Contents Page

This is a contents page for all posts that are related to heterosexism/homosexuality.

GENERAL TOPICS

Main Essay - Counters all heterosexist arguments.
Position Statements - Scientific organisations on marriage/adoption/conversion therapy.

HEALTH DISPARITIES

Studies - How minority stress leads to substance abuse and mental/sexual health disparities.
Black Health Disparities - Useful for contrasting with homosexual disparities.
Lesbian Health Disparities - Useful for contrasting with gay male disparities.

SPECIFIC TOPICS

Detriment of Heterosexuality - Removes heterosexuality's positive connotation.
Slippery Slope Fallacies Applied to SS Marriage/Relationships - An empirical counter.
Judeo-Christian Heterosexism - Counters religious heterosexism.
Same-sex Marriage - Counters all arguments against.

RESPONSES TO SPECIFIC HETEROSEXIST ESSAYS

Many of these essays may be duplicated on different websites.

TraditionInAction Part 1
TraditionInAction Part 2
J. R. Diggs' Essay - The Health Risks of Gay Sex.
ThisIsMarriage Part 1 - The Truth About Homosexuality.
ThisIsMarriage Part 2
ThisIsMarriage Part 3
ThisIsMarriage Part 4

Gay Gene and Evolution

This is section 5 of this blogg's main essay; "Countering Heterosexist Arguments". It discusses the causal origin of sexual orientation. It has been removed from the main essay to this separate post as it is considered broadly irrelevant to the main contention; the moral legitimacy of homosexuality.

(05) HOMOSEXUALITY'S EVOLUTION AND THE "GAY GENE":

CONTENTS;
5.1) Sexuality is Hereditary
5.2) Twin Studies
5.3) Brain Structure
5.4) FBO Effect
5.5) Evolutionary Viability

To consider homosexuality as being either determined by a single "gay gene" or a purely psychological choice is an oversimplification. There is no "black gene". The current scientific consensus is that sexual orientation is at least partially determined by hereditary/ congenital factors.

5.1) SEXUALITY DOES HAVE A HEREDITARY COMPONENT:

Kendler et al. 2000, The American Journal of Psychiatry, 157(11), 1843-1846:
"Biometrical twin modeling suggested that sexual orientation was substantially influenced by genetic factors."
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?volume=157&page=1843

Mustanski et al. 2002, Annual Review of Sex Research, 13, 89-140:
"Genetic research using family and twin methodologies has produced consistent evidence that genes influence sexual orientation".
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12836730

Langstrom et al. 2010, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39(1), 75-80:
"In men, the full twin model suggested heritability estimates of 39%".
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10508-008-9386-1

Burri et al. 2011, PLoS One, 6(7), e21982:
"In summary, we found genetic influences on female sexual orientation".
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3131304


Biology of homosexuality - Epigenetics may play a role. 7:06

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saO_RFWWVVA

Some of the latest research indicates an epigenetic model of sexual orientation development. Epigenetics is the study of the chemical modification of DNA and therefore gene expression through means other than a change in the nucleotide sequence:

Rice et al. 2012, The Quarterly Review of Biology, 87(4), 343-368, DOI: 10.1086/668167:
"Our model predicts that homosexuality is part of a wider phenomenon in which recently evolved androgen-influenced traits commonly display gonad-trait discordances at substantial frequency, and that the molecular feature underlying most homosexuality is not DNA polymorphism(s), but epi-marks that evolved to canalize sexual dimorphic development that sometimes carryover across generations and contribute to gonad-trait discordances in opposite-sex descendants."
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/668167


5.2) TWIN STUDIES:

Identical twins don't have identical fingerprints or palmprints. This refutes suggestions that homosexuality cannot be prenatally determined because monozygotic (identical) twins do not always have the same sexual orientation:

Jain et al. 2001, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2091, 211-217:
"We show that a state-of-the-art automatic fingerprint identification system can successfully distinguish identical twins."
http://www.springerlink.com/content/33vtk8p9hjccev0m/

A. Kong et al. 2005, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 3832, 668-674:
"The experimental results show that we can employ low-resolution palmprint images to distinguish identical twins."
http://www.springerlink.com/content/f14675262472t531/


They exhibit a much higher likelihood of sharing the same sexual orientation:

Whitam et al. 1993, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 22(3), 187-206:
"Thirty-eight pairs of monozygotic twins (34 male pairs and 4 female pairs) were found to have a concordance rate of 65.8% for homosexual orientation. Twenty-three pairs of dizygotic twins were found to have a concordance rate of 30.4% for homosexual orientation."
http://www.springerlink.com/content/w27453600k586276/


5.3) BRAIN STRUCTURE:

One group of researchers have carried out studies assessing the brain structures of homosexuals and comparing them to heterosexuals of the opposite sex. The findings indicate a correlation between homosexuality and certain brain responses mirroring those of members of the opposite sex (I.E. gay men similar to straight women etc). The third study by this group was designed to determine whether or not this was likely the result of having homosexual interactions (learned) or of biological origin. Newscientist provides a good summary of some similar studies on transsexuals.

The Two Initial Studies:
Savic et al. 2005, PNAS, 102(20), 7356–7361, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0407998102
Berglund et al. 2006, PNAS, 103(21), 8269–8274, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0600331103

Savic & Lindstrom, 2008, PNAS, 105(27), 9403–9408, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0801566105
"The present study shows sex-atypical cerebral asymmetry and functional connections in homosexual subjects. The results cannot be primarily ascribed to learned effects, and they suggest a linkage to neurobiological entities."
http://www.pnas.org/content/105/27/9403.abstract


5.4) FRATERNAL BIRTH ORDER EFFECT:

The fraternal birth order effect and maternal immune hypothesis is an example of a prenatal, purely biological, environmental effect that correlates with homosexuality in men.  Having more older brothers corresponds with a higher likelihood of homosexuality:

Anthony F. Bogaert, 2006, PNAS, 103(28), 10771-10774:
"Only biological older brothers, and not any other sibling characteristic, including nonbiological older brothers, predicted men’s sexual orientation, regardless of the amount of time reared with these siblings. These results strongly suggest a prenatal origin to the fraternal birth-order effect".
http://www.pnas.org/content/103/28/10771.long

R Blanchard, 2001, Journal of Hormones and Behavior, 40(2), 105-114: 
"In men, sexual orientation correlates with an individual's number of older brothers, each additional older brother increasing the odds of homosexuality by approximately 33%."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11534970


5.5) EVOLUTIONARY VIABILITY:

Some heterosexists point out that homosexuality cannot be genetic because it is not evolutionarily viable:

- Parents can carry genes that are expressed in their offspring, without the parent themselves expressing it.
- Homosexuals can benefit a community, and therefore contribute to its reproductive output indirectly.
- Anthropologists consider "cooperative breeding" to be reasonably common in humanity's history.
- Genes associated with homosexuality could have been passed on and conserved via their relatives.


Two of many ways in which homosexuality may be evolutionarily beneficial:

Camperio Ciani et al. 2008, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38(3), 393-399:
"Data have emerged suggesting not only an increase in maternal fecundity but also larger paternal family sizes for homosexuals."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18561014

Kirkpatrick et al. 2000, Current Anthropology, 41(3), 385-413:
"Same-sex alliances have reproductive advantages, and sexual behavior at times maintains these alliances."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11045933?

