Same-sex families hit back at doctors' claims

Updated

Same-sex parents and their children have hit back at a group of doctors who say children are better off when raised in heterosexual relationships.

The group, Doctors for the Family, has made a Senate submission which argues same-sex marriage would put the "future health of our nation" at risk.

It says marriage between a man and a woman is more stable, and children who grow up in a family with a mother and father do "better in all parameters".

Among the 150 medical practitioners who signed the submission was Victoria's chief psychiatrist and member of the state's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Dr Kuruvilla George.

The Australian Medical Association has distanced itself from the group, saying a growing body of evidence actually suggests children raised by same-sex parents show no difference in their psychological development, general health, or sexual orientation.

And same-sex families are also hitting back.

Meet the Milne family from suburban Melbourne.

Lee Milne, now 44, came out when his children were five and two years old.

He has been with his partner Simon Mallia for 10 years.

Lee's kids - Georgia and Lachlan - are now aged 15 and 13 respectively. They've grown up with two dads and a mum, and Georgia says she wouldn't have it any other way.

"I wouldn't change my family for anything," she said.

"I love both my parents and I love my dad's partner because I've grown up with him for at least 10 years so he is literally a second dad to me.

I wouldn't change my family for anything. To me it's perfectly normal... I've grown up with it all my life and I'm happy with it. Georgia Milne, 15

"To me it's perfectly normal, I haven't really experienced any other way of having a family, so I've grown up with it all my life and I'm happy with it."

Georgia says she doesn't feel like her friends from traditional families are any "better off", and she says having two dads has its perks.

"My mum's been single for a while, so when I go to my dad's house I have two dads and I feel a lot more protected in a way," she said.

Lee, a senior manager at ANZ bank, believes it is the child's environment that makes a difference, not the gender of its parents.

"Any child that is raised in an environment where they feel loved, valued, safe, secure and respected, regardless of their parenting make-up, will always be a well-balanced child," he said.

He says if anything is going to cause a child to be worse off, it is claims like those made by Doctors for the Family.

"These types of headlines are damaging to any child that hasn't come from a traditional mother-and-father environment," he said.

"It causes children within family situations that are not part of that nuclear family to feel as though they are being labelled second-rate or that there is something wrong with them."

Now meet 16-year-old Louis Macpherson from Sydney.

Louis has two mums, two dads and a lot of grandparents.

He says he is equally, if not more well off, than his friends who come from traditional families.

"Twice the love is a big cliche but you really do just have such a warm and fulfilling family life," he said.

Louis says the doctors' claims are "ridiculous" and that no-one has ever had a problem with his parents.

"Friends realise and they go 'oh ok', but that's about it, it's pretty standard nowadays," he said.

Twice the love is a big cliche but you really do just have such a warm and fulfilling family life. Louis Macpherson, 16

One of his mums, 49-year-old Miriam, says she and her partner Martine have been together for 20 years this October.

"We always wanted to be parents and we were lucky enough to find somebody who wanted to be a father as well," Miriam said.

"Louis has always lived in a stable family situation with my partner and I. He is in his second last year of high school now and he is just doing fantastically.

"He is a gregarious, confident, very outgoing young man. He plays team sport, he is a good musician ... most kids know about him having lesbian parents and that doesn't seem to be any problem at all."

Miriam says if anything, Louis is getting too much love.

"He has a lot of contact with his father (who is also gay), so he is getting potentially over-parented if you like, because he has access to four parents, and twice as many grandparents," she joked.

'Psychological disturbance'

Who are Doctors for the Family? Doctors for the Family was established in November 2011.

Its convenor is Dr Lachlan Dunjey.

Dr Dunjey is a Perth GP and a right-to-life campaigner who has run as a Senate candidate for the Christian Democratic Party in multiple elections.

He was president of Baptist Churches of WA in 1989/90 and set up Medicine With Morality in 2006 to lobby politicians on issues including cloning and euthanasia.

Doctors for the Family says it aims to "highlight the health aspects of marriage and family and ensure a healthy future for our children".

Earlier today, Doctors for the Family convenor Dr Lachlan Dunjey reiterated his concerns on ABC Radio National's Breakfast program.

Dr Dunjey is a Perth GP and a right-to-life campaigner who has run as a Senate candidate for the Christian Democratic Party in multiple elections.

He was also president of Baptist Churches of WA in 1989 and 1990 and set up Medicine With Morality in 2006 to lobby politicians on issues including cloning and euthanasia.

Dr Dunjey says, according to the American College of Paediatricians, growing up without a mother and father can lead to well-documented cases of "psychological disturbance".

"A growing and increasingly sophisticated body of research indicates children with married parents, both a mother and a father, have more healthy measures of striving as infants, physical and mental health, protection from poverty, protection from antisocial behaviour and protection from physical abuse.

"I know the evidence is conflicted but I think common sense tells us that preferably children should grow up with a mother and a father."

I know the evidence is conflicted but I think common sense tells us that preferably children should grow up with a mother and a father. Dr Lachlan Dunjey

Dr Dunjey denies the doctors who signed the Senate submission are casting judgment on same-sex relationships.

"We have no judgmental view whatsoever, we are speaking as doctors. We are saying this because the evidence is there, it's got nothing to do with not respecting gays and allowing their lifestyle, doctors just simply aren't about that," he said.

"I think it's disappointing just how many interpret our defence of marriage as being an attack on homosexuals."

'Religious agenda'

Gay activist and former Australian Medical Association president Dr Kerryn Phelps immediately challenged Dr Dunjey's claims.

Dr Phelps described his position as "extraordinary" and having a "breathtaking lack of reason".

"I think it would be fair to say that this group, Doctors for the Family, is really just a front for an ultra-right wing religious agenda," Dr Phelps said on Breakfast.

"To say that the push for marriage equality is making things worse for people is just extraordinary."

She says the scientific evidence on children with same-sex parents is not conflicting at all.

"Every major medical association, psychological and psychiatric association in the English-speaking world has position statements in support of marriage equality - positions based on research - that say children raised in same-sex households where the parents are the same gender have at least equivalent outcomes to children raised in heterosexual families."

Dr Phelps also questioned the position of Dr Kuruvilla George at Victoria's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.

"It might be one thing for him to hold a private view but to publicly state that on a Senate submission and to put his name on the piece of rubbish that was submitted to the Senate in the name of Doctors for the Family I think makes his position as a publicly appointed official untenable," she said.

Some Labor MPs say Dr George needs to explain himself, but Victoria's Attorney-General has defended his right to lobby against gay marriage.

Topics: lgbt, doctors-and-medical-professionals, federal-government, melbourne-3000, sydney-2000, vic, australia

First posted