Running Head: Same-Sex

Adoptions 1

Same-Sex Adoptions
Melissa Chavez Benavides
University of Texas at El Paso
Dr. Moushumi Biswas
Rhetoric and Writing Studies: 1302
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Same-Sex Adoptions

Same-sex adoptions has recently been one of the biggest issues going on in the United

States at the moment. There are several people throughout the country who do not agree that

people from the same-sex should be adopting or having kids. Same-sex adoptions should not be a

worry to society since gay couples are helping out kids who need parents to help them grow and

thrive through life. Same-sex adoptions is not a bad thing and it can really benefit children in

many different aspects and even show them a different perspective of the world. Children need

role models that will help them understand the difference between what's wrong and right and

having gay parents won't affect this at all. The article from The Atlantic Magazine called

"Equality in Marriage May Not Bring Equality in Adoption" will give us examples of the

struggles and problems gay couples have to go through in order to be able to fully adopt a kid.

The video clip "Adopting as A Same Sex Couple" by Matt and Blue provide a better insight of

struggles that a family had to deal with and their experience as they were adoption their child.

Audience and Purpose

The first genre from the Atlantic Magazine "Equality in Marriage May Not Bring

Equality in Adoption" is an article that was published on the magazine in May 6, 2015 by

Andrew Giambrone. The main purpose of this article is to inform people about many gay and

straight family's problems and struggles they have to go through when gay couples want to start

creating a family in a world where they might not be fully accepted. In the article, Reverend

Bode, one of the gay parents, said," We're hoping for the best and planning for the worst..." as he

and his partner were preparing to deal with a great struggle as they were getting ready to adopt
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two children they had been fostering for several years now in Michigan, a state were gay

marriage was not fully accepted. The article mentioned some of the issues couples had to go

through in order to show and provide proof that same-sex adoptions was passable, reasonable,

and most of all worth it. The purpose of the video clip by Matt and Blue called "Adopting As A

Same Sex Couple" is to tell a story about the struggle couple had to go through. They mention

how it is very hard nowadays for a gay couple to adopt children in many places. In the end, they

succeeded and decided to tell the world and publish it on YouTube in order for other people to

get inspired and see that there is always a way.

The intended audience for the article is mostly people in their late 20s and early 30s,

since they are older and most of those people are planning on having kids at that time. Also in

this new era, gay marriage has become one of the biggest problems since many couples can now

be legally be married in several places. This article is mostly targeting the LGBTs (Lesbian, Gay,

Bi-sexual, Transgenders) community that are in their young adult years. They were also targeting

justices throughout the U.S. and the Supreme Court in order to give them proof that there should

not be any complications for same-sex couples to adopt children. The audience for the second

genre would be gay couples and people who are interested in knowing more the topic. They are

trying to grab the attention of people who are struggling in having families due to the fact they

are gay and also teenagers who are going through the "closet phase" and have many questions

about gay families. They are also getting the attention of people who are against this by showing

them that just because they love a person from the same-sex that doesn't mean they will raise a

bad family. The video clip provides some videos of one of the gay parents playing with his child

as he is acting just as he would have with straight parents. Both of these genres will provide and

show the purpose of same-sex adoptions and the reasons why they should be okay with it.
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The genres are very different since one of them is giving examples of the problems gay

couples have to go through as they are in the process of adopting a child. The article provides

data and information on several cases they had in court and the different decisions the judges had

to make throughout the United States based on same-sex adoptions. For example, in the article

Reverend Bode and his partner "started to foster children in Detroit" in order to give the good

impression of being able to take care of children as a gay couple. By doing this, they were able to

gain experience and proof that could help them in court and show they were capable of taking

care of children. The article also mentioned specific quotes from the couples explaining their

disappointment towards the different rules and laws the states have regarding same-sex

adoptions. An example can be the full faith and credit law that says that other states should

"honor the judgments of the courts of another state without the need to retry the whole cause of

action". This was an enormous issue since some of the states didn't allow same-sex adoptions or

even gay marriage to happen. There were many families who were relocating to another state,

where same-sex adoptions were considered a violation of the new state's law. The video clip is

different since it is focusing of single gay couple who had many struggles in their process of

adopting their child. They were able to provide several videos that showed the lifestyle their kid

had and how it was exactly the same as if the kid was raised by straight parents. The video was

able to provide us with several of the agencies and resources they had to use in order to be able

to accomplish their adoption. Matt one of the parents mentioned that "Arizona's Children

Association" was very close to the LGBTs community and were the ones who helped them adopt

their kid. Both of the genres were very different, but at the same time they focused on the same

theme.
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Each genre's main focused was same-sex adoptions and their problems. Their main focus

was to show gay couples that it may not be easy to adopt a kid, but it is possible. The article and

the video mentioned that same-sex marriage adoptions have benefited children in many different

ways. For example in the article "a 2008 literature review of 19 studies sampling more than

1,000 total families showed there were no major differences between same-sex and heterosexual

parents with respect to childrens cognitive development, gender identity and behavior,

psychological adjustment, and sexual preferences." These kids are exposed to a different way of

thinking and view the world from a different perspective, but at the same time live a regular life.