Slippery Slope Fallacy

What is this webpage intended to demonstrate?

In stark contrast to claims that tolerance of homosexuality will lead to acceptance of polygamy, incest and sex with minors, these practises derive greatest support from the most anti-gay countries and the least from the more egalitarian nations.

The table immediately below the "Contents" section is the centrepiece of this post, which reveals a number of key differences between countries where same-sex (SS) marriage is legal and those where consensual SS sexual activity is severely punished. Please click on the table to enlarge it.

CONTENTS

TABLE
TABLE KEY
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
                 - FGM
                 - Gender Equality
                 - Marriageable Age
                 - Consanguineous Marriages
                 - Bestiality/Zoophilia
                 - Summary
COUNTRY-SPECIFIC DETAILS
                 - Yemen
                 - Saudi Arabia
                 - Iran
                 - Mauritania
                 - Nigeria
                 - Sudan
                 - Brunei
                 - Qatar
                 - UAE
                 - Egypt
                 - Uganda
SOURCES

TABLE

The image below features two tables.
The top one consists of countries that prescribe the harshest penalties for consensual SS relationships, along with various other statistics for each country, which represent the nation's acceptance of the aforementioned slippery slope characteristics.

The table immediately below it displays the same statistics for a selection of the countries which have legalised SS marriage. Please click the image to enlarge.

TABLE KEY

-- = Unknown (no data is available).
## = See corresponding country-specific sections.
Incarc. = Incarceration.

SS Activity Punishment = The maximum punishment for mutually consensual same-sex sexual activity.
Marriageable Age = Age at which marriage can legally occur.
% Married by ages 15/18 = Percentage of women married by the ages of 15 and 18 respectively.
% Married by 19 = Percentage of women who married between the ages of 15-19.
FGM (%) = The percentage of women who have been subjected to (female) genital mutilation.
Gender Equality Global Rank = This is a rank out of 136 countries, with 1 being the country with the greatest equal opportunity for men and women and 136 (Yemen) being the country with the most inequality.
Consanguineous marriages % = The percentage of all marriages which are consanguineous. Most consanguinity tends to be between first cousins, such as in Yemen, where 70-80% of consanguineous marriages are.

Tadmouri et al. 2009, Reproductive Health, 6:17:
"Consanguineous marriage refers to unions contracted between biologically-related individuals. In clinical genetics, a consanguineous marriage means union between couples who are related as second cousins or closer".

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Topics raised in this general introduction are variably elaborated upon in the country-specific sections below. Many of the anti-gay countries effectively torture LGBT people, whether directly via law, or indirectly, through allowing mobs and vigilantes to attack LGBT people with impunity. Death sentences additionally often involve stoning, a slow and barbaric method of murdering people.

In many of these nations, it is illegal or unsafe to even discuss homosexuality in anything other than a condemnatory way. This is in direct opposition to the principles of freedom of expression and consequently to the possibility of any form of cultural progression, on any issue.


FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (FGM)

FGM is the physical and sexual assault and maiming of young girls. Typically this is forced upon them when they are pre-teens. It therefore forms another indicator of how readily a country abuses and mistreats its more vulnerable individuals and seeks to control their sexuality.

Data indicates that FGM is extremely common in several of the anti-gay countries. It occurs but with an unknown prevalence in others, such as UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Painkillers are very rarely involved in this excruciating and life-threatening process.

In contrast, FGM is unheard of among natives of the countries where SS marriage is legal and is illegal in all such countries listed above.


GENDER INEQUALITY

The Global Gender Gap Report 2013, is designed to measure gender equality within nations and rank them, with the lowest ranked country (1) being the one that features the most equal opportunity for men and women. All "pro-gay" countries listed above are within the top 30 of the of the 136 countries ranked, except France. In contrast, all anti-gay countries listed are in the bottom 30 for gender equality except for Brunei (88) and Uganda (46).


AGE OF CONSENT TO MARRIAGE

Age of consent to marriage is 18 in some of the anti-gay countries largely due to international pressure from countries such as those where SS marriage is legal. As tabulated, even in those anti-gay countries with an age limit of 18, such as Uganda and Mauritania, 30-40% of girls are still married by the age of 18, many much younger. Child marriages often involve young girls being effectively sold to much older men by their families.

UN Population Fund, 2012, Marrying Too Young, End Child Marriage, ISBN-10: 1618000144
"The minimum legal age for marriage without parental consent is 18 years in most countries. Families and girls themselves may simply not know that laws against child marriage exist, and enforcement of such laws is often lax. Laws also vary widely, and exceptions are made on different grounds, most commonly when parents or other authorities, such as a judge or community elder, grant their consent."

Child Marriage
The below image demonstrates the striking correlation between global child-marriage prevalence and the criminalisation of same-sex relationships. The child-marriage image is from UNICEF in 2007 and has been updated by colouring four countries in green.

CONSANGUINITY

Tadmouri et al. 2009, Reproductive Health, 6:17:
"Many Arab countries display some of the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in the world, and specifically first cousin marriages which may reach 25-30% of all marriages. In some countries like Qatar, Yemen, and UAE, consanguinity rates are increasing in the current generation."


BESTIALITY/ZOOPHILIA

Proponents of slippery slope fallacies may additionally posit that acceptance of bestiality/zoophilia will result from SS marriage. As can be seen below, google searches for a key related term reveal that in all countries where zoophilia derives greatest interest, SS marriages are not legal.

Indonesia has various provincial laws, with some criminalising SS relationships with up to 100 lashes and 100 months in prison. Malaysia prescribes 20 years incarceration for SS relationships, while India, Pakistan and Bangladesh feature penalties ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment. Nigeria is on the list of most anti-gay countries.

SUMMARY

In the anti-gay nations tabulated, polygamy is legally practised, child marriage and therefore sex is relatively commonplace, a very high percentage of marriages are consanguineous and FGM is widely practised in many. The opposite is true of the nations where SS marriage is legal. There therefore seems to be an inverse correlation between tolerance of homosexuality and tolerance for the practices cited by users of heterosexist slippery slope fallacies.

COUNTRY-SPECIFIC DETAILS

YEMEN

• The death penalty is issued under Yemen's Sharia.

SAUDI ARABIA

• Under Sharia, sodomy is punishable by death by stoning.
• Torture and chemical castration are also reported to have been used on suspected homosexuals.
• FGM is known to occur in Saudi Arabia but at unknown rates.

IRAN

Justice for Iran, 2013, "Early and Forced Marriages in the Islamic Republic of Iran", A Brief Submitted to the OHCHR for WRGS:
"According to the Islamic Republic civil code, the legal age of marriage in Iran is set at 13 for girls and 15 for boys. However, the same Act allows girls below 13 and boys below 15 to be wed but conditioned on the consent of their father and the permission of a court judge. In addition, there are troubling reports that Iranian parliament's legal affairs committee is pushing to lower the legal age of marriage for girls back to 9 years of age." "According to recent data released by Iran's Association of Children's Rights, 449 girls were married in 2009 before reaching the age of 10 and as many as 716 girls were married under the age of 10 in 2010".

FGM Prevalence is varied across Iran and little data is available on it, though one of the few studies on it found a prevalence of 55% (see "Sources" section).



