I've never really thought about gender. It was always a thought that came and left me at random times. Whenever an issue of women's rights came up, I avoided broaching the subject because I didn't know much about it and thought everyone was equal. Plus, I didn't know there were so many roles in today's society. I generally thought there was only one man or one woman. Another example would be gays or lesbians. However, growing up, I was exposed to different types of roles and identities. Once again, I didn't dwell too much on the subject. Through my experience in higher education, I have learned a lot about the history of men and women, and the roles they played. I learned that gender is something we act out and I've always been open to anything, but for some reason I could never approach a gay, lesbian, or gender fluid person. I thought they would try to hit on me or not accept me because I wasn't a lesbian. I don't know why I made these assumptions. I guess I thought they were all the same. I have quite a few gay, lesbian, bisexual and gender fluid friends. They are all wonderful people. These people are full of love and compassion towards everyone. They don't have a single bad bone in their body. I am beyond words that these people have approached me and become my friends. I am a friendly person and can get along with almost everyone. That said, gay and lesbian couples constitute a model of family life. They do not fall into patterns of inequality like heterosexual couples. Gay and lesbian couples share household chores and lesbian couples contribute equally to all couple arrangements. Gay and lesbian couples also make excellent parents. They also had to face the difficulty of recognizing their sexuality and starting a family. In 1976, there were between 300,000 and 500,000 gay and lesbian parents. Today, it is estimated that there are between 1.5 and 5 million lesbian mothers and between one and three million homosexual fathers. Additionally, there are between eight and thirteen million children raised by at least one homosexual parent. That's five percent of all children in the United States. There is no evidence that gay fathers or lesbian mothers are a negative influence on their children or that they sexually abuse their children. Studies have shown that the outcomes of children from these families tend to be better than average. Research has also proven that children raised by lesbian mothers develop gender identity in the same way as children raised by a heterosexual or "normal" couple. »..