Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Lifesite News and Tony Perkins team up to bash gay marriage with bad research

A very aggravating thing about religious right groups is how they will continue to distort studies about the lgbt community.

Case in point - the Family Research Council and the conservative online news site Life Site News

Last week, I blogged about how the Family Research Council was distorting a Netherlands study in a piece on its webpage to claim that gay marriages have more promiscuity than heterosexual marriages.

In spite of the fact that the Netherlands study looked at casual relationships involving gay men and none of the men in the study were married, the Family Research Council not only used the study to bash gay marriage but also same-sex households with children.

The Netherlands study was again distorted last week, but this time by Family Research Council head Tony Perkins in an  address at the Faith and Freedom Conference:

Data show that the great majority of married homosexuals have multiple sexual partners. One recent study of homosexual couples found that each member of such couples averages eight additional sexual partners per year.

And as if this distortion isn't bad enough, Perkins then says the following:

Other studies suggest that children raised in homosexual homes are much more likely to be exposed to violence than those raised by a mom and a dad.

Perkins doesn't go into detail about just what these studies are but LifeSite News, in an article about Perkins's speech, attempts to take up the slack by assuming just what studies Perkins is talking about:

For example, a 1994 study in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence examining conflict and violence in lesbian relationships found that 90% of the lesbians surveyed had been recipients of one or more acts of verbal aggression from their intimate partners during the year prior to the study, with 31% reporting one or more incidents of physical abuse. A 2001 survey in the Journal of the Family Research Institute found that gay men were 25 times more likely than married men to be domestically attacked.

But like Perkins, LifeSite News is highly inaccurate.

According to the Journal of Interpersonal Violence’s own web page:

The Journal of Interpersonal Violence offers the most up-to-date information on domestic violence, rape, child sexual abuse and other violent crimes . . . Focusing on both victims and perpetrators, the journal examines theoretical links between all types of interpersonal violence, exploring the similarities and differences between these types of crimes.

In other words, the Journal of Interpersonal Violence tracks domestic violence, as well as other violent crimes.

Those surveyed in journal articles are the victims of violence, verbal or otherwise, because this is what the journal is designed to track.

What Life Site News is doing here is the equivalent of taking a study of domestic violence in the African-American community published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence and using it to allege that black relationships are indicative of violent behavior. 

And that second study? It's entitled Gay Domestic Violence Finally Measured and it was written by researcher Paul Cameron.  Cameron is the creator of numerous inaccurate studies about the lgbt community. He has been discredited continuously and extensively by such organizations as the American Psychological Association and the American Sociological Assocation.

But at least LifeSite News finds him credible. I guess that makes it all okay.



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Delaware GOP Senate nominee supports 'ex-gay' ministries and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Delaware GOP Senate Nominee A Staunch Supporter Of Ex-Gay Ministries - More proof that if Christine O'Donnell becomes a senator, lgbts are in for a world of trouble.

FRC's continued attempts to drag down Reid - My gosh, can the Family Research Council get any more tasteless?

A very good night for LGBT candidates - Something for under the radar but that's okay. Take it from me, you can get a LOT done while under the radar.

Focus on the Family: Legally Married Couples Do Not Count As "Families - And yet they whine about being called "bigots."

New study on LGBTQ students in school - I don't mean to end the news briefs on this sad note but it's an important issue.



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LGBT community should fear the thought of 'Senator' Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell's victory last night was a gamechanger on so many fronts.

For one the emphasis is off of the supposed Democrat electoral slaughter in November and is now on one of the backstories everyone was  ignoring - the crisis of leadership in the Republican Party.

And now O'Donnell, whose victory in the Republican Delaware Senate primary over establishment pick Mike Castle (thanks to out of state tea party money and Sarah Palin) has made her the new media star for a time.

Right now folks are laughing at O'Donnell because of her extreme right-wing and strange views, including starring in a video which criticized masturbation. People are saying that she had no chance to win the general election.

But as long as she is running and is not taken as a serious challenger, she can easily sneak up and win, especially when she is backed by the money and influence of the tea party.

And this doesn't bode well for the lgbt community. She used to be a spokesperson for anti-gay Concerned Women for America.

That's the organization which, amongst other things, blames the lgbt community because young black men aren't graduating, stands against the repeal of DADT,  and who at times cites the discredited work of Paul Cameron.

This is the type of person who can be a United States Senator and it should scare the lgbt community.

It's one thing to have Family Research Council head Tony Perkins called as "expert witnesses" in front of Congress.

But having someone like O'Donnell in Congress is like having a rabid fox trapped in a henhouse.

So the lgbt community and the Democratic Party in general should be careful. Don't laugh O'Donnell into Congress.


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