MAURITANIA

• Article 308 of the 1983 Criminal Code mandates death by public stoning for same-sex sexual activity.
• Child marriage however is commonplace.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2013:
"By law, marriage in Mauritania requires the free consent of both parties, and the minimum legal age of marriage is 18 years for both men and women.  But the law is not respected."



NIGERIA

• Sharia, practised in most Northern states of Nigeria, punishes same-sex sexual activity with death.
• Section 284 of the Northern States' Federal Provisions Act imposes 14 year prison sentences and a fine on those who engage in same-sex sex acts.
• The southern states, Chapter 21, Section 214 also punishes same-sex sexual activity with 14 years imprisonment.

UNFPA Nigeria:
"Nigeria, particularly northern Nigeria has some of the highest rates of early marriage in the world. The Child Rights Act, passed in 2003, raised the minimum age of marriage to 18 for girls. However, federal law may be implemented differently at the state level, and to date, only a few of the country’s 36 states have begun developing provisions to execute the law."

Chika Oduah, 2013, AlJazeera:
"The girls in the programme are usually married by fourteen".
"More than a dozen of Nigeria’s 36 states have not enacted the 2003 Child Rights Act, which states 18 as the minimum age for betrothal and marriage."



SUDAN

• The 1991 Article 148 requires that those convicted of sodomy be punished with 100 lashes and 5 years imprisonment for the first 2 offences and then with death or life imprisonment for a third offence.

BRUNEI

• As of April 2014, those found guilty of same-sex sexual activity are to be stoned to death.
• Consanguinity statistics are unavailable for Brunei but the current Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, married his cousin Pengiran Anak Saleha.
• His father, Omar Ali Saifuddien III, who was the former Sultan of Brunei also married his own cousin, Pengiran Anak Damit, indicating that it is likely prevalent within the country.

QATAR

• Under Sharia, homosexual activity is punishable by death.
• Article 296 of the current Penal Code mandates imprisonment for 1-3 years for sodomy.

UAE

• Article 354 "Whoever commits rape on a female or sodomy with a male shall be punished by death."
• Victims of rape are additionally punished for extramarital sex.
• Article 80 of the Dubai Penal Code punishes sodomy with up to 14 years imprisonment.
• Article 177 of the Abu Dhabi Penal Code punishes such acts with up to ten years imprisonment.
• The government has also attempted forced experimental hormone therapy on suspected homosexuals.
• The UAE has made the greatest progress on child marriage in the world. The most recent data on child marriage in UAE indicate that it is still substantially more abundant than in the more egalitarian nations however.

Sean McCormack, U.S. Department of State, November 28, 2005:
"The United States condemns the arrest of a dozen same-sex couples in the United Arab Emirates and a statement by the Interior Ministry spokesman that they will be subjected to government-ordered hormone and psychological treatment."

Hoda Rashad et al. "Marriage in the Arab World", Population Reference Bureau, 2005:
"In the United Arab Emirates... the percentage of women ages 15 to 19 who were married dropped from 57 percent in 1975 to 8 percent by 1995."

FGM is known to occur in UAE, with one survey suggesting a prevalence of 34%, though unusually, private medical clinics mutilate children, rather than Aunty Abidah with her rusty kitchen knife.



EGYPT

• In 2004, a seventeen years old private university student received a 17 year prison sentence, including 2 years hard labor, for posting a personal profile on a gay dating site.
• The Student was arrested outside the American University in Midan Al Tahrir (Liberation Plaza) in Cairo and accused of “offences” to the public good and the honour of society.
• The sentence was issued by the Jahah court in Cairo by A’laa Deen Shoja’a.

Innocenti Research Centre, ‘Early Marriage: Child spouses’, Innocenti Digest, No. 7, UNICEF IRC, Florence, 2001:
"In a number of countries, averages may again disguise major disparities. A Ministry of Health field study in Upper (southern) Egypt in the late 1980s discovered that 44 per cent of rural women married in the previous five years had been under the legal age of 16 at the time."

• The changing of Egypt's age of consent to marriage to 18 in 2008 resulted from international pressure, rather than internal progress. It had little effect as under-age marriages simply aren't officially registered.
• There has since been legislation drafted to change age of consent to marriage to 13 or 14 for girls.

Tracy McVeigh, The Observer, 30 March 2013:
"When Mubarak listened to international pressure and raised the age to 18 it changed nothing here."
"Child marriage is common, the norm among the poor. Doctors are bribed to sign documents asserting a 14-year-old is 18 but most people don't have the money so marriages go ahead without registration."

Jane Labous, Plan International, 2012:
"An Egyptian MP has confirmed the drafting of a new law to lower the permitted age for girls to marry to just 14 from the current age 18."

A study on the general population of women revealed that sexual harassment is ubiquitous in Egypt, indicating that conservatism is more likely an accelerant than a defence against sexual debauchery. Bouthaina El Deeb, 2013, Study on Ways and Methods to Eliminate Sexual Harassment in Egypt, UN Women Ed:
"99.3% replied that they have been subjected to one form or another of harassment... 91.5% said that part of their bodies were touched."



UGANDA

• The death penalty was only dropped from Ugandan anti-gay legislation known as the "kill the gays" bill following strong international pressure.
• LGBT people may still be beaten and murdered by mobs, often with impunity.

Rubin et al. 2009, USAID, Health Policy Initiative, Addressing Early Marriage in Uganda:
"Early marriage is common in Uganda. In 2006, more than half (53%) of women ages 20–49 were married before the age of 18, which is the legal age of marriage for women in Uganda."

SOURCES

CONSANGUINITY

All consanguinuity statistics are, unless stated otherwise, from Tadmouri et al. 2009, Reproductive Health, 6:17, DOI: 10.1186/1742-4755-6-17. Where more than one statistic for consanguinity has been obtained, the mean (average) of those values is shown in the table.

Iran:
Saadat et al. 2004, Annals of Human Biology, 31(2), 263-269

Nigeria:
Scott-Emuakpor AB. 1974, American Journal of Human Genetics, 26(6), 674-682

Canada:
Freire-Maia, 1968, Eugenics Quarterly, 15(1), 22-33, DOI: 10.1080/19485565.1968.9987749

U.K.:
Bundey et al. 1990, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 44, 130-135

Sweden:
Romanus, 1953, Acta Genetica et Statistica Medica, 4(2-3), 266-273, DOI: 10.1159/000150749

Spain:
Stevenson et al. 1966, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 34 supplement, 1-125

Belgium:
Twiesselmann et al. 1962, Population, 17(2), 241-266

Netherlands:
Freire-Maia, 1957, Eugenics Quarterly, 4(3), 127-138, DOI: 10.1080/19485565.1957.9987319

France:
Sutter & Goux, 1964, Population, 17(4), 683-702

Norway:
Stoltenberg et al. 1999, American Journal of Public Health , 89(4), 517-523, DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.89.4.517


% MARRIED BY AGES 15/18

Source: UNICEF State of the World's Children, 2013 - Table 9 - Child Protection.
Data Origin: Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and other national surveys.
- Data is on women aged 20-24 obtained between 2002-2011.


% MARRIED BY AGE 19

Source: UNICEF State of the World's Children, 2013 - Table 9 - Child Protection.


