Are there persuasive reasons to prohibit same-sex couples from raising children?

It's a great issue and this is probably the best way to word it...  I think it's more controversial than (and should stand alone from) an issue about single gay parents, perhaps because it mirrors the traditional nuclear family.

I think this one's ready to go.

Whoops.  Romney just alienated some GOP voters.

CBN

After talking about traditional marriage at a Concord, New Hampshire, town hall meeting, Romney was confronted by Cynthia Fish. She’s gay. The exchange went like this:

“I am a gay woman and I have children. Your comment that you just made, it sort of invalidates my family. I wish you could explain to me more, why if we are sending our troops over to fight for liberty and justice for all throughout this country, why not for me? Why not for my family?’ …

“‘Wonderful, I'm delighted that you have a family and you're happy with your family. That's the American way. ... People can live their lives as they choose and children can be a great source of joy, as you know. And I welcome that. There are other ways to raise kids that's fine: single moms, grandparents raising kids, gay couples raising kids. That's the American way, to have people have their freedom of choice.

issue prior to revisions:

Should opposite-sex couples raise children?  everyone answers yes, right?

Well, what I was getting at is that there would be "no" answers from people who think that not every couple should have children.  Not necessarily a bad parenting thing.  (Could be about overpopulation, could be about the rights of couples who don't want to have children to remain childless, etc.)

Whether opposite-sex couples should have that option is a different question.  Could that work here?  ("Should same-sex couples have the option to raise children?")

I agree that religion kinda muddies things, I was working from the gay marriage issue (which I think is very similar).  Maybe, "Are there persuasive reasons to prohibit same-sex couples from raising children?"

(By the way I think "raising" doesn't limit it to adoption -- lesbian couples who have given birth to a child also raise that child.  Plus only one of the lesbian partners actually does the birthing, so...)

is everyone forgetting that lesbian couples don't adopt?  the issue cannot stay with adoption because it's broader than that.  i don't like adding religioun into this issue.  i'm not crazy about that issue as it relates to same-sex couples. 

the question is whether gay people can be good parents.  does gay disqualify you from being a suitable parent?

i'm not understanding the objection re: esperanto and jenna.  re:  Should opposite-sex couples raise children?  everyone answers yes, right?  sure some people are bad parents but that's not what we're talking about.

would you feel better if we changed it to:

Should gay people raise children?

Should homosexuals raise children?

some people believe gay people can't raise kids, period. gay is dangerous. 

I also like Jenna's suggestion but I'm okay with this one as is.  This is a pretty constant debate in this country.

Jenna makes a good point, the wording here is imprecise. "Can a same-sex couple be good parents?" This raises the question of whether they categorically cannot be good parents, as some would argue.

Good for evidence.

Maybe something like the gay marriage formulation -- "Are there persuasive non-religious reasons to prohibit same-sex couples from raising children?"

What I don't like about it as phrased is the "yes" vote.  "If you're part of a same-sex couple, you should raise children."  It becomes about whether couples should have children, rather than about gay parents.

I mean, turn it around:  "Should opposite-sex couples raise children?"

The phrasing I suggested (the addition of "only") shifts the emphasis to where it should be, IMO.

I think this issue is spot-on as is. Regardless of the messy details of parenting, this is the question at the heart of it. Should children grow up in, for lack of a better phrase, gay houses? Should gayness automatically, ideally exclude you from parenting?

How about, "Should only heterosexual people adopt children?"  Or, if you prefer to keep adoption out of it, "Should only heterosexual people raise children?"

actually i was just talking about same-sex couples here.  i was not even thinking about the single gay parent. 

I think it's a good issue.

what are the implications of answering, "No."? Aside from adoption, we're talking about single parents that are now in a homosexual relationship... it's not like they have a choice as to whether or not to raise them.

the two possibilities for this issue are

(1) whether a gay parent should lose custody to the other parent or lose custody period,

(2) asking whether there is some detrimental impact on children raised by same-sex couples.