Response to "The Truth About Homosexuality", "Child Abuse #47-66".
Acronym Key:
TIM = ThisIsMarriage
MSM = men who have sex with men
WSW = women who have sex with women
SS = Same sex
(p240) = page 240
See response part 1 (link below) for details concerning why newspaper articles, books and Paul Cameron studies are dismissed. It is recommended that first-time readers start there.
http://homoresponse.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/response-to-truth-about-homosexuality.html
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41) Newspaper article.
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42) Garofalo et al. 1998, Pediatrics, 101(5), 895-902:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/101/5/895.abstract
TIM's insinuation: Homosexuals are more likely to have sex prior to 13, have 4+ lifetime partners and be sexually assaulted.
This is TIM's reference 3 and the response to that can therefore equally serve as a response here. A study published in the same journal, by one of the authors of TIM's Reference 23, providing a comparison of LGB people with other LGB people, found the following;
Ryan et al. 2009, Pediatrics, 123(1), 346-352:
"Higher rates of family rejection were significantly associated with poorer health outcomes. On the basis of odds ratios, lesbian, gay, and bisexual young adults who reported higher levels of family rejection during adolescence were 8.4 times more likely to report having attempted suicide, 5.9 times more likely to report high levels of depression, 3.4 times more likely to use illegal drugs, and 3.4 times more likely to report having engaged in unprotected sexual intercourse compared with peers from families that reported no or low levels of family rejection."
tinyurl.com/LGBTstudy
It is additionally worth noting that in TIM's study (Garofalo et al. 1998):
"Sexual orientation was determined by the following question: “Which of the following best describes you?” A total of 104 students self-identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual (GLB), representing 2.5% of the overall population".
Many people, perhaps as part of self-denial, assume that they need to have a sexual experience to confirm their orientation and due to heteronormative pressure, "heterosexual", or at most, "unsure", would likely be the categories that such people would feel most comfortable classifying themselves as prior to sexual experience. LGBT self-identification among "students in public high schools" is therefore likely to be biased towards those who have had sexual experiences. 2.5% self-identified as GLB, while 1.5% were "unsure", 3.7% ticked "none of the above" and 9.3% did not answer the question at all. Consistent with the minority stress model, "GLB youth were more likely than their peers to have been victimized and threatened" in TIM's study.
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43) Lemp et al. 1994, JAMA, 272(6), 449-454:
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=377566
TIM's insinuation: 41.4% of young MSM report forced sex, 18.5% had anal sex prior to age 14 and 15.2% of those 18.5% were HIV+.
The study is of minimal relevance to the general gay male population given that all of its participants were recruited from areas associated with the solicitation of sex and homelessness:
"Setting - Public venues in San Francisco and Berkeley, including street corners and sidewalks, dance clubs, bars, and parks."
The survey method used in the study was the "Young Men's Survey" (YMS) and as described:
"YMS findings are generalizable only to the population of young men who attend venues included in YMS sampling frames".
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1382056
Of further note, TIM's "seventy nine of the boys" statistic translates to the fact that 81.5% of the study participants didn't have sex before the age of 14. The 18.5% that had had sex prior to age 14 is not a particularly shocking statistic given the locations that the study population were obtained from and that the general prevalence of child molestation is not substantially different from this (E.G. Johnson, 2004, DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(04)16771-8 or Fikelhor, 1994, http://tinyurl.com/finkcsa).
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44) Cameron & Cameron, 1996, Adolescence, 31(124), 757-776:
http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1996-07024-001
TIM's insinuation: Homosexual parents molest their children ~50 times more than heterosexual parents, with 29% of adult children of homosexuals molested by that parent.
This is another Paul Cameron (anti-gay hate-group founder) study. Kirk Cameron is an evangelical Christian evangelist and TV actor with no apparent qualifications of any kind beyond high-school. Their sample population involved "17 of 5,182 randomly obtained adults from 6 US cities (who) answered questionnaires indicating that they had a homosexual parent."