FGM %

All FGM statistics are also derived from the above source (UNICEF), on women aged 15–49 years old, unless indicated otherwise.
Iran FGM statistic is derived from:
Pashaei et al. 2011, Prevalence of female genital mutilation and the effects of health and education based on behavioural intention model on attitudes and beheaviours in women referring to health centeres in Ravansar - Iran, The First International & 4th National Congress on Health Education & Promotion, Health Promotion Perspectives, Volume 1, ISSN: 2228-6497


% MARRIED BY 19

Source: The World's Women Reports, 2005, Table 2a - Indicators on marriage, ST/ESA/STAT/SER.K/WWW/16/Rev.5
Data Origin: United Nations, World Fertility Report 2003 (United Nations publication ST/ESA/SER.A/234).

The UAE statistic is derived from:
Hoda Rashad et al. "Marriage in the Arab World", Population Reference Bureau, 2005.


DEATH PENALTY FOR SS RELATIONSHIPS

• Itaborahy & Zhu, 05/2014, ILGA, State-Sponsored Homophobia: A world survey of laws: Criminalisation, protection and recognition of same-sex love.
• Terri Rupar, 24/02/2014, The Washington Post, Here are the 10 countries where homosexuality may be punished by death.

GENDER EQUALITY GLOBAL RANK

The Global Gender Gap Report 2013, produced by the World Economic Forum.

Calculation

Calculation of the Percentage of Heterosexual Copulations that Produce Children

Consider, throughout a heterosexual's life, how many times they've had sex and how many kids they actually have, then tell me how much their sex is about procreation. All numbers used below are cited in order below the calculation.

78.7-17.1 = 61.6          years of sexual activity.
61.6 * 83 = 5112.8      acts of coitus in a lifetime.
5112./ 2 = 2556.4        copulations per progeny generated.
100/ 2556.4 = 0.039% of heterosexual copulations result in childbirth.

Conclusion: Less than 0.04% of copulations result in a child (I.E. less than 1 in 2500 heterosexual copulations result in a child).

CDC, Murphy et al. 08/05/13, National Vital Statistics Reports, 61(4), Deaths: Final Data for 2010:
"Life expectancy at birth rose 0.2 year, from 78.5 years in 2009 to a record high of 78.7 in 2010."
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lifexpec.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_04.pdf

CDC, 2006-2010, NCHS:
"Mean age at first intercourse after menarche for women aged 15-44 (2006-2010) = 17.1 years".
"Mean age at first intercourse for men aged 15-44 (2006-2010) = 17.1 years"
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/key_statistics/s.htm#sexualactivity

R.A. Hatcher, et al. Contraceptive Technology, 17th revised edition (New York: Irvington Publishers, Inc. 1998), p. 329:
"the average coital frequency of 83 acts per year".
http://www.sexedlibrary.org/index.cfm?pageId=788

CDC, 03/12/1999, MMWR, 48(47), 1073-1080:
"Since 1972, the average family size has levelled off at approximately two children".
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4847a1.htm

The Detriment of Heterosexuality

What is this webpage about?

This post is intended to erode the unjustified positive connotation of heterosexuality, rather than imbue it with a negative one.

Far from equating to responsible procreation, heterosexuality is a factor that decouples and disassociates procreation from the desire to procreate. Heterosexuality exacerbates unwanted, unplanned and unbridled procreation, unlike homosexuality which enables total preparation for and willingness to engage in parenthood. Heterosexuals have to use contraception specifically to compensate for this.

Contents:

1) There is a problem

2) Disease Transmission Rates

3) Zoonotic Infections

4) Decreased Water Quality

5) Planetary Viability

6) Animal Extinction

1) There is a problem

38% of all pregnancies worldwide are unintended (Speidel et al. 2008, Association of Reproductive Health Professionals) and this rises to 49% in the U.S. (Finer & Henshaw, 2007, DOI: 10.1363/3809006).

The human population has sky-rocketed, increasing approximately ten fold within the past 300 years, from ~700 million in 1700 to over 7 billion today. It has never been higher than even the 1700s level and so while human underpopulation is not even remotely a risk to Earth and its inhabitants, human overpopulation represents an enormous one. The graph below is not a projection of future population levels but rather, where we are now, at over 7 billion people.

Heterosexuality is the primary driving force behind overpopulation, while all the technological advances accompanying the industrial revolution, notably in agriculture and medicine, are simply incidental enablers of it. Every new human on our planet further divides its finite resources.

Gerland et al. 2014, Science, 346(6206), 234-237, DOI: 10.1126/science.1257469
"The world population is unlikely to stop growing this century. There is an 80% probability that world population, now 7.2 billion people, will increase to between 9.6 billion and 12.3 billion in 2100... Much of the increase is expected to happen in Africa, in part due to higher fertility rates and a recent slowdown in the pace of fertility decline."

Professor Frank Fenner, who was instrumental in the eradication of smallpox and a member of the Australian Academy of Science and the Royal Society, gave an interview voicing his concern for our species' future to The Australian, 16/06/2010:
"Homo sapiens will become extinct, perhaps within 100 years... Mitigation would slow things down a bit, but there are too many people here already... As the population keeps growing to seven, eight or nine billion, there will be a lot more wars over food...We'll undergo the same fate as the people on Easter Island".

2) Population Density Directly Increases Rate of Disease Transmission

The unchecked breeding of our species has lead to a population explosion, which can drastically increase the rate of disease transmission for all communicable diseases.

Professor Emeritus J. Holland, University of California, 10/1996:

"As the human population has grown, the human population density has grown... and it's density which determines the rate of disease spread to a very large extent".

Arneberg et al. 1998, Proceeds of the Royal Society B, 265(1403), 1283-1289:

"Host population density and average parasite abundance were strongly positively correlated within mammalian taxa, and across all species".

Another study found that even non-communicable diseases, such as ischaemic heart disease, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease increased with population density. This is likely due to increased exposure to carcinogenic pollutants, resulting from excessive urbanisation and fossil fuel consumption.

Chaix et al., 2006, International Journal of Epidemiology, 35(3), 633-643:

"In our region-wide study conducted at the parish level, contextual disparities in mortality were dominated by the population density effect."

Antibiotics represent one of our many finite resources and their over-use is progressively reducing their effectiveness, potentially eliminating the only significant defence we have against pathogenic bacteria. This would occur at approximately one thousandth of the current rate, were our population a thousand times smaller.

Spellberg et al., (2008) Clinical Infectious Diseases, 46(2), 155-164, DOI: 10.1086/524891:
"Antibiotics, alone among all classes of drugs, become less effective the more they are used... Antimicrobial effectiveness is a precious, limited resource. Therefore, preserving antibiotic effectiveness can be viewed similar to society's responses to overconsumption and depletion of other precious, limited resources, such as oil and other energy sources, clean water and air, and forests... The ongoing explosion of antibiotic-resistant infections continues to plague global and US health care."

3) Zoonotic Infections

As the global population grows, the rise of mega-agriculture to supply increased demand for food could aid the spread and virulence of infectious microorganisms worldwide.

L. King, Director of the CDC’s National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne and Enteric Diseases, 2008, Public Health Reports, 123(3), 264–265:

"We need to understand the new factors of emergence that are creating the conditions for a perfect microbial storm. We know that approximately 75% of new emerging human diseases are zoonotic".  "Another major consideration is human population growth. We're pushing people together in urbanization areas... what is going to happen to the environment when we add food animals to these mega-cities?".

