociatio Ameri ological asssociationn A ca m e ri ca n acaden bar assoociciation my p ation o f ediatric s Alyson pu blications

Lgbt blogger john becker National lgbt bar association Richmond area lgbt parenting group

Couple ants CohabitLe gal Parental Abusive ship c partnarerriage M Domesti ion Civil un

ct Proje m Boo dy Stu es Issu

nts Pare

ra) nt co k ) ( c o z a ll en pr e Be ers ins ( r lop a A. . H igg osc M h t k r lts Za obe du R g aage n u r Yo nde U ian x n sb se tio Leame r a t e n h S bt rc ie Lgg s or ea L nt es al e r r u T al y a x y B btq osexu tp Se mil olog Lgeter lgb Fa ych y l H ica g Ps db log tin ise Bio parenve Ra Co opti e n d A ster parent io Ag tat Fo cond arents ien r Se andp o Gr gle ual Sin Sex ptive Adop family ily Ste her fam nt t a F gle pare us Sin arried Stat Unm sexual Heteerosex Sam s Statu Lgbt L Lg G tation en ri T o al Sexu Alternative Diverse Traditional Straight Structures Modern

Lif e

To cosmos From network 4


Children growth & outcomes

Children is the most controversial and the hottest point of the discussion around lgbt parenting. First concern is about children growth into lgbt families compared with traditional ones. Than it appears important to go deep into the factor of stigmatization, ending then with presumed lacks for children in lgbt families.

M

ain part of lgbt parenting debate turns around the matter of children, which comes out to be even the hottest point of discussion in terms of controversy. The primary concern is about how children can grow up differently living in lgbt families, in comparison with standard heterosexual families. Is growing up in a lgbt family the same as growing up in a heterosexual family? The answer tends to be no, but let’s see in the detail why. The sub-issues involved in the discussion for this question are resumable into thirteen values, which are almost always taken into account by actors. Despite the motivation values are sometimes more negative and other times more positive for children in lgbt families. Discrimination and economic resources are considered the main obstacles to be overcome situation that even nowaday concerns lgbt community and homosexuality acceptance. lgbt people are still discriminated in workplace, healthcare and everyday life, so they often can’t build a solid family and lead a stable life. The negative answers, given here by pro and neutral actors, related to those three factors originate from the existent situation and don’t mean necessarely an opposition to lgbt parenting. On the positive side we have instead openmindedness and social relationships, which represent the so-called ability of children in moderate. This would come for sure from the fact that lgbt people are more likely to comprehend and accept what’s “different” from the common and they consequently teach it to their children.

Legend › Independent media › Activists › Advicing org & communities › Conservatives › Legal Actors › Medical agencies › Yes/No › Positive › Neutral › Negative


4

From network

To cosmos

Is growing up in a lgbt family the same as growing up in an heterosexual family?

Yes No Safety Psychological health Self esteem Health Emotional intelligence Social relationships Education Adjustment Discrimination Vulnerable to drug abuse Vulnerable to sexual abuse Economical wellness Family cohesion

69


Children growth & outcomes W

e already saw in the question before a map of the possible consequences of lgbt parenting on children. Going through the discussion we know that discrimination requires an adding deepening. Every actor, except for legal one, but even conservatives, says that children are somehow stigmatized. This matter is in fact not so important in terms of controversy, but it is to better understand what actors are talking about and for a better comprehension of the theme. The main environments where stigmatization takes place seem to be the community where children live their everyday life, including as biggest part the school. Here both children mates and teachers use to have a bad behaviour against children of lgbt families, which can be sometimes a cause of worse development for them, in terms of education or psychological health. It is interesting to see how this phenomenon is recognized by everyone as existing, and can be used as a different weapon to say stop to discrimination or to lgbt parenting depending on actor’s beliefs.

Legend › Independent media › Activists › Advicing org & communities › Conservatives › Legal Actors › Medical agencies › Yes/No › Positive › Neutral › Negative


4

From network

To cosmos

Is children development affected by stigmatization in lgbt families?

Yes No Bullying at school Teachers discrimination In their community Into society

71


Children growth & outcomes A

nother deepening which concerns children outcomes depending on the type of family is about what those children can miss out, compared to “straight” ones. The opinion here is divided into missing anything, and one on the contrary position.The discussion is principally around two factors: biological parents, which means the psyparents, and female and male role models, which represents the missing of society models community and medical agencies agree on saying that there’s not a consistent missing for the children involved, except for scientists who recognize a difference in having clear gender role models. On the negative answer side it is rather relevant to see how, despite a recognition of a missing, it is considered even better for children not to have still gender role models, but better being openminded and not forced into a straight way of thinking.

Legend › Independent media › Activists › Advicing org & communities › Conservatives › Legal Actors › Medical agencies › Yes/No › Positive › Neutral › Negative


4

From network

To cosmos

Are children of lgbt families likely to miss out on something?

Yes No Biological parents Female male role models

73


Parenting abilities & rights

Parents rights and empowerment are another big issue inside lgbt parenting discussion. It is most carried out by pro actors, while contra and neutral tend more to talk about lgbt ability and consequent right to grow children.