TIM's 29% parent-child incest claim is based upon a minuscule total sample population of 17 (with 5 cases of molestation), making it statistically irrelevant. Given that even when answering the study's survey in 1983, let alone when these respondents were children, SS adoption was not legal anywhere in the U.S., all respondents would be offspring of heterosexual relationships, not SS parents.
The 29% statistic likely fails to distinguish between childhood molestation (by a parent of the same gender) and teleiophilic bi/homosexuality. Those 5 reporting that they did have a bi/homosexual parent were likely drawing that conclusion specifically because they were molested by a parent of the same gender, which would erroneously lead to the inclusion of all victims of same-gendered parental molestation in this sample population of 17 offspring with a "homosexual/bisexual" parent.
In contrast, all bisexual/homosexual parents who did not molest their children would undoubtedly have been considered "heterosexual" by their offspring given that parents would be even less likely to discuss or disclose their sexual orientation to their children pre-1983 than today.
In summary, all bisexuals who didn't have a sexual relationship with their children would be classified as "heterosexual", while all who did would be classified as "homosexual". These factors substantially skew the already grossly inadequately sized sample population.
Paedophiles/hebephiles have a significantly lower degree of gender-distinction in their attractions than teleiophiles due to the absence of secondary sex characteristics which distinguish the genders and often have no sexual interest in adults at all.
Those willing to respond to what Cameron describes as a 500+ question survey on "sexual issues" may have further skewed findings:
"(In) 1983 we gave an extensive self-administered questionnaire on sexual issues consisting of 500+ questions".
http://www.questia.com/library/1G1-19226135/homosexual-parents
"Adolescence", in which Cameron's study was published, (not to be confused with the "Journal of Adolescence") has a very low impact factor and is ranked among the worst of the journals of its type.
Cameron himself once criticized it as "obscure", as detailed at the following URL:
http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_cameron_journals.html
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45) An anti-gay hate group.
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46) A book from over 30 years ago.
TIM's insinuation: 73% of MSM have had sex with boys aged 16-19 years or younger.
The "gay report" is commonly used by heterosexists and so will receive a brief response, despite it being a book. TIM's claim here is hardly shocking given that it simply indicates that many homosexuals have sexual relationships as teenagers, just as with those in the general population, where 65-70% have had sex by the age of 19 (according to the CDC's National Survey of Family Growth).
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/abc_list_t.htm#teenagers
A full refutation of it's accuracy and scientific validity can be found here:
http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/Articles/000,005.htm
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47) Silverthorne & Quinsey, 2000, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 29(1), 67-76:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/v62110uu62655691/
TIM's insinuation: Disproportionate numbers of MSM seek adolescents or boys for sex.
TIM's study has nothing to do with "child abuse" or seeking out "boys" given that the study only involved those of 18 years or older:
"Participants rated the sexual attractiveness of pictures of 15 male and 15 female faces arranged into five apparent average age categories ranging from 18 to 60 years."
Ironically the study actually refutes a key rationale behind this section of TIM's essay, in that it identifies the independence of attraction based upon gender and attraction based upon age:
"Results suggest that age and sex preferences develop independently."
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48) Cameron & Cameron, 1995, Psychological Reports, 76(2), 611-621.
http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pr0.1995.76.2.611
TIM's insinuation: Less than 0.8% of heterosexual men experience incest with a brother, while 12% of MSM have had sex with a brother.
Diana E.H. Russell, 1983, Child Abuse & Neglect, 7(2), 133-146 (a random sample of the general population):
"16% of these women reported at least one experience of intrafamilial sexual abuse before the age of 18 years".
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0145213483900650
This is another Paul Cameron study published in a backwater journal (0.44 5-year impact factor). Any suggestion that gender is relevant here would only serve to transfer TIM's intended criticism of homosexuals on to all members of whatever gender is considered to be more incestuous. It would be unsurprising that when incest does occur between members of the same sex, that at least one of them is more likely to be gay. Cameron's suggestion that incest may cause homosexuality seems inconsistent with the fact that the vast majority of LGB people, even in his study, had not had incestuous relationships.
