Lesbians are better at raising children than conventional couples, a senior member of the Government's parenting academy has said.
According to the annual British Social Attitudes Report, more than a third of people now believe same-sex parents are as good as heterosexual couples.
Stephen Scott, director of research at the National Academy for Parenting Practitioners, has said his research shows children from lesbian couples do better in life than the offspring of heterosexual couples. "Lesbians make better parents than a man and a women," Mr Scott told a meeting for the launch of think tank Demos. His controversial position draws backing from research that suggests children with two female parents are more aspirational than those with opposite-sex parents. Some studies also also shows children with lesbian parents are no more or less likely to have tendencies towards homosexuality.
Research at Birkbeck College, part of London University, and Clark University in Massachusetts suggests that same-sex couples make good parents because children cannot be conceived accidentally - parents must make an active decision to adopt or find a sperm donor. However, campaigners counter that fathers play an important part in family life and children have a right to get to know both of their biological parents.
Jon Davies, chief executive of the Families Need Fathers organisation, said: "Since all children will have a biological father the child has a right to know who that is. In most families where there will be a mother and a father, a father is needed to support them. But it is the quality of parenting that counts in the end regardless of the parents."
According to the annual British Social Attitudes Report, more than a third of people now believe same-sex parents are as good as heterosexual couples.