4) Decreased Water Quality/Availability

The CDC concerning Water Quality, 2012:

"Unfortunately, worldwide water quality is declining, threatening the health of ecosystems and humans worldwide 2. Various factors influence this deterioration, including population growth... and factors resulting from climate change."

Note: Population size/expansion is also the primary cause of anthropogenic climate change.

Famiglietti et al. 2015, Water Resources Research, DOI: 10.1002/2015WR017351
"Current unsustainable groundwater use threatens the resilience of aquifer systems and their ability to provide a long-term water source."

5) Planetary Viability

Overpopulation is the world's top environmental issue. No other issue threatens the viability of our planet to sustain life to the same extent, particularly because most other issues are contingent upon human population size.

Systems Ecologist, Dr. Charles Hall:

“Overpopulation is the only problem... If we had 100 million people on Earth — or better, 10 million — no others would be a problem.”

Bradshaw & Brook, 2014, PNAS, 111(46), 16610–16615, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1410465111
"The inexorable demographic momentum of the global human population is rapidly eroding Earth’s life-support system."

Natasha Gilbert, 2009, Nature, 461, 716-718, DOI: 10.1038/461716a
"All life forms require phosphorus in the form of phosphate. The remaining accessible reserves of clean phosphate rock would run out in 50 years, if growth stays at 3% per year... The increased use will be driven in part by the rising global population, which will require food production to at least double by 2050... Every year countries mine millions of tonnes of phosphate from the ground, the bulk of which is turned into fertilizer for food crops. But such deposits are a finite resource and could disappear within the century."

Steffen et al. 2015, Science, 347(6223), DOI: 10.1126/science.1259855
"There is an urgent need for a new paradigm that integrates the continued development of human societies and the maintenance of the Earth system (ES) in a resilient and accommodating state... There is increasing evidence that human activities are affecting ES functioning to a degree that threatens the resilience of the ES".

6) Habitat Loss and Pollution Lead to Animal Extinction

Excessive population growth selfishly causes the death and extinction of the other species who share the planet. Humans are the last to feel the effects and animals the first because in almost any given situation where the needs of animals are in competition with those of humans, humans' will take precedence. Animal homes, rather than human homes are bulldozed to make way for more humans and pollutants are pumped and dumped in to animal habitats, not human houses.

Walsh et al. 2003, Nature, 422(6932), 611-614:

"Rapidly expanding human populations have devastated gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) habitats... The next decade will see our closest relatives pushed to the brink of extinction".

Rogers et al. 2013, Marine Pollution Bulletin, 74(2), 491–494:

"The continued expansion in global population exerts ever increasing pressures on scarcer ocean resources through overexploitation and on marine ecosystems through indirect impacts such as pollution. It is therefore important to recognise that growing impacts on the ocean are inseparable from the population growth and per-capita resource use, and tackling these issues... has to be part of a wider re-evaluation of the core values of human society and its relationship to the natural world and the resources on which we all rely."

"It is clear that human activities have led to intense multiple stressors acting together in many marine ecosystems. Most notably these are arising from overexploitation of biotic resources, climate change effects forming the so-called “deadly trio” (ocean warming, acidification and hypoxia/anoxia) and pollution. The “deadly trio” are... partially or entirely associated with the majority of the major extinction events in Earth’s past".

Jose Derraik, 2002, Marine Pollution Bulletin, 44(9), 842–852:

"A large number of marine species is known to be harmed and/or killed by plastic debris, which could jeopardize their survival, especially since many are already endangered by other forms of anthropogenic activities."

The correlation between the human population explosion, starting c.1700 (see previous graph) and the increasing rate of animal extinction is striking. Click the image (Ceballos et al., 2015) to enlarge.

Ceballos et al. 2015, Science Advances, 1(5), e1400253, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1400253
"The number of species that have gone extinct in the last century would [normally] have taken, depending on the vertebrate taxon, between 800 and 10,000 years to disappear. These estimates reveal an exceptionally rapid loss of biodiversity over the last few centuries, indicating that a sixth mass extinction is already under way... This affects human well-being by interfering with crucial ecosystem services such as crop pollination and water purification and by destroying humanity’s beautiful, fascinating, and culturally important living companions".

Homosexual Marriage

INTRODUCTION

This page features a range of rebuttals to common heterosexist arguments against same-sex marriage.

CONTENTS

01) Legal vs Religious Marriage
02) Is Marriage Already Equitable?
03) Is Marriage Redefinable?
04) The Burden of Proof
05) Procreation and Marriage
06) Marriage vs Civil Unions
07) Why Not Vote on Marriage Equality?
08) Marriage Inequality Promotes Prejudice
09) Religious Marriage



01) Legal Versus Religious Marriage:

- Legal and religious marriage are two separate and independent forms of marriage.
- Some countries, such as China, have no religion yet people still get married.
- Even some "Christian nations" have more civil than religious marriage ceremonies.
- Churches are not legally required to marry anybody and never will or should be.
- Homosexual couples should be entitled to the 1,138 legal rights of marriage, such as hospital visitation.

Office for National Statistics (ONS):
"Since 1992 there have been more civil ceremonies in England and Wales than religious ceremonies. In 2009 civil ceremonies accounted for 67 per cent of all ceremonies, an increase from 62 per cent in 1999."

According to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO):
"Research identified a total of 1,138 federal statutory provisions classified to the United States Code in which marital status is a factor in determining or receiving benefits, rights, and privileges."



02) Is Marriage Already Equitable?

Some people argue that homosexuals already have the same rights as heterosexuals because they can get married (heterosexually) too:

A good counter example to this claim is provided in robtish's video. 1:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuuPIEQXKeU

- A homosexual can not have a loving heterosexual marriage.
- As such, a law allowing heterosexual marriage does not give a same-sex couple equal opportunity.
- Neither love nor procreation are essential requirements for marriage and vice versa.
- Formal acknowledgement of love is however already recognised as a legitimate and perhaps the primary reason for heterosexuals to marry one another, irrespective of their fertility or plans to procreate.
- The above points necessitate a same-sex legal equivalent of marriage, at the very least.

Poncel et al. 2010, Health Affairs, 29(8), 1539-1548, DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2009.0583:
"The exclusion of gay men and women from civil marriage and the failure of domestic partnership benefits to provide insurance parity contribute to unequal access to health coverage, with the probable result that more health spending is pushed onto these individuals and onto the public."



03) Is Marriage Redefinable?

Conservative groups often worry about "defending the natural family" and are vehemently opposed to attempts to "redefine marriage":

- There is nothing intrinsically evil about redefining a word.
- Ironically, people voting to illegalize same-sex marriage are redefining it.
- Language has always evolved naturally over time, see the KJV Bible or Shakespeare for examples.
- Up until the 1950s, marriage was defined as being between a man and a women of the same race in America in the form of anti-miscegenation legislation.  Redefinition improved it.
- Another example of marriage's historical redefinition is the practice of polygamy, which was common and is sanctioned within the bible, such as in Exodus 21:10 and Deuteronomy 21:15–17.
- Polygamy has legal status in almost 50 nations today, representing the diversity of "marriage" definitions.

United Kingdom Parliament:
"In 1929... Parliament raised the age limit to 16 for both sexes in the Ages of Marriage Act".


