Emphasis on the “claims to…”
CitizenLink reports that a new study in the Journal of Marriage and Family has found that not only are same-sex parents just as fit as heterosexual parents, and not only that, but sometimes lesbian couples even outperform straight parents. (The data has backed this up for a while, actually.)
The headline for their piece is “Experts Debunk Study Claiming Two Moms Better Than Mom And Dad.” Notably missing in the piece, however, are any experts doing any actual debunking. There is simply a baseless assertion from Glenn Stanton:
“They’re just completely overreaching their hand,” he said. “Are we to think that nature has really sent each one of us down a second-rate road of having to be raised by a man and a woman?”
(…)
“The research is very, very clear and it backs up what God has put into process,” Stanton said, “that a man and a woman are the best people to raise that child to healthy adulthood.”
Stanton says the findings appear to reveal an agenda on the part of the researchers and not scientific conclusions.
Right, Glenn. Whatever. Perhaps in the fundamentalist Christian world that passes for an “expert opinion.” As we’ve seen in the Prop 8 trial, when anti-gay “experts” are put under oath, the results are nothing short of hilarious. But note that Glenn doesn’t link to any research, doesn’t cite any studies, or anything. In short, he lazily throws out some meaningless fundamentalist catchphrases and anti-scientific BS and assumes that (maybe because he believes it himself) he’s won the argument. Maybe that flies with the average Focus on the Family wingnut, but in the real, grown-up scientific world?
Sadly, no.
Play again next time, Glenn.
UPDATE: It seems Glenn has issued a (slightly) more detailed response to this study. As it is late, I will not be dealing with it tonight, but I’ll stomp it into the ground sometime tomorrow, I promise.
