What to visit in Lisbon

We’re really happy to bring you a bit of recent news: One, published June 7 in the academic journal Pediatrics, are the results of a study that showed that children of lesbian mothers, who became pregnant via artificial insemination and were in a lesbian couple at the time the study began were not only just as mentally healthy as their peers, but in many cases, actually healthier.

The second story is of a wedding, also on June 7th: in Lisbon, Teresa Pires and Helena Paixao married in the country´s first gay wedding celebration since the new Portuguese marriage law was signed, after a long struggle for the right to marry. This means that Portugal is the sixth European country to legalize gay marriage. There were smiles and tears of happiness all over the room, and the couple’s daughters seemed especially happy. Long live the brides!

However, this is not a total victory because, unlike the Spanish law, the Portuguese law does not legalize adoption by homosexual couples. With more studies like the one mentioned perhaps the situation will change shortly.

The study we’re talking about began in 1986 and is the first investigation of this topic to have such a long follow-up period. Researchers found that children of lesbian mothers were more confident, and in some mental health measures, for example with regards to issues of self-esteem and aggression, were healthier than the control group. The children of lesbian unions had fewer school problems and misconduct that the children of heterosexual unions.

Researchers advanced several theories to explain the results: the mothers in the study have been very active as mothers, taking classes and forming support groups. They were very interested in their children, anticipated problems at school, made great efforts to get involved in their children’s education and prevent bullying. Their unions lasted longer than the heterosexual unions, and they resorted to corporal punishment and other methods of aggressive discipline much less than heterosexual parents. That is, the mothers did everything possible to form strong and loving families.

There is no better time to rent apartments in Lisbon, and toast to love, social progress and common sense: Love conquers all, and good parents raise healthy children, whatever their sexual orientation.