Religious and conservative groups similarly express great trepidation and apprehension towards what they describe as "the destruction of traditional marriage":

- Marriage has already been repeatedly redefined and tradition repeatedly violated, often with great benefit.
- Homosexuality is no threat to heterosexual marriage as it does not require the divorce of heterosexual couples or loose them any rights, just as women's suffrage did not reduce the rights of men.
- Marriage has existed for far longer than modern religion and it was only in the 12-13th century that the Roman Catholic Church formally redefined marriage as a sacrament.
- Same-sex marriages appear to have been relatively common in ancient Rome until Christian emperors Constantius II and Constans issued a prohibition of it in the Theodosian Code (9.7.3) in 342 AD (Kuefler, 2007, DOI: 10.1177/0363199007304424).

McSheffrey, Shannon (2006). Marriage, Sex, and Civic Culture in late Medieval London. University of Pennsylvania Press:
"By the end of the thirteenth century the sacrament of marriage had come to be defined... Marriage vows did not have to be exchanged in a church, nor was a priest's presence required. A couple could exchange consent anywhere, any time" (page 21).
"Our best data come from the highest reaches of late medieval English society, the aristocracy, where women first married while young, between thirteen and eighteen, and men often only in their mid twenties or later (although some men, especially orphaned heirs, married very young)" (Page 17).



04) The Burden of Proof

In the US supreme court case that overturned anti-miscegenation laws (Loving v. Virginia, 1967), two of their findings were that:
"The Equal Protection Clause requires the consideration of whether the classifications drawn by any statute constitute an arbitrary and invidious discrimination."
"If they (anti-marriage laws) are ever to be upheld, they must be shown to be necessary to the accomplishment of some permissible state objective".

- As indicated in the above quotation, the burden of proof lies with those that seek to restrict rights and freedoms, not those who are subject to those restrictions of freedom.
- To restrict any liberty without sound justification, especially when it is granted to those that seek to impose that restriction, is by definition, arbitrary and invidiously discriminatory.
- The segregation enshrined by relationship legislation based upon the constituent partners' gender appears no less arbitrary than that based upon their race.



05) Procreation and Marriage

Heterosexists frequently assign "reproductive ability" as the essential criterion for marriage, overcoming the existence of married infertile heterosexuals through self-delusional semantics. They typically claim that infertile couples still represent the union that is responsible for all human life, which is why they are permitted to marry:

- This counts infertile heterosexual couples and fertile heterosexual couples as the same, or rather, identifies the heterosexuality as a validating factor of marriage, because it allows for procreation, and ignores the infertile aspect of it, which discounts the possibility of procreation.
- This is no more justified than ignoring the homosexual aspect of a homosexual couple's relationships, which is what effectively discounts their possibility of reproduction.
- The false premise is therefore that heterosexuality always equates to reproductive ability.
- The idea that "reproductive ability" is essential to marriage is itself unjustified in the first place.


An alternative wording of the above flawed heterosexist argument is provided by Allen Keyes. 2:01

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrD8zvCUtWc

- He disguises his distinction between fertile and infertile heterosexual couples using the semantics "In principal" and "incidentally", which is still not a logically justified distinction.
- He refers to an apple with a worm in it as a metaphor for an infertile heterosexual couple.
- He does so in the context of reproductive ability though and within this context, the worm (the infertility), is no less relevant than the homosexuality of a homosexual couple.
- A more thorough critique of his argument can be found here.



06) Marriage vs Civil Unions

It is unclear why legally equal SS "unions" should not simply be termed "marriages":

- Especially as legalizing same-sex legal "marriage" would only affect homosexuals seeking it, the burden of proof is upon those who oppose it to provide legitimate reasons for doing so.
- Particularly as they claim that legal equivalents, such as civil unions, are "equal but separate", there is no basis at all upon which to argue that the two should remain distinct in terms of the word "marriage".
- Any suggestion that negative consequences could arise from same-sex "marriage", that do not arise from legally equal "civil unions" would only serve to prove the inequality of the two different institutions.
- To understand many of the reasons why same-sex couples want "marriage", simply ask opposite-sex couples what motivates them to get married.

The below video features interviews with two same-sex couples who wish to marry 5:10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvJjg7o14bs

The notion that permitting marriage equality presents a threat to heterosexual marriages is not only unevidenced but also contradicted by a nationally representative UK study of more than 15,000 people, for example, which found that intolerance of marital unfaithfulness increased as acceptance of same-sex marriage increased.

Mercer et al. 2013, The Lancet, 382(9907), 1781-1794, DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62035-8:
"Acceptance of same-sex partnerships and intolerance of non-exclusivity in marriage increased in men and women in Natsal-3."



07) Why Not Vote on Marriage Equality?

It is sometimes suggested that same-sex marriage simply be put to a vote:

- Despite the 2013 Gallup poll showing that 54% of Americans were in favour of SS marriage and only 43% against, equality is not something that is decided by a vote but is instead an inalienable human right.
- There have been multiple cases throughout history where votes on equality have led to clear injustices.
- In 1879, a state-wide referendum passed by 99.4% of voters in California, banned Chinese people from employment by the state, citing the "burdens and evils arising from (their) presence".
- In 1915 the men of New Jersey voted to deny the women the right to vote.
- The 1964 Californian constitutional amendment, "Proposition 14" was put forward to allow white landlords to refuse to rent to black people and it was passed by a 65% majority vote (Wolfinger & Greenstein, 1968, The American Political Science Review, 62(3), 753-769).
- Interracial marriage would not have become legal in 1967 if voted upon.

California Secretary of State's Office, Article XIX, Section 3 California Constitution 1879:
"No Chinese shall be employed on any State, county, municipal, or other public work, except in punishment for crime."

New Jersey Women's History, 1915 Suffrage Referendum:
"The referendum was held in October 1915, when the proposed amendment was defeated by the male voters."

Gallup, International Pollster, 16/08/2007:
"In 1958, only 4% of Americans said they approved of marriages between whites and blacks... Approval gradually increased over the next few decades, but at least half of Americans disapproved of black-white unions through 1983."

Gallup, International Pollster, 21/05/2014:
"In the latest May 8-11 poll, there is further evidence that support for gay marriage has solidified above the majority level... now at 55%".



08) Marriage Inequality Promotes Prejudice

A state endorsed segregation of relationship institutions not only constitutes unequal treatment of citizens but additionally acts as a psychological legitimization of heterosexism, encouraging and reinforcing it.  Laws can promote or discourage stigmatization and prejudice:

UNAIDS, HIV Related Stigma and Discrimination:
"At a national level, discrimination can reflect stigma that has been officially sanctioned or legitimized through existing laws and policies, and enacted in practices and procedures."

Ritchie et al. 2010, Nicotine & Tobacco Research, (12)6, 622-629:
"Relatively little consideration has been given to the potentially negative, albeit unintended, consequences of smoke-free policies within different social and cultural contexts, in particular the increased stigmatization of smokers".

Amnesty International, Choice and Prejudice, Discrimination against Muslims in Europe:
"The achievement of women’s equality and the fight against all forms of gender-based discrimination would be better served by improving implementation of... existing legislation instead of supporting general bans on specific forms of dress, which is likely to further stigmatize women from ethnic and religious minorities".