T

he general idea expressed by all actors except for conservatives is that LGBT people can be good parents as their heterosexual fellows. Sexual orientation and gender identity don’t really influence their ability to be parents and to be stable is sometimes attributed to a common belief that lgbt relationships are often less stable than heterosexual ones. Economic resources and discrimination keep on being negative values for all the actors while considering an lgbt family environment. So can lgbt people be good parents? At a general look this matter appears to be less controversial than the one about the children, with only conservatives being totally opposing the positive answers.

Legend › Independent media › Activists › Advicing org & communities › Conservatives › Legal Actors › Medical agencies › Yes/No › Positive › Neutral › Negative


4

From network

To cosmos

Can lgbt people be good parents? Taking into account their...

Yes No Sexual orientation Gender identity Relationship status Economic resources Discrimination

75


Parenting abilities & rights H

ere almost all the actors agree that lgbt people should have the same family rights of heterosexual people. Only conservatives express a different opinion, denying totally the possibility for lgbt people to marry and consequently obviously to adopt. This about lgbt family rights is a more general theme that includes parenting, and it is worldwide controversially debated. It generally starts from a law acknowledgment need, carried out by supporting people, then it changes and ends sometimes with a social evolution towards homosexuality acceptance, sometimes with a total closure against it. Nowaday the worlwide situation of lgbt acceptance is still diveded in a polar way, considering that in 76 countries same-sex relaeven punishable by death. But we also know that in most part of western countries homosexuality is recognized and it’s getting more and more legal and social accepted. Here the discussion turns mainly about family rights, starting from marriage and going to parenting as maximum level of recognition.

Legend › Independent media › Activists › Advicing org & communities › Conservatives › Legal Actors › Medical agencies › Yes/No › Positive › Neutral › Negative


4

From network

To cosmos

Should lgbt individuals enjoy equal family rights as their heterosexual fellows?

Yes No Marriage Parenting

77


Parenting abilities & rights T

his question is thought to show actor position over LGBT possibility to be parents, but also to analyse if and how every way of becoming parents is mentioned into the discussion. The general agreement is on a positive answer, except for conservatives, which talk and oppose on adoption and nized and mentioned, while the main agreement is on adoption, which is even the most debated now,

Legend › Independent media › Activists › Advicing org & communities › Conservatives › Legal Actors › Medical agencies › Yes/No › Positive › Neutral › Negative


4

From network

To cosmos

Should lgbt people be allowed to become parents? Through...

Yes No Adoption Second parent adoption Coparenting Custody Foster care In vitro fertilization Donor insemination Surrogacy

79


Family structure & impacts

around family discussion into lgbt parenting debate: there’s a big opposition between the traditional idea of family, stable and made by a man and a woman, and the new family structures, which comprehend unstable and missing relationships and different sexual orientation or gender identity of parents.

T

structures on children mainly originates from recent Mark Regnerus study, which goes precisely deep in the direction of understanding how new family structures differ from straight ones, concerning children outcomes. This study ended with a general negative consideration for instable parents relationships and lgbt families, in comparison to traditional families, whom children appear to outcome healthier and more adjusted. Mark Regnerus research generated a lot of discussion, divided into pro and contra opinions about it. Here we can see that activists agree with thinking that instable relationships are more harmful than stable ones, with even a positive spot for married lgbt, because of a higher family cohesion. While conservatives are almost still in considering positively only heterosexual factor into relationships, all the other actors, except for legal and medical which don’t discuss the traditional model of heterosexual married family to be the best one for children growth.

Legend › Independent media › Activists › Advicing org & communities › Conservatives › Legal Actors › Medical agencies › Yes/No › Positive › Neutral › Negative


4

From network

To cosmos

Does the type of family structure have an impact on children development?

Yes No Married hetero Stable relationship hetero Single parent hetero Divorced hetero Married homo Stable relationship homo Single parent homo Divorced homo

81


Legal recognition & acceptance

Law often represents the

ance evolution. Legally talking LGBT parenting is a worldwide hot topic, with still a lot of countries not recognizing even homosexuality, and western countries debating on family rights.

E

veryone in the discussion recognizes that societies need law to regulate lgbt rights. The difference lies in the supportive or opposing intentions, about. Marriage equality, both parents acknowledgment and parenting rights are the main needs of munity and legal actors, that are even the ones who consider more the legal issue. It is interesting to see how even discrimination punishment is needed and originates from an existing situation of stigmatization. Allowing LGBT rights there would also be a possibility of legal protection for all the kids living with LGBT parents, by reaching equal recognition given to children in traditional families.

Legend › Independent media › Activists › Advicing org & communities › Conservatives › Legal Actors › Medical agencies › Yes/No › Positive › Neutral › Negative


4

From network

To cosmos

Do society need law to regulate lgbt rights and discrimination?

Yes No Marriage equality Both same sex parents legal acknowledgement Parenting Lgbt discrimination punishment Children legal protection

83


Scientific research references

to be so important into LGBT parenting debate. In fact there are some big studies conducted in Canada, USA and Australia which generated a lot of controversial discussion on the web, mainly on children outcomes by living in different families.