Researcher, Dr. Herek describes the numerous critical flaws in Cameron's data collection:
http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/faculty_sites/rainbow/html/facts_cameron_survey.html
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49) Elliot et al. 1995, Child Abuse Neglect, 19(5), 579-94:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0145213495000173
TIM's insinuation: "42% of male pedophiles engaged in homosexual molestation".
As detailed in reference 47, TIM's use of reference 49 involves the misconception that those paedophiles who molest children of the same gender are somehow representative of teleiophilic homosexuals. This is no more the case than the average heterosexual male being comparable to a male molester of girls.
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50) This reference is actually just TIM reference 47 again. It is used to reiterate the same irrelevant point with a few added (equally irrelevant) details and what appears to be a lie, given that, as previously stated, the study involved pictures of people aged "ranging from 18 to 60 years", not 15, as stated by TIM.
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51) Erickson et al. 1988, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 17(1), 77-86:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/nn47702590175u90/
TIM's insinuation: 86% of 229 child molesters self-identified as bi/homosexual.
TIM's claim about this study was not a primary aim of the study and no details are therefore given about how the information was procured (I.E. the wording of the question and/or the offender's understanding of the terms involved), which unfortunately makes it impossible to discern how reliable it is. The statistic is however for male offenders against boys, excluding girls. A homosexual paedophile does not = a homosexual ephebophile/paedophile, just as is the case among heterosexuals.
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52) Helmut Graupner, 1999, Journal of Homosexuality, 37(4), 23-56:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J082v37n04_03
TIM's insinuation: Author Graupner considers consensual sex between 14 year olds and SS adults to be a gay rights issue and that such relationships are a gay rights issue and "constitute an aspect of gay and lesbian life".
The general age of consent in Austria, where study author Graupner is based, is 14. Section 209 of the Austrian criminal code placed additional age restrictions on same-sex relationships at the time that Graupner constructed his study (1999). It should therefore be unsurprising that Graupner would indicate it to be a gay rights issue because Section 209 involved unequal treatment of heterosexuals and homosexuals. Section 209 was repealed in 2002.
Regarding man/boy and woman/girl relationships, ephebophilic relationships between teenagers (E.G. a 14 year old "boy" and an 18 year old "man") clearly are part of both heterosexual and homosexual "life". Austria is far from unique in its AoC legislation, with 14 the AoC in many other countries, such as Germany, Italy, China, Japan and Brazil.
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53) Tomeo et al. 2001, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 30(5), 535-541:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/u10022r778788010/
TIM's insinuation: Far more homosexuals have a history of childhood molestation by a SS adult than do heterosexuals.
Skewed Sample Populations
The study's sample population consisted of:
"675... graduate or undergraduate students currently enrolled and attending classes in colleges and universities" (heterosexual control group) and
"Two hundred sixty-seven additional participants... obtained at the homosexual pride events" (homosexual group).
How the homosexual cohort were recruited:
"The principal investigator rented a booth at the event and asked individuals who approached the booth to participate in the research. All of the participants who accepted questionnaires completed and returned them."
Self-selection bias:
Those currently in education, such as the "graduate students attending the California School of Professional Psychology" may feel more obligated to contribute to academic research, while outside of education, no such obligation would exist, potentially making personal bias (a personal history of molestation) a more prominent feature of sample self-selection.
While "The vast majority of the students who received questionnaires completed and returned them", it is unclear what proportion of people who passed the gay pride booth accepted questionnaires or how they were encouraged to do so. This could skew results for the self-selecting cohort used in this study. For instance, if the booth had been emblazoned with a logo such as "help end child abuse", this would significantly skew the sample population. Other sexual minorities, such as prostitutes, may have also been overrepresented at a march associated with sexual liberation.
The Homosexual cohort involved more participants with lower education levels, which could further skew results given that in another molestation study:
"Participants reporting a history of sexual abuse were more likely to be less well-educated" (Senn et al., 2007, DOI: 10.1007/s10508-006-9109-4)
In TIM's study (Tomeo et al. 2001):
"The total years of education of the college students ranged from 12 to 15".
"The total years of education of the homosexual pride attendees was 8–26".