The Wiener Library, The World's Oldest Holocaust Memorial Institution:
"From 13 March 1942, flats that had Jews living in them also had to be marked by a Star of David.  This publicly visible stigmatisation and humiliation denoted the final step in the process of social exclusion of the Jews which began in 1933".



09) Religious Marriage

Redefining religious marriage is actually, ironically much less of an issue than legal "marriage":

- Religious freedom is part of the International Bill of Human Rights.
- Currently established religion's do not have a monopoly on god-concepts or the word "marriage".
- If people are entitled to their own religious beliefs then a gay Christian or member of any other religion is entitled to believe that their God(s) will bless their same-sex marriage.
- Either the gay Christian can find a church that will marry them or simply make their own church.
- Religious marriage appears to be a non-issue and is only usually regarded as one due to the mistaken belief that it can only take the form of a Christian marriage, within a denomination that opposes same-sex marriage.

Gallup, International Pollster, "USA Today" Poll, 05/12/2012:
"Americans who oppose the legalization of same-sex marriage, 46% of the adult population, are most likely to explain their position on the basis of religious beliefs".

Frequently this stems from the misconception that they have a monopoly on marriage because it was created by their religion. Even in the case of genesis, the Jewish origin of marriage, Bible scholars widely agree that the book of genesis was constructed between 330-540 BC (1), which is massively pre-dated by the Code of Ur-Nammu, the oldest law code that regulates marriage, constructed c.2100 BC (2). As demonstrated by the numerous alterations to the definition of marriage throughout history, its application is not constrained by its origin anyway.

(1) J. Blenkinsopp & J. Barton, 1998, The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation, Cambridge University Press, page 184.
(2) J. Finkelstein, 1966, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 86(4), 355-372.

Position Statements

CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION
1) SAME SEX MARRIAGE
2) ADOPTION/PARENTING
3) EX-GAY/CONVERSION/REPARATIVE THERAPIES
4) MILITARY SERVICE

INTRODUCTION

What is this webpage about?

This web page details the evidence-based position statements/policies of a large number of reputable scientific associations and organisations concerning the suitability of homosexuals for inclusion in various personal and societal roles.  It includes position statements on Marriage, Adoption, Attempts to change sexual orientation and Military service, in that order.  Please click any of the contents sections to be taken to that section, though this will refresh the page.

SAME SEX MARRIAGE

The American Psychological Association (APA), 2004:
"The benefits, rights, and privileges associated with domestic partnerships are not universally available, are not equal to those associated with marriage, and are rarely portable... The APA believes that it is unfair and discriminatory to deny same-sex couples legal access to civil marriage and to all its attendant benefits, rights, and privileges".

The American Anthropological Association (AAA), 2004:
"The results of more than a century of anthropological research on households, kinship relationships, and families, across cultures and through time, provide 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 contribute to stable and humane societies.
The Executive Board of the American Anthropological Association strongly opposes a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples".

The American Sociological Association (ASA), 2004:
"A constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman intentionally discriminates against lesbians and gay men as well as their children and other dependents by denying access to the protections, benefits, and responsibilities extended automatically to married couples... we believe that the official justification for the proposed constitutional amendment is based on prejudice rather than empirical research, and... sociological research has repeatedly shown that systems of inequality are detrimental to the public good".

The American Psychiatric Association (APA), 2005:
"In the interest of maintaining and promoting mental health, the American Psychiatric Association supports the legal recognition of same-sex civil marriage with all rights, benefits, and responsibilities conferred by civil marriage, and opposes restrictions to those same rights, benefits, and responsibilities".

The American Medical Association (AMA), 2009:
"(The) American Medical Association: (1) recognizes that denying civil marriage based on sexual orientation is discriminatory and imposes harmful stigma on gay and lesbian individuals and couples and their families; (2) recognizes that exclusion from civil marriage contributes to health care disparities affecting same-sex households".

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), 2006:
"There is ample evidence to show that children raised by same-gender parents fare as well as those raised by heterosexual parents. More than 25 years of research have documented that there is no relationship between parents' sexual orientation and any measure of a child's emotional, psychosocial, and behavioral adjustment. These data have demonstrated no risk to children as a result of growing up in a family with 1 or more gay parents. Conscientious and nurturing adults, whether they are men or women, heterosexual or homosexual, can be excellent parents. The rights, benefits, and protections of civil marriage can further strengthen these families."

The American Bar Association (ABA), 2010:
"(The ABA) urges state, territorial and tribal governments to eliminate all of their legal barriers to civil marriage between two persons of the same sex who are otherwise eligible to marry".

The Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), 2006:
"The literature (including the literature on which opponents to marriage of same-sex couples appear to rely) indicates that parents’ financial, psychological and physical well-being is enhanced by marriage and that children benefit  from being raised by two parents within a legally-recognized union".
"CPA is concerned that some are mis-interpreting the findings of psychological research to support their positions, when their positions are more accurately based on other systems of belief or values".
"CPA further asserts that children stand to benefit from the well-being that results when their parents’ relationship is recognized and supported by society’s institutions".

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), 2012:
"The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) supports full legal equality for same-gender families to contribute to overall health and longevity, improved family stability and to benefit children of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender (GLBT) families".

The American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA), 2013:
"The American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) endorses full local, state, and federal recognition of same-sex and same-gender civil marriage with all the rights, benefits, and responsibilities it confers. Civil marriage confers important social, legal, and psychological benefits. Limitations on access to marriage and the invalidation of marriages unjustly deprive same-sex and same-gender couples and their families of these benefits."

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), 2009:
"The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry rejects all public and private discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity of persons of any age particularly in the areas of employment, military service, housing, public accommodations, membership, licensing, promotion or assignment, education, training, marriage, adoption, parenting, foster care, or qualification as an expert in a court of law".

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), 2005:
"NASW encourages the adoption of laws that recognize inheritance, insurance, same-sex marriage, child custody, property, and other relationship rights for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people".

ADOPTION/PARENTING

Full copies of many reputable association's position statements can be found here.

The American Psychological Association (APA), 2004:
"There is no scientific evidence that parenting effectiveness is related to parental sexual orientation: lesbian and gay parents are as likely as heterosexual parents to provide supportive and healthy environments for their children".

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), 2006:
"The AAFP establishes policy and supports legislation that promotes a safe and nurturing environment, including psychological and legal security, for all children, including those of adoptive parents, regardless of the parents’ sexual orientation".

The Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA), 2009:
"South African-based as well as other international research has found that there is no difference between children who are raised by homosexual versus heterosexual parents regarding matters such as sexual orientation, gender identity, sex-role behaviour, likelihood of being sexually abused, self-concept, intelligence, personality characteristics, behaviour problems, peer relations, parental separation and divorce, general adjustment and accomplishment of developmental tasks."

The American Psychiatric Association (APA), 2005:
"The American Psychiatric Association supports initiatives which allow same-sex couples to adopt and coparent children and supports all the associated legal rights, benefits, and responsibilities which arise from such initiatives".

The American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA), 2012:
"Accumulated evidence suggests the family factors that are important for children’s outcomes and well-being are family processes and the quality of interactions and relationships. Evaluation of an individual or family for these parental qualities should be determined without prejudice regarding actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. There is no credible evidence that shows that a parent’s sexual orientation or gender identity will adversely affect the development of the child".