A

search while discussing LGBT parenting. The tendence is mainly from activists and conservatives to rely on studies for supporting their posisome big studies which occupy different extremes towards LGBT parenting, passing from positive ones (“Australian Study of Child Health in SameSex towards Families” by Dr. Simon Crouch) to opposing ones (“New Family Structures Study” by Mark Regnerus, “High School Graduation Rates Among Children of Same-Sex Households” by Dr. in this debate is social science, within statistics, legislation and education. The curious fact is that recognition for legal decisions. For example a case that originated a lot of polemics was in June, when the study of Mark Regnerus was used by Russian lawmaker Andrei Zhuravlyov to advance a bill that would allow the removal of children from samesex households.

Legend › Independent media › Activists › Advicing org & communities › Conservatives › Legal Actors › Medical agencies › Yes/No › Positive › Neutral › Negative


4

From network

To cosmos

Is scientific research a relevant resource when discussing lgbt parenting? In the fields of...

Yes No Education Economics Medicine Psychology Psychiatry Legislation Social science Communication Statistics

85


Findings 4

T

From network

To cosmos

his section is all dedicated to understanding the real content of the

to be answered here is about which most relevant topics actors are talking about. The radar graphs can show easily the prior points of discussion for each group with different position to the topic (pro, neutral and contra). Pro tend to express their need of empowerment giving priority to acknowledgment. Neutral have almost the same general topics but with a less proportional contrast between the topics, while contra revolutionize the order by giving highest importance to children and research reference. To understand then what is inside those main topics we established ten big questions and related sub-issues, to be answered by reading all the texts. What emerged is that the matter of children represents the hottest part of the debate, the one which is more discussed, even in terms of controversy. The main worry, also treated in researches we met into our corpus, is about children growing and development living into LGBT families, in comparison to traditional ones. Activists and conservatives tend almost always to have opposite extreme opinions, and are the ones that talks the most. Activists are more concentrated on parents need for equal family rights and on demonstrating LGBT abilities of being parents, while conservatives use children as a weapon to go against LGBT but still have a good quantity of answering, medical agencies and legal actors talk less than the others.


How did the debate evolve over time?

5

From cosmos To cosmopolitics

T

his exploration was driven by two questions: In which regions was the debate over same sex parenting most heated over time? Which were the most controversial issues studied by social science researchers during this period of time? In order to be able to answer these questions we had a look at the developments during the past ten years – starting from 2013, going back to the year 2004.

data collecting TOOLS › google trend › dmi google scraper

data managing TOOLS › excel data visualizing TOOLS › tag cloud generator › adobe illustrator

87


30 years on: an enduring controversy

Douglas Allen

There has been ongoing debate and extensive discussion over homosexual parenting for more than thirty years. In this chapter we explore whether and possibly how the patterns of this controversy changed over time.

August 2013

Seattle 5

San Francisco 5 Los Angeles 7

T

his exploration was driven by two questions: In which regions was the debate over same sex parenting most heated over time? Which were the most controversial issues studied by social science researchers during this period of time? In order to be able to answer these questions we had a look at the developments during the past ten years – starting from 2013, going back to the year 2004. In 2013 the controversy took place predominantly in the United States, less intensely but still notably in Interestingly the debate in the United States in late 2013 was most vivid along the coast lines.

T

Study 1 High school graduation rates among children o same sex househo

he exploration showed that the debate was sparked by three very controversial studies: Mark Regnerus’ New Family Structure Study [1] (UT, Austin, Texas) as well as a Canadian study on graduation rates of children raised in same-sex households [2], which are both opposing same sex parenting. The third study focuses on child health in same-sex families, published by the Australian researcher Simon Crouch [3] and is of supportive nature.

Toronto 6 Boston 10 New York 28 Washington DC 18


5

Study 2 New Family Structure Study

s of olds

Mark Regnerus July 2012

From cosmos

To cosmopolitics

Study 3 The Australian study of Child Health in Same Sex Families Simon Crouch September 2012

London 12

Sydney 5 Melbourne 6

GEOLOCATION OF URLS OF INITIAL CORPUS LGBT PARENTING STUDY

0

100

89


1-10% RELEVANCE LEVEL

>10% RELEVANCE LEVEL

0

100

Therapy

Therapy Biological parents Gender identity Differences Patterson School Psychology

Psychology

Development

Development

Health care Discrimination Legal issues Sexual orientation Adoption higher peak on Google Trends

Marriage

Marriage

Golombok Child outcomes Adolescent Foster care Transracial Divorce

2004

2005


5

From cosmos

To cosmopolitics

School

Adoption

Adolescent

2006

2007

91


1-10% RELEVANCE LEVEL

>10% RELEVANCE LEVEL

0

100

Therapy

Biological parents

Biological parents

Gender identity

Gender identity Differences Patterson School Psychology Development

Health care

Health care Discrimination Legal issues Sexual orientation

Adoption

Adoption Marriage Golombok Child outcomes Adolescent Foster care

Transracial

Transracial Divorce

2008

2009


5

From cosmos

To cosmopolitics

Gender identity

Development

Adoption

2010

Adoption

2011

93


1-10% RELEVANCE LEVEL

>10% RELEVANCE LEVEL

0

100

Therapy Biological parents Gender identity Differences Patterson School Psychology

Psychology

Development

Development

Health care

Health care

Discrimination

Legal issues

Legal issues Sexual orientation

Adoption

Adoption

Marriage

Marriage Golombok Child outcomes Adolescent Foster care Transracial Divorce

2012

2013


5

T

hese publications had an high impact on the debate on the web and beyond. Regnerus’ study for instance is continually being cited in new and pending bills, both domestically and abroad. Opponents are continuing to use his Hawaii, Illinois, Nebraska, the US Congress, Colorado, Croatia, France, Poland and most recently and with severe consequences in Russia. Both sides, supporters of and opponents of lgbt arenting are blaming the respective other side of poor quality of research. One important argument brought up often in the a basis of reserach. Regnerus for example compares children growing up with their biological, married parents mainly to children that were conceived during a previous heterosexual relationship in which one parent came out homosexual, which then resulted in the parents splitting up. This practise raises the which this study is repeatedly being critizised for. Therefore Regnerus’ research is critizised for comparing apples to pears. Its becomes obvious that the debate circles around suggested by the studies not being congruent with the opinion of opposing actors.

