I can't put myself in the place of these idiots who think gays are sinners, or whatever it is they say.

Yes, gay marriage has certainly destroyed the fabric of society in the countries in which it is legal...

</Rick Santorum>

that I agree...

I am not comfortable with adoption by homosexual parents. And the arguments that many kids today live in "recomposed" families is not a valid one - i.e. it's not because people use today's freedoms to do things that are not great for kids that we should give other people the same rights to put kids in less than optimal environments. And yes, they will be loved, and yes, I know that gays will do fine parents, but having two mothers or two fathers, like having a stepmother or stepfather, is not the best  - and in the case of gay couples, it is unavoidable.

So, should we give gays the right to be as irresponsible as traditional parents can be? I lean towards no.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

I disagree as well.  In fact, I became a user here just to respond to Rom and Jerome.  First off, I'm not sure how it works in Europe.  Rom suggests that marriage is simply a traditional formality.  In the US that is not true, marriage confers rights and privileges to a couple that civil unions do not.  Two offhand examples, if I marry someone not from the US, they would be eligible for visa/citizenship and could live in the US.  A civil union would not be able to do this. Also, health care is a biggie as well.  In a domestic partnership (and I believe civil unions as well) you can claim your SO and they get benefits from your employer.  However, any money your employer contributes toward their benefits must be claimed as income on your tax returns at the end of the year and just so you know this amt. usually isn't trivial--what I've seen quoted is usually over $7,000/year.  There is a list of over 1400 new "rights" that come with marriage that aren't coferred in civil unions and domestic partnerships.  That's why there is a difference.

As for the adoption issue, I find it interesting that you'd support gay couples committing themselves (and, I assume, their love) to each other in the eyes of the law, friends, and family but then tell them they aren't allowed to share in the joy of parenthood simply because they are gay or lesbian.  Think about that for a minute, especially if you have your own children-because they are gay or lesbian.  Even Jerome says "they will be loved and yes , I know that gays will do fine parents, but having two mothers or two fathers, like having a stepmother or stepfather, is not the best"--

First off, how do you know this?  On either count, the step parent vs. gay/lesbian parent?  If a parent passed away when the child was young (say 3 yrs.or less) would having a step parent at say, age 5, create a traumatic childhood experience that would scar that poor, helpless toddler for life?  Or would having a stable two parent household be better for the child?  What if a they were 10 or 12 and their mom or dad's ex-spouse was abusive but the step-parent is loving, understanding, hell maybe they go to counseling together.  I suppose that child would be better off with his/her original parents (or just the one) instead?  Does that previous example mean that there are special circumstances when step parents are a-okay?  But, I suppose gay/lesbian parents NEVER are because they're homosexual?  

I searched peer reviewed scientific literature on pubmed (only cursory mind you, so you might have strong scientific literature that refutes what I found).  Although I wasn't able to access many of the full articles, based on the abstracts which usually state the conclusions of the research, the general consensus seemed to be that children of lesbian parents were, psychologically, no more likely to have problems than those of straight families.  From one review article (Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol. 2005 Jun;17(3):309-12.)  that I could access:  "Children raised by lesbian mothers were no different in terms of psychological and behavioral development from children raised by heterosexual mothers [13-16,21]. In addition, there were no differences in terms of gender identity or gender development in the children of lesbians as compared with children raised in heterosexual homes [9*,10,13,21].

Unfortunately, little is known about gay parenting, since gay men either being allowed to adopt, raising children from a marriage, etc. is still not socially acceptable (and reflected in your comments quite frankly).  One point that they do make however, is this: "Studies of gender identity, gender role behavior, and sexual orientation found no differences between children of gay men and children of heterosexual fathers. Children of gay fathers are not more likely to become homosexual nor are they more likely to be sexually molested by their gay fathers [25].

The caveats in this are the small sample size of gay parented children may be skewing the data and that additional studies are needed.  In addition, I tried to research the impact factor of the journal and it doesn't seem to be very high (impact factor is based on the number of times an article is cited) however, I couldn't find impact factors for a number of the social sciences/psych journals...I could be looking in the wrong places since I'm a neuroscientist, not a social scientist.  

I'd also like to point out to Rom that one could easily argue who gets to determine what is marginal or eccentric?  Having a two parent household, where a child is loved and cared for is eccentric?  Marginal?   Societal norms change.  What about a stay at home Dad...in the 50's  that would have been quite the marginal and eccentric family.  Dad stays at home raising the kids and mom makes the money?!?  Back then that type of family was absurd (i.e marginal and eccentric) and I'd bet that some thought the kids would have psychological problems as well.

You also mention  "imposing your choice of forming a gay family to your child"  the question then becomes is gay good, bad, or equal to heterosexual families.  Because when you think about it, heterosexual families impose their choice of forming a heterosexual family on their children and I don't see you questioning that.

I know this reply was really long, but to end I'd like to modify what Jerome said:

Should we give gays the rights to be as RESPONSIBLE and loving as traditional parents can be?  I lean towards yes.

Please, don't let your assumptions and prejudices blind you to fact.  There is nothing to argue that gays or lesbians would be any worse at parenting than your typical heterosexual parents.  If anything, opening up adoption to gays and lesbians would provide loving homes to children who might otherwise never have the opportunity to become part of a family rather than a failure of the system.