In the wake of the United States Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage, adults who grew up in LGBT households have spoken about the vacuum in their childhoods caused by their missing father or mother.
A video produced by religious liberty organisation Alliance Defending Freedom shares their stories.
It argues that the rights of children are compromised when they are denied the best upbringing possible – one with both a mother and a father.
Emotional food
Katy Faust, who was brought up by her mother and her lesbian partner, insists that: “Every child craves the love and involvement of their father.”
“Kids are made to be loved and adored, cherished and known by both of their parents,” she says.
“It’s the emotional food that kids need.”
Her comments are echoed by Robert Oscar Lopez, also raised by a lesbian couple. Robert, who describes himself as bisexual, states that: “Gay marriage is wrong”, not because of religious reasons but because “that’s not where kids come from”.
Powerful
He adds: “The idea is so powerful in your head that there is a father and a mother out there, I mean how can you erase that?
“You can keep the child in a bubble, move into a lesbian neighbourhood, have them only talk to people who approve of lesbian families.
“You can erase every single book ever written in the history of mankind that includes references to a father and a mother and the kid will still reach the age of 12 or 13 and know that something’s wrong.”
Child rights
At the end of the video Katy Faust explains why the contributors united to oppose the redefinition of marriage.
She says, “all of us see that this has to do primarily with child rights and wellbeing.
“And even though we have a pretty diverse experience, pretty diverse childhood experiences, we all speak with one voice about the need for children to be raised by their mother and father whenever possible.”
The contributors submitted written briefs to the US Supreme Court, along with hundreds of other individuals, churches and organisations, ahead of the gay marriage ruling.
Imposition
On 26 June this year, the US Supreme Court imposed same-sex marriage on every state in the USA.
Five of the nine judges who voted on the issue backed the move, while four disagreed.
Before the ruling, individual states had been free to decide on the issue of same-sex marriage for themselves.