Thursday, February 19, 2015

The Atlantic magazine rips apart newest flawed anti-gay parenting study


At times, the cause of lgbt equality is helped by the badly planned attempts to squash it. Just like the much maligned Regnerus study a few years ago,  a recent "study," which is the newest attempt by the anti-gay right to prove that same-sex households are bad for children, is catching much criticism for its numerous flaws. Below is just a snippet of how the The Atlantic magazine totally wrecked it:

The paper has a straightforward title: "Emotional Problems Among Children With Same-Sex Parents: Difference by Definition." It's not hard to guess the conclusion of this research, released last month by Catholic University professor Paul Sullins: Kids with gay parents have more emotional problems than kids with straight parents, and it's because their parents are gay.

This is not a new argument. Especially in the past decade, as gay marriage has been legally recognized in many states, a small number of scholars have claimed that kids of same-sex parents are exposed to more potential harms than kids of straight parents. This, in turn, has been used to argue against gay adoption and marriage. But just because some studies support this finding doesn't mean it's true. In fact, many, many more studies reached opposite conclusions. "Research ... has developed a scholarly consensus that shows that children raised by same-sex couples are at no important disadvantage," wrote Stanford University sociologist Michael Rosenfeld in an email. "There is a noisy fringe of academics who claim that children raised by same-sex couples are in disastrous peril," a viewpoint which "has little or no credibility within academia."

 . . .  From an academic perspective, there are a number of flaws in the design of Sullins's research. To his credit, he used a large sample of data compiled by the CDC to test his hypothesis, looking at kids who were living with same-sex parents at the time of various surveys taken between 1997 and 2013. But "what Sullins's paper does not show is that these children were actually raised by the same-sex couple," wrote Rosenfeld in an email.

Reading the paper, it's impossible to say whether the kids in question spent most of their lives with heterosexual parents who then got divorced, for example, or a single parent who had multiple partners over time. This family history matters: "We have decades of research showing that family instability and divorce takes a toll on children," Rosenfeld wrote. Because of this constraint, he said, the paper cannot speak to the way being raised by same-sex parents affects the well-being of children. In an email, Sullins disputed this criticism, pointing to other widely accepted studies on emotional well-being and family structure that rely on the same data.

 But there are other objections.  . . . - Using 'Pseudoscience' to Undermine Same-Sex Parents

Hat tip to Jeremy Hooper for bringing it to my attention.

'Doctor refuses to treat lesbian couple's baby because of 'religious liberty'' & other Thursday midday news briefs

Judge To Anti-Gay Florist: Religion Is Not An Excuse To Defy Anti-Discrimination Laws - I am sorry for anyone who disagrees but this is so true.

Doctor refuses treatment of same-sex couple's baby - The florist in the above brief is not the victim here. This family is. What the doctor did was perfectly legal in that state, but mess like this is what these so-called "religious liberty" bills could lead to in other places. Is this sort of thing right or Christian? Some on the right whine that "you will be made to care" about marriage equality. In cases like this involving children, you had better damn well care. 

Pediatrician Refuses To Care For Baby With Lesbian Mothers In Michigan - More details about this story.

E.W. Jackson: Civil Disobedience Needed To Stop Gay Rights And Impending Doom - Naturally, Jackson won't do it. He will push OTHERS to do it, but he won't put his proverbial "money where his mouth is."  

Breaking: Federal Equality Commission Working To Protect LGBT People Under Civil Rights Act - Excellent idea!  

A Grandfather's Love: Congressman Mike Honda Opens Up About His Transgender Granddaughter - Yet more proof that in the end, it's all about love.

Do's and Don'ts of Educating the Public on Transgender Health

How the media should educate the public on transgender health issues, to me, is simply a matter of kindness and common sense. It shouldn't require a video of "do's and don'ts." However, because of Fox News, education of how transgender health issues should be handled in the media is very important.



Hat tip to Media Matters