Warning issued about American College of Pediatricians membership

One good thing that has come out of the controversy regarding the American College of Pediatricians (ACP) is the attention now focused on how religious right organizations create shell groups in order to spread their homophobic garbage.

Groups and individuals such as Dr. Francis Collins, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Dr. Gary Remafedi have gone public denouncing the ACP. And now, more critical information about ACP comes from the group TransActive, a group which provides support to improve the quality of life of transgender and gender non-conforming children, youth and their families through education, services, advocacy and research:

The American College of Pediatricians is a fringe organization that promotes social conservatism primarily by distributing misinterpreted and misrepresented information from reputable medical and research sources and discredited and highly questionable "facts" from other fringe individuals, organizations and resources such as the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH).

The primary goal of the American College of Pediatricians, despite claims to the contrary, is the continued marginalization, isolation, denial of equal rights and mutual respect for transgender children, youth, their families and other members of the greater LGBT population.

These lists are taken from both the American College of Pediatricians and NARTH websites. We include background information on some of those listed below where we feel that information might be helpful or useful to families and others visiting this page.

If you are the parent, caregiver, friend or advisor to a transgender or gender non-conforming child or youth, TransActive recommends AVOIDING these individuals as caregivers and to contact us if you become aware of their involvement as so-called "expert witnesses" in legal cases, policy development or other actions involving transgender identity in children and adolescents.

The list is extremely comprehensive and some of the names include

Diamond, Eugene M.D., Chicago, IllinoisEugene Diamond is a member of the Catholic Medical Association. He is on record as being opposed to providing female rape victims access to so-called "morning after" pills to prevent pregnancy as a result of the rape. In his own words, "...in all likelihood the woman is not going to become pregnant in the first place. Thus, what reasons could be given for taking any risk of [aborting a fetus]?"

Quick, Sharon M.D., Bonney Lake, Washington
Dr. Quick serves on the "Scientific Advisory Committee" of the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). She has also testified in Washington state in opposition to ESSB 5297 on the grounds that "programs to prevent discrimination... will likely result in normalizing homosexuality in sexuality education." She included in her testimony the statement that, "Consistent play with traditionally opposite gender toys is one of the factors used to diagnose gender identity disorder or childhood, a condition that is associated with later [homosexuality]." To the best of our knowledge, she is no longer a practicing physician.

Ironically, Dr. Quick authored a medical ethics paper entitled "The Stones Cry Out". In this paper she decries, in defense of the unborn, that "Throughout history, people have been discriminated against because of race, religion, nationality, etc." [Apparently, LGBT youth do NOT fall into her definition of "etc."]

 Dean Byrd, PhD, Salt Lake City, Utah
Dean Byrd is the Vice President of NARTH and an Adjunct Professor of Family Studies at the University of Utah. He is the former Director of Clinical Training at LDS Social Services and a former Clinical Professor at Brigham Young University. His training is in genetics, biochemistry and neurochemistry. He is the author of a book published in 2001 entitled "Homosexuality and the Church of Jesus Christ". In the book Dr. Byrd outlines and defends the position of the Mormon church regarding homosexual "behavior". One of the chapters of this book is entitled: "The Degree of Sin That Homosexual Behavior Represents".

Rick Fitzgibbons, MD, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons is the director of the Institute for Marital Healing and a consultant to the Congregation for Clergy at the Vatican. He is also a member of NARTH's "Scientific Advisory Committee" and a member of the Catholic Medical Association. As stated on the NARTH website, Dr. Fitzgibbons is critical of many programs in the public schools that portray the gay lifestyle as healthy: "Many of these educational programs attempt to mask their true goals by the use of names such as diversity, tolerance or 'no name-calling weeks' when, in fact, they attempt to undermine the Church's teaching on marriage, human sexuality and, now child-rearing."
 
Arthur Goldberg, JD, CRS, BCPC, Jersey City, New Jersey
Arthur Goldberg serves as co-director of JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Homosexuality). Red Heifer Press in Los Angeles published his recent text on homosexuality, psychology, and biblical principles entitled "Light in the Closet! Torah, Homosexuality and the Power to Change". 

Trayce Hansen, PhD, San Marcos, California
Dr. Hansen consults on legal cases and has testified in both deposition and court hearings related to her professional expertise. She authored an article entitled "Children Raised by Openly Homosexual Parents More Likely to Engage in Homosexuality" that was featured on the Anglican Mainstream website. In that article she states: "No one knows for sure by what complex mechanisms homosexual parents disproportionately rear homosexual children. But regardless of how, it appears they do. The public needs to be made aware of the findings of these studies so that when courts adjudicate and citizens vote on issues related to homosexuality, they're fully informed as to the possible consequences of those decisions on children."

The full list is here.



Hat tip to Truth Wins Out.