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Marriage and family life are two issues which even the most lenient supporters of gays and lesbians find it difficult to support. How can two individuals of the same gender marry each other? Even if they do marry, how can they provide a happy and safe family life to their children? In any case, members of the same gender cannot have children through the natural procreation process.
They will have to adopt. Adoption, as is well known, is not something that can be done lightly. The life of the individual being adopted and the adults doing the adoption will be changed forever. In a situation where society is not interested in granting legitimacy to relations of lesbians and gays, is it acceptable to introduce a third party child into the equation?
These are just some of the issues that supporters and opponents of more rights for gays and lesbians are struggling with. There is no doubt that glib answers and simplistic solutions are out of the question. To expect gays and lesbians to wait for their own legal and social position to improve before thinking of children is inhuman. On the other hand, adopting an all or nothing approach and hoping that everything will work itself out well later on is too bigger risk.
It is important to desensitize the issue and focus on specifics. It is impossible to settle this issue on a national or global level. Rather, the immediate community in and around gays and lesbians will have to take the initiative. There may be some successes and some failures but everything has to take place at the grass root for maximum impact.