From cosmos

To cosmopolitics

I

In 2004 the level of debate had its peak as indicated by GoogleTrends. While back then the matter of lgbt people raising children has been debated almost exclusively in the United States, the controversy spread more and more in the course of the following years. During the period from 2004 to 2007 there were indications for a shift in focus of research from therapeutic issues towards legal matters – starting off with same-sex marriage in 2005, followed by adoption in 2006. This development corresponds with the introduction of the legal right of same-sex couples getting married in the US. Massachusatts was the same-sex marriage in 2004, followed by California and Connecticut in 2008. There remains a big number of states with limited or no legal acceptance of lgbt partnerships, where activists and organizaresults in legal protecting of children of lgbt parparent is entitled to adopt or stepparent-adoption of children stemming from previous heterosexual relationships is not legal. These issues are consequently surfacing in sciengroup of children being born to same-sex parents is still relatively small. Therefore the impact of the parents’ sexual orientation on child development and outcomes remains to be of interest to research throughout the entire period from 2004 to 2013.

95


Findings 5

From cosmos To cosmopolitics

D

ue to the complexity and interconnection of multiple issues related to same-sex parenting the topics covered by research are diverse and comprehensive. It can be noticed though, that legal issues are playing an increasing That might be due to the fact that it became evident during recent years, that it actually makes a difference for a child to grow up in a setup which is acknowledged and accepted by society and legislation for what it basically is: a family. Research predominantly indicates that children growing up in different than children being raised in a traditional set-up. The only difference that remains to play an important role is the stigmatization in school and society these children are facing. Given that for lesbians the hurdles to become a parent are much lower by virtue of their biological sex, these children exist. Children, that results in the same-sex partner of the biological mother legally not being a parent. This can be crucial in case the biological parent dies. This is only one example of the impact that legal inequality may result in. Looking at the world map it can be said that the biggest part of the debate is taking place in the United States while actors from Canada, (English speaking) regions the topic of lgbt parenting seems to be not yet/ not anymore a matter of pressing importance.


Table of contents

Table A

Macroactor’s category

N° of tagged urls

Indipendent media Activists Advising communities Scientific community Conservatives Legal actors Medical agencies

45 39 37 27 14 13 8

Table B

# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Macro actors

% of corpus

Hosts added with triangulation

Url

Category

Position

Interest

Entity

Colage.Org

Activists Activists Activists Medical agencies Activists Legal actors Activists Conservatives Advising communities Legal actors Medical agencies Conservatives Legal actors Activists Activists Legal actors Conservatives Conservatives Activists Medical agencies Legal actors

Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Contra Neutral Neutral Pro Contra Neutral Pro Pro Pro Contra Contra Pro Pro Pro

Activism Activism Activism Medical Activism Legal Activism Scientific Information Legal Medical Activism Legal Activism Activism Legal Journalism Activism Activism Medical Legal

Community Ngo (organization) Ngo (organization) Organization Media Ngo (organization) Ngo (organization) Publisher (book) Organization Governative org Organization Media Governative org Organization Community Media Media Person Governative org Organization Ngo (organization)

Familyequality.Org Hrc.Org Growinggenerations.Com/ Proudparenting.Com Glad.Org Pflag.Org Thepublicdiscourse.Com Baaf.Org.Uk House.Gov Glma.Org Familystructurestudies.Com Equalityhumanrights.Com Affirmation.Org Children-matter.Org Mercatornet.Com Englishmanif.Blogspot.Com Www2.Ohchr.Org Apadivision44.Org Lambdalegal.Org