The video shows us clips of a day in the life of the child with gay parents and he seems very

happy and normal with no strange or unusual behavior. Both of these genre's give people hope

about adopting children and that there are many different resources than can help them during

this process in order to be successful.

Rhetorical Issues

Both of these genres attract the audiences in many different ways in order for the focus to

be victorious and be able to spread those news around the country.

Ethos

In the article, the author of the story was trying to appeal to the persons ethical beliefs

allowing them to be more understandable about the situation. He was trying to make the people

understand that it's not a bad thing to adopt children as a gay couple. The article mentioned that

"One study from 2010 found that, on average, children adopted by LGBT couples were as well-

adjusted as those adopted by heterosexual couples." This shows that the only difference between

gay and straight couple is that some accept the idea of same-sex marriage and others do not.
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During the video clip, both of the guys were talking about all the pros of adopting a child under a

same-sex marriage. They were mentioning how they were raised as if they were straight children

and even though they might not be straight, they still remain with the same values their parents

taught them. Just because they were raised they were not going to teach their kid something

different. The only thing differently about the child's life would be that he would have two

fathers.

Pathos

The video clip showed several pictures and video of the little kid which create a mood for

the issue and people were able to relate to this situation. Both parents decided to show these

videos in order for the audience to feel the love they give their children and be able to relate it to

anyone's life such as a child's first steps, nap times, and even breakfast time. The audience could

relate to this by remembering a time or a memory of when they lived through a moment like this.

The article gives several quotes of the gay couples who have struggled with adopting in order for

the audience to feel their pain and understand that they too have feeling just as same as anyone

else. For example, in the article,"Bodes husband is the one adopting as a single parent" since

they couldn't adopt as a gay couple and that was tragic and sad since they had to deal with this

for a while. The author decided to use these specific quotes because in order to appeal to the

audience's senses and emotional side in order for people to get in their place and understand.

Logos

The article really focused on the logical appeal of the same-sex issue since there were

giving examples of approval and rejection of several cases that were sent through the court. For

example, the article mentioned how the director of public policy at Family Equality Council said
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that "were still likely going to have implementation issues that will take time, maybe even years,

to solve" meaning that even thought they might have succeeded with the law, there were going to

be some other issues in their own town and community. They showed the real deal and how gay

couples noticed that it wasn't as easy as they thought such as the how they had to face the

rejections of loved ones. On the second genre, both of the parents told us how many of the

adoption agencies rejected them because they were against the idea of same-sex marriage,

especially the ones who were religious. This couple had to go through several systems in order to

finally get accepted in the end. Both genre's focused on the main tragedies in order to be able to

adopt a kid.

Structure and Delivery

Both of the genres were organized very differently. The first one was organized by just

giving a brief overview of a gay family and mentioned the challenges adopt his kids. After that,

the article mentioned some of the issues the Supreme Court and justices had deal with as they

were trying to help and deny same-sex adoptions in different cases. In the end, the author of this

genre was able to tell us how successful some of the cases had been after all those endeavors

couples had to go through. They delivered this message in an informative way in order for

people to get to know this topic even more. In the second genre, both of the parents were telling

the story of how they adopted their child. They started off with when they barely decided to have

a family and raise a child. The tone of their voice would change as they would tell the stories

since they would feel and remember some of the struggles they encounter and the achievements

they made in order to get where they are right now. The couple told us how they started planning

to go to different agencies in many states because most of them wouldn't allow them to adopt a

child since some states were against same-sex marriage. Religion played a very important role in
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this because some of the agencies were religious and they were against the idea that couples

should raise a child. In the end they mentioned their success and gave us a brief explanation of

their current life as gay parents. Both of these genres were posted on the internet since social

media has become one of the greatest sources of information in the world. The people who have

access to the media would be able to read and share the story or article to different sources in

order to go viral and get known. Both of these genres were spoken in American English and that

was a great benefit since this problem is mainly in the United States.

Conclusion

Both the article and video explained the issues that same-sex adoptions has on the

country. The first genre was mostly to inform the people about the basic concept of the problems

that they have to go through with the Supreme Court and other places regarding some of the

special laws that prevent them from adopting. The second genre was appealing more to the

senses of the audience since it was telling us a story and showing us parts of their lives as a

same-sex couple. Both genres had some differences, but they mostly focused on the big issue of

adopting children as a gay couple. Same-sex adoptions is a major issue invading the world even

though some people do not care about it. Both genres help society understand this issue better

and show them that it is a great thing to be able to adopt kids even thought they might not be

living with a straight family.

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References:
Giambrone, A. (2015, May 26). Equality in Marriage May Not Bring Equality in Adoption.
Retrieved September 06, 2017, from
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/05/equality-in-marriage-may-not-bring-
equality-in-adoption/393806/

Adopting As A Same Sex Couple | MATT AND BLUE. (2016, July 05). Retrieved September
14, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Lr9KQvAb_g

III, E. M., Spalding, M., Forte, D., & Spalding, D. F. (n.d.). The Heritage Guide to The
Constitution. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from
http://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/4/essays/121/full-faith-and-credit-clause