Research published in the February 2012 issue of The Journal of Marriage and Family finds that most adolescent and young adults raised by gay or lesbian parents support equal rights for their families.

The debate over whether same-sex couples should be allowed to enter into civil marriages is currently an active and controversial one in the United States. In this study, family scholars Abbie Goldberg of Clark University and Katherine Kuvalanka of Miami University explored the beliefs of 49 adolescents and emerging adults who have lesbian, gay, and bisexual parents. The research inquired as to how they perceived themselves and their families as being affected by marriage (in)equality as well as the factors that shaped their perspectives. 

More than two thirds of participants voiced unequivocal support for marriage equality, citing numerous legal and symbolic benefits that their families were denied. For example, their parents' lack of relationship recognition meant that many of them grew up with legal ties to only one parent. Many also recalled instances of having peers, teachers, and others question the legitimacy or validity of their families. One quarter of participants were critical of the institution of marriage -- but at the same time acknowledged the many benefits associated with marriage in its current form, and believed that all couples, regardless of sexual orientation, should be able to access it.

"Our findings provide powerful evidence of the types of everyday stresses and anxieties that legal inequities create for children and young adults with lesbian, gay or bisexual parents, yet at the same time they highlight the resourcefulness and resilience of these individuals, who construct their family relationships as meaningful in spite of legal nonrecognition," report Goldberg and Kuvalanka.