Paul Cameron
When it comes to the anti-gay industry, statistics don't have to be accurate, they just have to be controversial. Facts are for losers.
Also working in the anti-gay industry's favor is the main-stream media's reluctance to call them out on their B.S. The result is a climate "researchers" like Paul Cameron thrive in.
Cameron, founder of the so-called Family Research Institute, is the king of anti-gay "studies" that prove how disgusting, depraved and dangerous LGBT people are. Though Cameron's research has been widely criticized and labeled garbage by anyone with a shred of intellectual or scientific decency, his statistics can be found hurling themselves out of the mouths of the anti-gay right at every turn.
Most recently Cameron can be found patting himself on the back for his studies "proving" that gays and lesbians are dangerous to children.
In fact, he claims that studies with titles like "Gay Foster Parents More Apt to Molest" have even influenced President Bush's opinions on gays as parents. Now, it's unlikely Bush has ever read Cameron's studies – after all, our Commander In Chief doesn't like to read – but it's not at all improbable that many of the right-wing talking heads Bush surrounds himself with have spouted Cameron's anti-family rhetoric.
The truth is that all reputable studies have shown that the kids of gay and lesbian parents generally turn out to be just fine.
Unless, of course, you're on Planet Cameron where all homosexuals are molesters waiting in the wings for fresh meat.
If you actually look at Cameron's Web site (http://www.familyresearchinst.org) it doesn't take much poking around to come to the conclusion that he's a little nutty and obsessed with homosexuality in a suspiciously unhealthy way. There's a reason why groups like the American Psychological Association and The American Sociological Association want nothing to do with him.
So how does a guy like this get his stats parroted on CNN without any kind of challenge?
Cameron manages to assume a thin veil of legitimacy by publishing his findings in peer reviewed journals. Or he would, if any journals of merit would have him. The journal he has been published in, "Psychological Reports," is a pay-to-play publication that charges the author to publish research. It isn't actually peer-reviewed, it just says it is.
But as we've learned from the anti-gay industry, all you have to do to make something true is say it over and over again. It's like magic. It's also like lying. But it's not a lie unless you're caught, right? Hey, it's working for Bush, why shouldn't it work for the little guys, too?
You could contact Cameron and tell him what he's full of, but it probably won't do any good. Still, here's his phone number: 303-681-3113. More importantly, keep yourself informed and educated. Know the truth from the trash and call the anti-gay industry out on their lies. Write a letter or make a phone call to whatever media outlet you encounter giving these guys a free ride.
Check out the great July 31 Boston Globe piece that exposes Cameron as a fraud here:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/07/31/beliefs_drive_research_agenda_of_new_think_tanks/
http://www.exgaywatch.com/blog/archives/2005/08/boston_globe_an.html
