Asecondhistoricalparadoxisthatthelesbianandgaybabyboomemergedatthesametimethatheterosexualfertilityratesinadvancedindustrialsocietieshaddeclinedbelowreplacementlevels.Inotherwords，justwhenmanyheterosexualswerechoosingnottohavechildrenortohavefewerthantheirownparentshad，manylesbiansandgaysbeganchoosingtojointheranksofparents.Ofcourse，thisisnotnecessarilyparadoxical，becauseitrepresentsanotherindexofthedecouplingofsexualityfromprocreationandmarriagethatIdiscussedabove.Anemotionalratherthananeconomiccalculusnowgovernsparentingdecisions，whichrepresentaquestforenduringloveandintimacy.Inthecontextofthegrowingranksofunmarriedheterosexualswhochooseparenting，whethersingleorcoupled，itstandstoreasonthatmanylesbiansandgaymenwoulddesireparenthoodaswell.
Steppingbackafewpacesfromtheheatofcontemporarydebatesaboutthedrivetorecognizelesbianandgayfamilyrelationships，Iamstruckbyanhistoricalanalogythatrepresentsyetanotherparadox.DuringtheperiodoftheColdWarbetweentheUnitedStatesandtheUSSR，Westernanti-CommunistsoftenportrayedCommunismasaprofoundthreattothefamilybecause，theymaintained，thePartydemandedabsoluteloyaltyandlaborfromitscitizensattheexpenseoffamilybonds（e.g，Skoussen，1958）.MyresearchontheChineseCommunistrevolutionledmetoperceivequiteadifferentrelationshipbetweenitsvictoryandthefateofConfucianpatriarchyandChinesepeasantfamilies.Iarguedthatsurprisingly，theCommunistrevolutioninChinahadactuallyhelpedtorescueafailingmarriageandfamilysystemfromtheravagesoftheagrariancrisisbyreformingitatthesametimethatitdemocratizedparticipationinpeasantpatriarchy.Landreform，suchaswasdepictedinFanshen（Hinton1966）helpedtoexpandpeasantaccesstomarriage，andthePeople’sLiberationArmydrewonfamilytiesasacrucialrevolutionaryresource.
Similarly，whilecontemporaryopponentsofgayunions，parentingandfamilyrightsportraytheseasthreatstomarriageandfamilylife，Iforeseeadifferenttrajectory.Untilrecently，mostgaysandlesbianswereforcedeithertoremainintheclosetortobecomefamilyexiles，bothoptionsrepresentinggenuinethreatstomanymarriagesandfamilies.Indeed，thehypocrisyofafreelovemarriagesysteminwhichhomosexualswerenotfreetopursuetheirauthenticlovessurelydidlittletostrengthentheinstitution.However，nowthatvastnumberofself-identifiedlesbiansandgayshaveembracedmarriageandparenthoodascentralgoals，theyoccupyavanguardpostofthepostmodernfamilycondition.GLBTfamilyaspirationsrepresentanintegralcomponentoftheincreasinglyglobalshiftfromobligatory，heterosexualprocreativefamiliestotheunavoidablechallengesofcreatingthediversefamilieswechoose.ToparaphraseMarx（1852），wedonotgettochoosetheconditionsunderwhichwearecompelledtomakehistoryorourfamilies.Consequently，along，unevencourseofstruggletoachievefamilyandsexualdiversity，equality，andharmonysurelyliesahead，buttheoverallhistoricaltrajectoryseemsequallyclear.