Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Psychologist Way Off Base With View On Gay Marriages

Another in the Voices of Venango County series, this excerpted from a letter by Carie Forden, Ph.D., of Oil City to The Derrick 6/8/06:

(The letter refers to a presentation in Venango County by Bill Maier, Vice-President, Psychologist in Residence at Focus On The Family, an anti-gay extremist organization based in Colorado. The program was promoted by Lighthouse Ministries of Franklin, an organization affiliated with Venango County's own anti-gay extremist, Diane Gramley.)

As a psychologist and a member of the American Psychological Association, I feel compelled to respond to an article which described a presentation made by a psychologist and radio host named Bill Maier*, who is opposed to gay marriage.

I want to make clear that this view is not representative of the majority of psychologists, nor is it supported by scientific research. In fact, the scientific evidence is such that the American Psychological Association has adopted a resolution which advocates for the establishment of civil marriage for same-sex couples.

This resolution also encourages psychologists to act to eliminate all discrimination against same-sex couples (http:/www.apa.org).

Maier gives a false picture of scientific evidence. He ignores the psychological research which consistently shows that gay and lesbian relationships are equivalent to those of heterosexuals in terms of satisfaction and commitment, and that gay and lesbian parents are just as likely as heterosexual parents to raise helathy and well-adjusted children.

While Maier implies that anthropological and sociological research provides support for banning gay marriage, in fact, both the American Anthropological Association and the American Sociological Association oppose such a ban.

The American Anthropological Association has released a statement saying that "more than a century of anthropological research on households, kinship relationships, and families, across cultures and through time, provides no support whatsoever for the view that either civilization or viable social orders depend upon marriage as an exclusively heterosexual institution.

Rather, anthropological research supports the conclusion that a vast array of family types, including families built upon same-sex partnerships, can contriute to stable and humane societies" (http://www.aaanet.org).

Likewise, the American Sociological Association has adopted a resolution strongly opposing a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, saying that "we believe that the official justification for the proposed constitutional amendment is based on prejudice rather than empirical research" (http://www.asanet.org).


Although Bill Maier is a psychologist, it seems that his views on gay marriage are based more on his religious beliefs than on the sound scientific evidence of his profession. It is simply not accurate to argue that research supports the idea that a ban on gay marriage will benefit society, and that traditional heterosexual marriage is the only kind of healthy relationship.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Focus On The Family, an anti-gay extremist organization based in Colorado". You have got to be kidding me right? Who authored that?

Extremist defined by dictionary.com to mean: One who advocates or resorts to measures beyond the norm, especially in politics.

Beyond the norm? Is Focus on the Family really going beyond the norm in defending Christianity and family? I think not. I would encourage you to read this letter written to Focus on the Family and replied to by Focus on the Family.

http://family.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/family.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1225&p_created=1044996780&p_sid=N1e_Gpnj&p_accessibility=0&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MTkmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX3BhZ2U9MSZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PWdheQ**&p_li=&p_topview=1

You want to talk about extremist? I think what the gay and lesbian community has done to Focus on the Family is extreme (throwing bricks through their windows, leaving animal parts on their doorstep). Read the response. They want to reach out to everyone.

You want to end bigotry and hatred? Stop printing it yourselves.

Anonymous said...

Good for you. It's about time people starting standing up for Christians whatever their beliefs may be. Some Christians support gay and lesbian rights, some do not. Either way, on either side, we need to profess love to one another, not condemnation.

Anonymous said...

I have been reading comments posted by anonymous in opposition to this website and their views. What I find interesting is that the author(s) of this website fail again and again to respond. Why can't this/these author(s) fight back?