By Ricardo Rangel
The State of California and the State of Massachusetts were the first to recognize same sex marriages in the United States in 2008. By 2014 the United States American Community Survey recorded more than 700,000 households as “male-male couples” or “female-female” couples.
The average income for these types of households were between $100,000 or more. About 45% of the same sex couples had a four-year degree. That same year, the census reported an average of about 19% of the couples had a one child of their own in the household.
In Texas, there were more than 58,000 same sex couples.
Then on June 26, 2015, the nation saw the ruling of same sex marriages as legal, with a ruling of 5 to 4 at the Supreme Court.
The division shown in the 5 to 4 ruling would later play important roles of how the American people would react to such an action.
Throughout the year the Supreme Court continued to favor same sex couples by lifting the bans on same-sex adoption cases in Alabama and Mississippi. These decisions were also ruled at a division of 5 to 4 in the United States Supreme Court.
Yet despite these strides made in equality, one question still remains: is America ready for same sex families? This was the question asked to a heterosexual couple Efrain and Maria Villanueva. These were their responses.
“When we became parents 10 years ago we had three concerns,” said Maria, “One was ‘will my baby be healthy?’ How can I as a parent demonstrate the so much love we both have for our baby? How can I protect my baby from the evil and good of this world?”
Efrain agreed with his wife’s statements.
“There are people in South America dying of hunger. There are people in Africa dying of thirst. There are people in America fight with each other to see whether or not a gay couple across the street can adopt the child of a deceased parent or orphan of most probably a heterosexual family or encounter.”
“If you as a parent, gay or straight, can ask yourself those three questions and come up with answers to them, there is no stopping who can or cannot be a parent adopted or other,” Maria concluded.