As TIM's study authors themselves state:
"The differences between the molestation rate of homosexual and heterosexual participants have to be viewed with great caution because of the differences in the sampling methods for each population" (p539). "It must also be borne in mind that the present homosexual participants may not be representative of homosexual persons" (p541).
"Molestations" Not Necessarily Molestation
Tomeo et al.'s criteria for "molestation" were:
"These criteria require that the victim be under the age of 16 at the time of molestation, the perpetrator being at least 16 years of age and at least 5 years older than the victim" (p538).
It is worth noting that the age of consent is below 16 in many countries, such as China, Brazil, Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Poland etc. Furthermore, no part of the questionnaire enquired about whether the sexual contact was voluntary, forced or coerced. All who at the age of 15 had any sexual contact with 20 year olds would be classified as victims of molestation for instance, despite the fact that they may well have invited or initiated these sexual relationships.
Another study has found that such relationships are in fact usually not abusive. B. Rind, 2001, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 30(4), 345-368, DOI: 10.1023/A:1010210630788
"Of the 129 men in the study, 26 were identified as having had age-discrepant sexual relations (ADSRs) as adolescents between 12 and 17 years of age with adult males. Reactions to the ADSRs were predominantly positive, and most ADSRs were willingly engaged in. Younger adolescents were just as willing and reacted at least as positively as older adolescents. Data on sexual identity development indicated that ADSRs played no role in creating same-sex sexual interests, contrary to the "seduction" hypothesis."
TIM's statistic from this study is for same-gender molestation, not total molestation. A greater proportion of SS "molestations" among the homosexual group than the heterosexual one is therefore highly unsurprising given their criteria for molestation include many homosexual's first sexual experiences... which are likely to be with members of the same sex. In contrast, the heterosexual's first sexual experiences that were counted as "molestations" would all be opposite-gendered.
I.E. The same-gender "molestations" for;
homosexuals = Actual forced sex + Many voluntary first sexual experiences.
heterosexuals = Actual forced sex (only).
Other reasons to suggest that many voluntary sexual experiences may have been misclassified as "molestations" include that:
Table 2 (p 539) shows that 20% of the heterosexual men in the study were "molested" by women, which is shockingly high, given that "most sexual abuse is committed by men (90%)" (Finkelhor, 1994, The Future of Children, 4(2), 31-53). Similarly, 22% of lesbians were "molested" by women in TIM's study.
The decreased availability/identifiability of same-age partners for homosexual teenagers, relative to heterosexual teenagers (largely due to heterosexism/heteronormativism) would likely also predispose homosexual adolescents towards first sexual contact with those of greater age difference than heterosexuals. As Tomeo et al. note, "perhaps children or adolescents with a higher potential for homosexual behavior are more likely to enter a situation that leads to same-sex molestation." (p541).
Table 2 of Tomeo et al. 2001 (p538) shows that about 65% of the "victims" reported that they knew they were homosexual prior to the "molestation" even occurring. The other 35% may well have been unsure of their sexual orientation prior to the "molestation" and their first sexual encounter simply clarified it. Among the female molestation victims, "68% of them were at least 12 years of age" (p540) at the time of molestation.
Final Points:
Atypical gender expression may increase the probability of molestation due to 1) a molester's perception that the child has a detectable sexual orientation and is therefore a sexual being and 2) molesters may suspect that the child is less likely to report molestations out of fear of being accused of being homosexual (Watkins & Bentovim, 1992).
Watkins & Bentovim, 1992, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33(1), 197-248:
"A variety of explanations have been advanced to explain the apparent under-reporting or under-detection of the sexual abuse of boys. Prominent among them have been the boy's fears of disbelief and of being labelled homosexual."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1737828
Evangelical Christian Psychology Professor, Warren Throckmorton, identified inconsistencies in the results reported in TIM's study (detailed at the below URL), which were of such a magnitude as to make the true data indiscernible:
"Without the actual surveys, there is no way a reader can figure out the results from the journal article and/or the dissertation."
http://tinyurl.com/wthrock02
TIM's own study directly contradicts a key rationale of this entire section of TIM's essay, Tomeo et al. 2001, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 30(5), 535-541:
"In this study, we do not know the adult sexual preference of the women who molested. Most men who molest boys and most men who molest girls are heterosexual in their adult sexual preference (Groth and Birnbaum, 1978). In fact,we do not know to what extent these women are attracted to adults of either gender and to what extent their orientation is pedophilic."