97


Table C

# 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53

Corpus of urls

1/4

Url http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/lgbt_parenting https://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/lgbt-parenting http://www.lgbtqparentingconnection.ca/ http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/census-lgbt-demographics-studies/lgbt-parenting-in-the-united-states/ http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/LGBT-Parenting.pdf http://forums.thebump.com/categories/lgbt-parenting http://www.hrc.org/resources/entry/professional-organizations-on-lgbt-parenting http://www.hrc.org/issues/parenting http://www.fenwayhealth.org/site/PageServer?pagename=FCHC_srv_services_LGBT http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/magazine/08fob-wwln-t.html http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/apr/20/gay-parenting-emma-brockes http://cbsn.ws/1cPROVP http://www.howstuffworks.com/5-gay-parenting-myths.htm http://www.apa.org/pi/parent.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carlos-a-ball/lgbt-parenting-rights-and-the-courts_b_1626880.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/lgbt-parenting http://www.examiner.com/topic/lgbt-parenting http://www.examiner.com/article/lgbt-parenting-fights-junk-science http://www.stonewall.org.uk/beyond_barriers/information/lgbt_issues/parenting/819.asp http://gayfamiliesinthemaking.wordpress.com/our-next-meeting/about/making-lgbt-families/lgbt-parenting-links/ http://www.ourtruecolors.org/books/parenting-gay.htm http://www.kidsinthehouse.com/press/lgbt-parenting-two-minutes http://raiseachild.us/news/three-decades-of-research-on-lgbt-parenting/ http://www.downtownbrooklyn.com/events/family-community/modern-families-learn-about-lgbt-parenting http://kalw.org/term/lgbt-parenting http://www.pink-parenting.com/ http://southfloridagaynews.com/articles/ucf-successfully-delays-release-of-documents-on-controversial-lgbt-parenting-study/135390 http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-sexual-continuum/201207/scientists-rebuke-publication-study-lgbt-parenting http://myhouseyr.com/programs/lgbt-parenting-group/ http://www.baywindows.com/Two-memoirs-of-LGBT-parenting-past-and-present http://qpocshoutouts.com/qpoc-resources/lgbt-parenting-resources/ http://www.prideangel.com/p118/Links/LGBT-Parenting.aspx http://gayparentstobe.com/category/lgbt-parenting-news/ http://womensissues.about.com/od/LGBTParenting/ https://www.psychology.org.au/publications/statements/lgbt_families/ http://www.washingtonblade.com/2012/10/11/milestones-in-lgbt-parenting-history/ http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/info_services/download/LGBTAdoptiveandFosterParenting.pdf http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/gsc/downloads/LGBTParentedChildrenBib.pdf http://www.gayrva.com/place/richmond-area-lgbt-parenting-group/ http://www.rainbowrumpus.org/grown-ups/lgbt-parenting-bisexual-experience http://www.fertilethoughts.com/forums/lgbt-parenting/720111-hello-lgbt-parenting.html https://www.glad.org/event/2011-gay-parenting-film http://dawnmorais.com/tag/lgbt-parenting/ http://jerry-mahoney.com/tag/lgbt-parenting/ http://nashvillegayparents.com/ http://www.lifebeyondtherapy.com/index.php?/blog/4/entry-375-l-g-b-t-parenting/ http://www.ctfertility.com/gay-parenting http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_LGBT_Parenting/ http://ils.unc.edu/dpr/port/lgbtparents/ http://www.blogher.com/thinking-ahead-within-lgbt-parenting


Table of contents

Query

Category

Position

Interest

Entity

Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting

Advising communities Legal actors Activists Scientific community Scientific community Advising communities Activists Activists Medical agencies Indipendet media Indipendet media Indipendet media Indipendet media Scientific community Indipendet media Indipendet media Indipendet media Indipendet media Activists Advising communities Activists Advising communities Activists Activists Activists Indipendet media Activists Activists Scientific community Activists Activists Advising communities Activists Activists Advising communities Scientific community Advising communities Scientific community Indipendet media Scientific community Scientific community Activists Advising communities Advising communities Legal actors Advising communities Activists Activists Activists Medical agencies Advising communities Activists Advising communities

Neutral Neutral Pro Contra Contra Neutral Pro Pro Pro Neutral Neutral Neutral Pro Neutral Pro Neutral Neutral Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Neutral Pro Pro Neutral Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Neutral Neutral Neutral Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro

Information Legal Activism Scientific Scientific Information Activism Activism Medical Journalism Journalism Journalism Information Psychology Journalism Journalism Journalism Journalism Activism Information Activism Education Activism Education Education Journalism Activism Activism Scientific Activism Activism Information Activism Activism Information Scientific Information Psychology Journalism Scientific Education Activism Journalism Information Activism Activism Activism Activism Activism Medical Education Education Information

Community Governative org Community University University Community Ngo (organization) Ngo (organization) Company Media Media Media Media Ngo (organization) Media Media Media Media Ngo (organization) Community Ngo (organization) Community Ngo (organization) Ngo (organization) Ngo (organization) Media Media Media Media Community Community Publisher Person Company Community Publisher Community Ngo (organization) Media Ngo (organization) University Community Media Community Ngo (organization) Person Person Ngo (organization) Person Company Community Person Community 99


