Stonewall Celebrate Fathers Day By Announcing New Guide On Gay Dads… And They Need Your Help!

Gay rights charity, Stonewall, are marking Father’s Day with the announcement brand new guide on gay dads that will include how to become one, the legal situation surrounding it and general advice. Calling on gay dads to come forward to help them make this the most informative guide yet, Stonewall Senior Public Affairs Officer Sam Dick said:

“At Stonewall, we know many gay men are dads. But we also know that many more think becoming a dad is beyond their reach. With this groundbreaking new guide, Stonewall aims to show that there are many ways of being a gay dad and encourage those who might have written off the prospect to re-consider”

Recently concluding a study, Different Families, with Cambridge University that included interviews with the children of gay parents, observations from children with gay dads did highlight a difference from other families, but not always in the way you might think with four-year-old Alfie seeing his family as different to his friends’ families ‘because it’s more nicer and more…better.’

However whilst this does show some change in society’s perceptions of gay parented families, the research did demonstrate homophobia was still an issue with some children of gay dads experiencing homophobic bullying in school, including William, 15, who spoke of his problems with homophobia at his Catholic school:

“‘I wasn’t happy to go to school because I knew it would happen”

whilst his sister Lauren, 17, said she’d experienced homophobia from teachers who discouraged her to focus on gay issues for a project:

‘My teacher said, can you stay off the whole gay topic – we’re a Catholic school.’

The study also highlighted it wasn’t just an issue at secondary school, with Sian, 9 saying: ‘I wish that people didn’t be rude about gay people.’, whilst Mark, 8, said he was teased about it: ‘They say I know what gay means, it’s two naked men dancing around on a boat.’

Are you a gay dad through fostering, adoption, surrogacy, co-parenting or you have children from a previous relationship, Stonewall would like to hear from you to help with case studies for their forthcoming guide on gay dads.If you are please contact ilana.seager@stonewall.org.uk