同性家庭子女生活較貧困 法律關係無保障

Children growing up in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families are more likely to live in poverty and may be denied legal ties to one of their parents, a report released on Tuesday showed.

A lack of federal recognition of same-sex marriages means such families face higher tax burdens and unequal access to health insurance and government safety net programs, said the report entitled "All Children Matter: How Legal and Social Inequalities Hurt LGBT Families."

The report was released online and authored by groups advocating for gay rights including Movement Advancement Project, Family Equality Council and Center for American Progress.

"The reality is if you look at today's modern families, they come in all shapes and sizes," said Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of Family Equality Council.

"The laws and policies we have in place haven't kept pace with that changing reality," she said.

An estimated two million children are being raised in such households, the report said. They live in 96 percent of US counties in racially and ethnically diverse families, it said.

Their children are as happy, healthy and well-adjusted as their peers raised by heterosexual parents, it said.

But such families are more likely to live in poverty than married heterosexual households, the report said.

In 31 states, it is very challenging for same-sex parents to establish legal ties for their children to both parents, Chrisler said. Thus a child could be left vulnerable if a parent dies or the relationship dissolves.

For example, Naz Meftah and Lydia Banuelos were legally married in California and are parents to three young children.

Banuelos is not recognized legally as their parent, cannot sign medical releases for them at the doctor and is not listed on their birth certificates.

The couple participated in the release of the report.

"It's not just sentimental and heart breaking. It has a real impact," Meftah told the reporters. "We are legally married and Lydia is a stranger to her own kids by law."本週二發佈的最新報告顯示，生活在女同性戀、男同性戀、雙性戀和變性人家庭的孩子更容易生活貧困，而且與其中一位家長的法律關係還可能不被認可。

報告指出，由於聯邦政府尚未承認同性婚姻，致使此類家庭面臨更高的稅收負擔，加入健康保險和政府安全網計劃的機會也不平等。報告名爲《所有的孩子都重要：法律和社會不平等如何傷害同性家庭》。

該報告由倡導同性戀權利的團體“運動促進項目”、“家庭平等委員會”和“美國進步中心”共同撰寫，並在網上發表。

“家庭平等委員會”執行董事珍妮弗•克里斯勒說：“事實上，當今的現代家庭形態和大小各異。”

她說：“現實不斷變化，但目前的法律和政策還跟不上。”

報告估計，全美大約兩百萬兒童生活在這類家庭中，遍佈96%的美國郡縣的各個族裔。

他們與異性戀家庭的孩子一樣快樂健康地生活，非常適應生活環境。

但報告指出，這種家庭與已婚異性戀家庭相比趨於貧困。

克里斯勒指出，在美國的31個州，同性父母雙方難以與子女建立法律關係。如果雙親中有一人去世或者關係瓦解，孩子就會非常無助。

例如，納茲•梅夫塔哈和莉迪亞•巴紐艾洛斯在加州正式登記結婚，養育有三個年幼的子女。

但法律不承認巴紐艾洛斯是其父母，因此她無法在醫院爲孩子籤醫療單，而且名字不能寫在孩子的出生證明上。

這對夫婦參與了報告的發佈。

梅夫塔哈告訴記者：“這不僅讓人悲傷和心碎，還有切實的影響。我們正式註冊結婚，但在法律上講，莉迪亞對自己的孩子來說卻是陌生人。”