Table C

# 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106

Corpus of urls

2/4

Url http://news.rapgenius.com/Examiner-lgbt-parenting-a-death-sentence-with-salvation-army-lyrics http://www.justanswer.com/topics-lgbt-parenting/ http://www.circlesurrogacy.com/parents/gay-parenting http://www.outvisions.com/Lifestyle/Parents.aspx Http://www.Dazdivorce.Com/lgbt-parenting.Html Http://www.Secureteen.Com/parenting-style/is-lgbt-parenting-different-from-heterosexual-parenting/ Http://www.Oepi.Com/projects/project-e-m-p-o-w-e-r-2/the-effects-of-lgbt-parenting-families/ Http://seattlecounselor.Org/facts-and-myths-about-lgbt-parenting-a-literature-review/ Http://www.Childwelfare.Gov/adoption/adoptive/glbt_families.Cfm Http://www.Rainbowaccess.Org/topicindex/lgbtparenting.Html Http://michiganradio.Org/post/stateside-lgbt-parenting Http://laglc.Convio.Net/site/pageserver?Pagename=yw_parents_families Http://resources.Thefeministbreeder.Com/category/parenting/lgbt-parenting/ Http://humboldt.Edu/cdblog/cd479-hansen/2013/02/18/feb-20th-article-presentation-lgbt-parenting/ Http://29br.Co.Uk/our-expertise/lgbt-parenting Http://www.Buzzfeed.Com/steventhrasher/how-unjust-family-laws-are-keeping-lgbt-parents-away-from-th Http://www.Womensweb.Ca/lgbt/parenting.Php Http://www.Equalfamily.Org/blog/?P=1211 Http://safaridad.Com/category/parenting-news/lgbt-parenting/ Http://arewemarried.Com/category/lgbt-parenting/ Http://www.Pridefoundation.Org/lgbt-parenting-legal-issues-washington/2011/09/ Http://www.Gaystarnews.Com/article/irish-gay-parenting-study-reveals-major-challenges140213 Http://www.Familycare.Utoronto.Ca/resources/parenting_lgbtq.Html Http://familyscholars.Org/tag/lgbt-parenting/ Http://itsconceivablenow.Com/2013/05/24/untold-stories-motherhood/ Http://www.Therainbowbabies.Com/links.Html Http://www.Gaysheffield.Co.Uk/news/lgbt-parenting-seminar-wednesday-14th-july-2010/ Http://www.Lgbt.Cusu.Cam.Ac.Uk/?Event=lgbt-parenting-scheme-event-details-tbc Http://bit.Ly/1iialkc Http://itsconceivablenow.Com/2011/12/05/it-lgbt-parenting-stories/ Http://southerntier.Wgrz.Com/news/families/71930-lgbt-parenting-2012-controversial-studies-statements-and-celebrities Http://www.Jacksonvillelawyer.Pro/lawyer-attorney-1662355.Html Http://www.Jacksonvillelawyer.Pro/lawyer-attorney-1662355.Html Http://www.Gayparentmag.Com/support-groups Http://www.Aamft.Org/imis15/content/consumer_updates/same-sex_parents_and_their_children.Aspx Http://www.Nationalreview.Com/corner/360424/yet-another-new-study-children-same-sex-parents-fare-worse-maggie-gallagher Http://www.Thenewamerican.Com/culture/family/item/16815-canada-study-kids-in-gay-families-hampered-in-school Http://www.Achess.Org.Au/ Http://www.Nydailynews.Com/life-style/health/children-same-sex-parents-healthier-study-article-1.1365963 Http://bit.Ly/1d0njrx Http://www.Taipeitimes.Com/news/front/archives/2013/12/01/2003578041 Http://rt.Com/news/croatia-anti-gay-referendum-536/ Http://mccaugheycentre.Unimelb.Edu.Au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/786806/simon_report_.Pdf Http://bit.Ly/1felppw Http://www.Christianpost.Com/news/study-children-of-same-sex-parents-much-less-likely-to-graduate-from-high-school-106213/ Http://www.Advocate.Com/society/modern-families/2013/06/06/study-children-same-sex-parents-are-healthier-peers Http://bit.Ly/1ivn49f Http://www.Dailymail.Co.Uk/health/article-2336889/gay-parents-healthier-children-better-self-esteem.Html Http://www.Bu.Edu/today/2013/gay-parents-as-good-as-straight-ones/ Http://www.Stonewall.Org.Uk/what_we_do/research_and_policy/health_and_healthcare/3471.Asp


Table of contents

Query Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Lgbt parenting Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family

Category

Position

Interest

Entity

Indipendet media Advising communities Medical agencies Scientific community Activists Advising communities Advising communities Advising communities Activists Advising communities Legal actors Advising communities Indipendet media Activists Advising communities Legal actors Legal actors Activists Advising communities Activists Activists Scientific community Advising communities Legal actors Activists Scientific community Scientific community Activists Advising communities Activists Activists Advising communities Activists Indipendet media Legal actors Activists Medical agencies Conservatives Indipendet media Scientific community Indipendet media Medical agencies Indipendet media Indipendet media Scientific community Scientific community Conservatives Activists Conservatives Indipendet media Indipendet media Advising communities Activists

Neutral Neutral Pro Neutral Pro Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Pro Neutral Pro Neutral Pro Pro Neutral Neutral Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Neutral Neutral Pro Pro Pro Pro Neutral Neutral Pro Pro Pro Pro Pro Contra Contra Neutral Pro Pro Neutral Neutral Pro Neutral Contra Pro Contra Pro Pro Pro Pro

Journalism Information Medical Scientific Activism Information Information Information Activism Information Legal Education Journalism Activism Activism Scientific Legal Activism Information Activism Activism Scientific Information Legal Journalism Education Activism Journalism Activism Information Information Information Information Journalism Legal Information Medical Journalism Journalism Scientific Journalism Medical Journalism Journalism Scientific Scientific Religious Activism Religious Journalism Journalism Education Activism

Media Community Company University Media Community Ngo (organization) Community Ngo (organization) Community Governative org Ngo (organization) Media Ngo (organization) Community University Company Media Community Ngo (organization) Person Ngo (organization) Person Ngo (organization) Media University Community Media Community Community Community Community Media Media Community Community Ngo (organization) Media Media University Media Ngo (organization) Media Media University University Media Media Media Media University Governative org Ngo (organization) 101


