Research Proposal Questions

Melissa Chavez Benavides

University of Texas at El Paso

Dr. Moushumi Biswas

Rhetoric and Writing Studies: 1302

 Introduction

Several people around the world have been celebrating the idea that the LGBT (Lesbians,

Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender) community was approved for legal marriage in the United States.

Even though this was a success for all those people who were not able to get married to their

loved ones at the beginning, it suddenly came with a challenge. People who are now legally

married have to struggle with the idea of creating families. There has been a big debate whether

it is an ethical thing to adopt children as a gay couple. There have been so many problems over

this issue that people have been needing to know the pros and cons about this argument. Society

has been trying to know the reasons why people are in favor or against this and also if the new

laws and regulations have made an impact on the people's opinion on this case. Now that times

have changed, there are many people who wonder about the life of the next generations. The

purpose of the research is to answer the questions of society who are wondering how same-sex

adoptions will benefit and affect them in many different ways. Some of the questions that would

help analyze the opinions of society are:

What are the problems with same-sex adoptions?

Why is it important to know the pros and cons of same-sex adoptions?

Why are people in favor and against this issue?

Due to the new laws and regulations, are there more people in favor or against same-sex

adoptions?
Same-sex adoptions should be an issue everyone should be aware of since we are living in

modern times and people are supposed to understand the ideal change and the evolution of our

everyday lifestyle.

The video from the What Would You Do? blog called "Gay Adoption" is a video about a

gay couple who is meeting with a girl that might be giving away her baby to them and there is a

waitress who pretends to dislike the idea of her giving her baby to the gay couple. They are all

actors and decided to pretend in order to see the people's reaction on same-sex adoptions.

Throughout the video, there were several people who defended the gay couple as they were

being harshly harassed by the waitress due to the fact they were trying to adopt the girl's baby.

There was a man who intervened in the conversation and said that there "That's the most

ridiculous thing I have ever seen. She forgot it's 2015." The man was showing how the times

have changed and they are living in a new generation where same-sex marriage is allowed. He

also described how gender doesn't determine the way a person was raised; that depends on the

way their parents raised their kid as a younger age.

Ana Mena a student at the University of Texas at El Paso was interviewed on her

opinion about same-sex marriage. She said, "I find it hard to believe that people are not okay

with the idea of two people loving each other, even though they might be from the same gender.

Everyone deserves to love someone and be able to raise a family without having any issues due

to their gender." This student felt that gender wasn't a good excuse in order for a gay couple not

to adopt a kid. She felt that there were bigger issues such as the socioeconomic status of the

family, their life record, and other things that should determine the couple's ability to adopt a

child. Ana mentioned that, "Some of the problems that don't allow gay couples to adopt a kid
would mainly be the people who think It's no ethical. I believe it's mostly older people who are

used to living according to the rules that were followed years ago."

In a Ted Talk performed by Lynne Elvins called "The Myths of Gay Adoptions" it

mentioned how some of the problems are mostly inside the mind of the people. Some follow the

idea that a man and a woman should get together and won't open up their mind to change. She

mentioned how some of the people are just "making up myths" of how a kid would not be raised

correctly, if raised by parents of the same-sex. Elvins mentioned how it's important to know the

pros and cons of this situation because some of the people believe it's a bad idea because they

believe the kids will be raised with the mentality that men are supposed to be with men or that

women are supposed to be with women. Other cons of this situation could be that the child

would get asked "...too many questions" and would get psychologically traumatized as they

might get confused and that "gay people will turn their children gay". I interviewed a student

named Paulina Arroniz who was against same-sex adoptions and said that "there's a big

probability that their child would turn gay and will not learn the correct way to live his life". She

said that she was against this because in her religion "god created men and women for a reason"

and gave them their "private parts" in order to create life. Everyone has been raised differently,

and that is one of the major factors that makes people have their own opinions about this issue.

An article from the American Civil Liberties Union page said that "State agencies and

courts now apply a "best interest of the child" standard to decide these cases." People are

realizing that the sexual orientation of the parent is not the most important thing here and all that

matters is that what's best for the child. In an article from the New York Times, a woman was

interviewed said that many agencies have even told her "No, we dont serve your kind here...".

Some people are still not alright with the idea and these are the people who are only focusing on
the outside and not what's on the inside of those human beings. Unlike Paulina, these state

agencies are thinking differently about the situation and realizing that they have been focusing on

the wrong part of the issue. While some people disagree with these, other have been noticing the

bigger picture.

In a survey conducted at the University of Texas in El Paso, students were asked to

complete a survey about the new laws and regulations in order to see their opinions whether they

were in favor or against same-sex adoptions. There were 65 students ranging from ages 18-26

that conducted a survey and the results where 53% were in favor while 47% were against.

Abstract

According to the several interviews, videos, articles, and surveys conducted, people have

a different perspective of this issue. Some believe that it is ethical to adopt kids as a gay couple,

while other believe people that it should stay the same way it has always been. It's important to

know the perspectives of both sides since we are all human and that's how we slowly start to

shape the world and our cultures. There are different reasons and factor that affect the way

people react to this situation, due to the fact the world is changing every day. People change
their minds all the time because of society, social media, and other factors such as new laws and

regulations that change and shape the world in a different way. As time progresses people will be

more familiar with the issue of same-sex and will understand the different perspective society

has towards this issue.

 Citations

Gay Adoption | What Would You Do? | WWYD. (2015, August 01). Retrieved October 04,
2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N85g6DQ4H1g
T. (2015, December 13). My Two Mums (The Myths of Gay Adoption) | Lynne Elvins |
TEDxBristol. Retrieved October 04, 2017, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAcuH7n-dLc
Overview of Lesbian and Gay Parenting, Adoption and Foster Care. (n.d.). Retrieved October
04, 2017, from https://www.aclu.org/fact-sheet/overview-lesbian-and-gay-parenting-
adoption-and-foster-care
Harris, E. A. (2017, June 20). Same-Sex Parents Still Face Legal Complications. Retrieved
October 04, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/us/gay-pride-lgbtq-same-sex-
parents.html
Despite Same-Sex Marriage Ruling, Gay Adoption Rights Uncertain in Some States. (n.d.).
Retrieved October 04, 2017, from http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-
analysis/blogs/stateline/2015/08/19/despite-same-sex-marriage-ruling-gay-adoption-rights-
uncertain-in-some-states
Same-sex adoptions survey
Interviews with Paulina Arroniz and Ana Mena