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54) Haverkos et al. 1989, JAMA, 262(4), 501-501:
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=378099
TIM's insinuation: ~50% of MSM report sexual contact with a male by age 16, and ~20% by age 10.
This study "review[ed] data collected by the Centers for Disease Control early in the AIDS epidemic". A group composed entirely of AIDS afflicted MSM clearly aren't representative of MSM in general.
Despite this, the alleged findings of the study do not appear to be particularly sensational. Even assuming that the "control group" was representative of MSM, that "more than half... reported a sexual act with a male by age 16 years" is no different than statistics for heterosexuals. According to the CDC's National Survey of Family Growth (Series 23, No. 31, Table 1) 1995 statistics, among males 15-17 years of age, 43.1% had had sexual intercourse... and the percentage would likely be significantly higher were it limited to "sexual acts" as TIM's statistic is.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/abc_list_t.htm#teenagers
TIM's pre-10 years old statistic is unlikely to be;
abnormal, given the 15-17 year old's statistic and that TIM provide no comparable statistics for heterosexuals,
or
representative, given the three or more decades old data used, the unspecified characteristics of the "control group" and that the entire MSM group had AIDS.
or
relevant, considering that there isn't any indication of the circumstances that the sexual contact arose in or why it should be considered relevant.
The statistic is actually insignificantly different from those for the general population. Finkelhor, 1990, Child Abuse & Neglect, 14(1), 19–28:
"This paper reports on the first national survey of adults concerning a history of childhood sexual abuse. Victimization was reported by 27% of the women and 16% of the men."
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55) This reference appears to be a book citing a study, which is citing another researcher...
TIM's insinuation: Male victims of childhood molestation by men are more likely to end up being MSM.
Watkins & Bentovim, 1992, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33(1), 197-248:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1737828
The study appears to have been revised by it's authors and a second version of it's abstract is as follows: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1992.tb00862.x/abstract
There is no reference to David Finkelhor in the freely available text, though the study cited by TIM appears to simply reinforce that the current state of research on childhood molestation of males is severely limited.
Watkins & Bentovim, 1992, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33(1), 197-248:
"The actual prevalence rate is difficult to determine, with a reported range of between 3% and 31%."
"Childhood sexual abuse is inherently difficult to research, because of the secrecy and shame which surround it... Research on sexually abused boys has clearly lagged behind that of girls... The purpose of this paper... (is)... to emphasise how little we know".
"Many of these studies suffer from one of the following limitations: Being anecdotal; having no or insufficient objective measures; being retrospective; and, most relevantly, failing to undertake gender analysis... All of these limitations restrict the generalizability of the findings".
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1992.tb00862.x/abstract
In summary, TIM's obscure and convoluted reference involves a study/review which emphasises how extremely limited the data on the subject is.
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56) It is unclear why this point about paedophiles (not homosexuals) is of any relevance.
57) Likewise.
58) Ditto.
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SECTION FOUR SUMMARY:
TIM's central claim throughout this section is that child molestation causes homosexuality and/or that homosexuals molest children more readily than heterosexuals. TIM's own studies however refute these assertions:
(47) Silverthorne & Quinsey, 2000, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 29(1), 67-76:
"Results suggest that age and sex preferences develop independently."
(53) Tomeo et al. 2001, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 30(5), 535-541:
"Most men who molest boys and most men who molest girls are heterosexual in their adult sexual preference (Groth and Birnbaum, 1978)."
Further discussion of heterosexist attempts to link homosexuality to child molestation can be found at the following URL:
http://homoresponse.blogspot.com/2011/05/countering-heterosexist-arguments.html#10
PART 1
PART 2
PART 4
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