Table C

# 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159

Corpus of urls

3/4

Url Http://healthland.Time.Com/2012/06/11/do-children-of-same-sex-parents-really-fare-worse/ Http://www.Salon.Com/2013/06/05/worlds_largest_study_on_gay_parents_finds_the_kids_are_more_than_all_right/ Http://www.Frc.Org/issuebrief/new-study-on-homosexual-parents-tops-all-previous-research Http://www.Lifesitenews.Com/news/not-all-children-raised-by-gay-parents-support-gay-marriage-i-should-know-i Http://www.Ibtimes.Com/children-same-sex-parents-healthier-less-argumentative-australian-study-says-1297205 Http://www.Huffingtonpost.Com/peggy-drexler/the-kids-are-alright-gay_b_1539166.Html Http://thinkprogress.Org/lgbt/2013/07/12/2292061/conservatives-new-smear-campaign-same-sex-parenting-is-child-abuse/ Http://www.Patheos.Com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/11/15/christian-school-boots-kids-with-gay-parents-for-failing-biblical-moral-code/ Http://www.Webmd.Com/mental-health/news/20051012/study-same-sex-parents-raise-well-adjusted-kids Http://www.Splcenter.Org/blog/2013/06/06/major-study-debunks-claim-that-kids-of-same-sex-parents-do-less-well/ Http://blog.Heritage.Org/2012/06/11/new-research-on-children-of-same-sex-parents-suggests-differences-matter/ Http://factsaboutyouth.Com/posts/are-children-with-same-sex-parents-at-a-disadvantage/ Http://familylives.Org.Uk/advice/your-family/parenting/parenting-in-same-sex-relationships/ Http://www.Theage.Com.Au/victoria/number-of-children-with-samesex-parents-soars-20130725-2qm8r.Html Http://www.Theguardian.Com/commentisfree/2013/aug/11/anti-gay-laws-russia Http://www.Huffingtonpost.Co.Uk/2013/06/05/gay-couples-children-happier_n_3388498.Html Http://www.Glad.Org/uploads/docs/publications/protecting-families-standards-for-lgbt-families.Pdf Http://www.Chicagonow.Com/dennis-byrnes-barbershop/2013/10/another-downside-for-children-of-same-sex-couples/ Http://www.Sunshinecoastdaily.Com.Au/news/research-shows-children-same-sex-parents-better/1908967/ Http://www.Thestar.Com/life/2013/08/16/growing_up_with_samesex_parents.Html Http://www.Vanierinstitute.Ca/include/get.Php?Nodeid=2817 Http://futureofchildren.Org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.Xml?Journalid=37&articleid=108&sectionid=702 Http://www.Worldmag.Com/2013/10/study_growing_up_in_gay_families_hamstrings_kids_in_school Http://bit.Ly/1dh0f8w Http://www.Ctfamily.Org/editorial10.Html Http://www.Humanrights.Gov.Au/publications/same-sex-same-entitlements-chapter-5 Http://www.Marriageequalityri.Org/learn/children/ Http://people.Virginia.Edu/~cjp/publications.Html Http://www.Powerlineblog.Com/archives/2013/10/study-graduation-rates-lag-among-children-from-same-sex-households.Php Http://www.Scotland.Gov.Uk/resource/doc/269718/0080303.Pdf Http://www.Aifs.Gov.Au/cfca/bibliographies/samesexparents.Php Http://www.Sanluisobispo.Com/2013/07/09/2576576/same-sex-same-challenges.Html Http://tvnz.Co.Nz/national-news/children-gay-parents-happier-study-5515718 Http://gaynewsnetwork.Com.Au/news/australian-study-reveals-same-sex-families-make-happier-children-11504.Html Http://www.Abc.Net.Au/catalyst/stories/3805051.Htm Http://mcadams.Posc.Mu.Edu/blog/gay_parenting.Pdf Http://guides.Sl.Nsw.Gov.Au/content.Php?Pid=316240&sid=2590821 Http://www.Couragerc.Net/encourage.Html Http://aifs.Govspace.Gov.Au/2013/06/11/news-australian-children-with-same-sex-parents-are-doing-well/ Http://www.Pinknews.Co.Uk/2013/07/20/study-finds-that-children-of-gay-parents-are-generally-happier/ Http://www.Healthychildren.Org/english/family-life/family-dynamics/types-of-families/pages/gay-and-lesbian-parents.Aspx Http://bit.Ly/1femmp9 Http://newsroom.Melbourne.Edu/news/children-same-sex-attracted-parents-score-high-health-and-wellbeing Http://paa2013.Princeton.Edu/papers/132066 Http://www.Hrc.Org/resources/entry/hrc-issue-brief-families Http://www.Cfw.Tufts.Edu/?/Category/family-parenting/2/topic/same-sex-parents/189/ Http://www.Independent.Co.Uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/children-in-gay-adoptions-at-no-disadvantage-8518004.Html Http://bit.Ly/1iiejtu Http://www.Thepublicdiscourse.Com/2013/07/10474/ Http://abcnews.Go.Com/health/sex-adoptions-frontier-lgbt-advocates/story?Id=20780309 Http://www.Goldencradle.Org/how-do-children-same-sex-adoption-fare


Table of contents

Query

Category

Position

Interest

Entity

Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family

Indipendet media Indipendet media Conservatives Conservatives Indipendet media Indipendet media Indipendet media Indipendet media Conservatives Medical agencies Indipendent media Indipendent media Scientific community Advising communities Indipendent media Indipendent media Indipendent media Legal actors Indipendent media Indipendent media Indipendent media Advising communities Scientific community Conservatives Scientific community Advising communities Legal actors Activists Scientific community Legal actors Advising communities Advising communities Indipendent media Indipendent media Advising communities Indipendent media Scientific community Legal actors Conservatives Advising communities Scientific community Activists Medical agencies Indipendent media Scientific community Scientific community Activists Advising communities Indipendent media Conservatives Conservatives Indipendent media Activists

Neutral Pro Contra Contra Pro Pro Neutral Neutral Neutral Pro Pro Contra Contra Neutral Pro Neutral Pro Pro Contra Pro Pro Neutral Pro Contra Pro Contra Neutral Pro Pro Contra Pro Neutral Neutral Pro Pro Pro Pro Neutral Contra Pro Pro Pro Pro Neutral Pro Neutral Pro Neutral Pro Contra Contra Neutral Pro

Journalism Journalism Religious Journalism Journalism Journalism Journalism Journalism Religious Medical Journalism Journalism Medical Education Journalism Journalism Journalism Activism Journalism Journalism Journalism Information Scientific Religious Scientific Education Legal Activism Scientific Legal Information Information Journalism Journalism Information Information Scientific Legal Religious Information Information Journalism Medical Journalism Scientific Scientific Activism Information Journalism Religious Information Journalism Activism

Media Media Ngo (organization) Media Media Media University Media Media Ngo (organization) Ngo (organization) Media Ngo (organization) Ngo (organization) Media Media Media Ngo (organization) Media Media Media Ngo (organization) University Media University Ngo (organization) Governative org Ngo (organization) University Media Governative org Governative org Media Media Media Media Publisher (book) Governative org Community Governative org Person Media Ngo (organization) Media University University Ngo (organization) Community Media Ngo (organization) Ngo (organization) Media Ngo (organization) 103


Table C

# 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183

Corpus of urls

4/4

Url Http://www.Terpconnect.Umd.Edu/~pnc/glmh2013.Pdf Http://www.Slate.Com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/06/gay_parents_are_they_really_no_different_.Html Http://www.Njfpc.Org/adult-children-speak-out-about-same-sex-parents Http://everydayfeminism.Com/2013/07/how-to-talk-to-your-children-about-gay-parents-by-a-gay-parent/ Http://www.Autostraddle.Com/australia-conducts-largest-ever-study-on-gay-parents-finds-kids-are-in-fact-alright-179614/ Http://www.Finaid.Org/fafsa/lgbtfafsa.Phtml Http://yas.Sagepub.Com/content/early/2013/09/09/0044118x13502366.Abstract Http://www.Humanumreview.Com/articles/view/children-of-gay-parents Http://www.Nelfa.Org/index.Php/utilities-for-lgbt-families Http://www.Emilypost.Com/home-and-family-life/todays-families/300-families-with-same-sex-parents Http://www.Starobserver.Com.Au/news/children-of-gay-families-do-well-study-finds/104831 Http://www.Sunnewsnetwork.Ca/sunnews/lifestyle/archives/2013/06/20130605-144632.Html Http://www.Parentbooks.Ca/gay_&_lesbian_parenting.Html Http://workingitout.Org.Au/homophobia_families.Html Http://catholicexchange.Com/what-do-the-children-say Http://www.Essentialkids.Com.Au/health/latest-health-news/tick-for-samesex-families-20130606-2nrqj.Html Http://www.Parenting.Com/article/same-sex-parenting Http://www.Natureworldnews.Com/articles/2326/20130607/children-same-sex-parents-better-health-greater-wellbeing.Htm Http://www.Ncbi.Nlm.Nih.Gov/pubmed/23101497 Http://www.Rawstory.Com/rs/2013/10/09/russian-parliament-will-debate-taking-children-from-same-sex-parents/ Http://www.Sciencedaily.Com/releases/2013/07/130713095246.Htm Http://www.Freerepublic.Com/focus/news/3026913/posts Http://www.Zenithchambers.Co.Uk/site/zenith_news/newsdetail/known_biological_fathers


Table of contents

Query

Category

Position

Interest

Entity

Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family Children in same sex family

Scientific community Indipendent media Conservatives Activists Scientific community Advising communities Legal actors Scientific community Conservatives Activists Advising communities Indipendent media Indipendent media Advising communities Advising communities Conservatives Indipendent media Advising communities Indipendent media Medical agencies Indipendent media Scientific community Conservatives Legal actors

Pro Contra Contra Pro Pro Pro Pro Neutral Contra Pro Pro Pro Neutral Pro Pro Contra Pro Pro Pro Neutral Neutral Pro Contra Neutral

Information Journalism Activism Activism Scientific Information Legal Scientific Journalism Activism Information Journalism Journalism Information Information Journalism Journalism Information Journalism Medical Journalism Scientific Journalism Legal

University Media Ngo (organization) Ngo (organization) Ngo (organization) Community Company Publisher Media Ngo (organization) Ngo (organization) Media Media Company Community Media Media Community Media Governative org Media Media Community Company

105


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