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), 2009:
"There is no evidence to suggest or support that parents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender are per se superior or inferior from or deficient in parenting skills, child-centered concerns, and parent-child attachments when compared with heterosexual parents".

The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), 2005:
"The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) affirms that lesbian, gay, and bisexual parents are as well suited to raise children as their heterosexual counterparts".

The National Association of Social Workers, (NASW), 2005:
"LGB people must be granted all rights, privileges and responsibilities that are granted to heterosexual people, including but not limited to inheritance rights, insurance, marriage, child custody, employment, credit, and immigration".

The American Medical Association (AMA), 2004:
"(The) AMA will support legislative and other efforts to allow the adoption of a child by the same-sex partner, or opposite sex non-married partner, who functions as a second parent or co-parent to that child".

The Australian Psychological Society (APS), 2007:
"It is family processes (such as the quality of parenting and relationships within the family) that contribute to determining children’s wellbeing and ‘outcomes’, rather than family structures, per se, such as the number, gender, sexuality and co-habitation status of parents. The research indicates that parenting practices and children’s outcomes in families parented by lesbian and gay parents are likely to be at least as favourable as those in families of heterosexual parents, despite the reality that considerable legal discrimination and inequity remain significant challenges for these families".

The Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych), 2007:
"The Royal College of Psychiatrists holds the view that LGB people should be regarded as valued members of society who have exactly similar rights and responsibilities as all other citizens. This includes equal access to... the rights and responsibilities involved in procreating and bringing up children".

The American Bar Association (ABA), 1999:
"Supports the enactment of legislation and the implementation of public policy providing that adoption shall not be denied on the basis of sexual orientation".

Barnardo's, UK Children's Charity, 31/01/2011:
"Children in the care system are continuing to lose out on potential parents. Society’s attitude plays a pivotal role in discouraging people from considering adoption. The idea that gay parents are second best must be challenged. To suggest that a same sex couple is not as able to raise a child as a heterosexual couple is at once absurd and unsubstantiated. To continue to discourage potential adopters simply because of their sexual orientation is severely diminishing the chances of securing loving, stable homes for the children who are waiting".

The Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), 2006:
"A review of the psychological research into the well-being of children raised by same-sex and opposite-sex parents continues to indicate that there are no reliable differences in their mental health or social adjustment and that lesbian mothers and gay fathers are not less fit as parents than are their heterosexual counterparts".

EX-GAY/CONVERSION/REPARATIVE THERAPIES

The American Psychiatric Association (APA), 1998:
"There is no published scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of reparative therapy as a treatment to change ones sexual orientation. The potential risks of reparative therapy are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against homosexuality may reinforce self-hatred already experienced by the patient. Many patients who have undergone reparative therapy relate that they were inaccurately told that homosexuals are lonely, unhappy individuals who never achieve acceptance or satisfaction".

The UK Council for Psychotherapy & The British Psychoanalytic Council, 2014:
"Conversion therapy is the umbrella term for a type of talking therapy or activity which attempts to change sexual orientation or reduce attraction to others of the same sex. There is no good evidence this works and we believe it has the potential to cause harm. Often these approaches are based on religious interpretations about sexuality rather than on a researched and informed understanding of sexual orientation."

The American Psychological Association (APA), 2009:
"There are no studies of adequate scientific rigor to conclude whether or not recent SOCE (Sexual Orientation Change Efforts) do or do not work to change a person’s sexual orientation. Scientifically rigorous older work in this area (e.g., Birk, Huddleston, Miller, & Cohler, 1971; James, 1978; McConaghy, 1969, 1976; McConaghy, Proctor, & Barr, 1972; Tanner, 1974, 1975) found that sexual orientation (i.e., erotic attractions and sexual arousal oriented to one sex or the other, or both) was unlikely to change due to efforts designed for this purpose".

The Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA), 2009:
"While “causes” for any of these sexual orientations remain unclear, they are highly resistant to change. Further, there is no reliable evidence that sexual orientation is subject to redirection, “conversion” or any significant influence from efforts by psychological or other interventions."

Pan American Health Organization & World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO), 17/05/12:
"Services that purport to "cure" people with non-heterosexual sexual orientation lack medical justification and represent a serious threat to the health and well-being of affected people".

The American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA), 2012:
"Psychoanalytic technique does not encompass purposeful attempts to “convert,” “repair,” change or shift an individual’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.  Such directed efforts are against fundamental principles of psychoanalytic treatment and often result in substantial psychological pain by reinforcing damaging internalized attitudes".

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), 1993:
"Therapy directed specifically at changing sexual orientation is contraindicated, since it can provoke guilt and anxiety while having little or no potential for achieving changes in orientation".

British Psychological Society (BPS), 2012:
"The BPS believes that people of same-sex sexual orientations should be regarded as equal members of society with the same rights and responsibilities. This includes freedom from harassment or discrimination in any sphere, and a right to protection from therapies that are potentially damaging, particularly those that purport to change or ‘convert’ sexual orientation. Recent publicised efforts to repathologise homosexuality by claiming that it can be ‘cured’ are rarely guided by rigorous scientific or psychological research, but often by religious and political forces opposed to full civil rights for people of same-sex sexual orientations."

The American Counseling Association (ACA), 2006:
"The ACA Ethics Committee strongly suggests that ethical professional counselors do not refer clients to someone who engages in conversion therapy or, if they do, to proceed cautiously only when they are certain that the referral counselor fully informs clients of the unproven nature of the treatment and the potential risks and takes steps to minimize harm to clients".

The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), 2004:
"The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy takes the position that same sex orientation is not a mental disorder. Therefore, we do not believe that sexual orientation in and of itself requires treatment or intervention".

The American Medical Association (AMA), 2004:
"(The) AMA opposes, the use of "reparative" or "conversion" therapy that is based upon the assumption that homosexuality per se is a mental disorder or based upon the a priori assumption that the patient should change his/her homosexual orientation".

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), 2000:
"Proponents of reparative and conversion therapies, such as the most commonly cited group NARTH, claim that their processes are supported by scientific data; however, such scientific support is replete with confounded research methodologies... Media campaigns, often coupled with coercive messages from family and community members, has created an environment in which lesbians and gay men often are pressured to seek reparative or conversion therapies, which cannot and will not change sexual orientation".

The Australian Psychological Society (APS), 2000:
"The validity, efficacy and ethics of clinical attempts to change an individual’s sexual orientation have been challenged.  To date, there are no scientifically rigorous outcome studies to determine either the actual efficacy or harm of therapies or  treatments that attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation".

The Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych), 2007:
"Although there is now a number of therapists and organisation in the USA and in the UK that claim that therapy can help homosexuals to become heterosexual, there is no evidence that such change is possible".

The American Psychological Association (APA) on NARTH, 2006:
"The APA’s concern about the position’s espoused by NARTH and so-called conversion therapy is that they are not supported by the science. There is simply no sufficiently scientifically sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed. Our further concern is that the positions espoused by NARTH and Focus on the Family create an environment in which prejudice and discrimination can flourish".

"Just the Facts About Sexual Orientation and Youth", 2008, endorsed by the following organisations, makes the points below:
American Academy of Pediatrics,
American Association of School Administrators,
American Counseling Association,
American Federation of Teachers,
American Psychological Association,
American School Counselor Association,
American School Health Association,
Interfaith Alliance Foundation,
National Association of School Psychologists,
National Association of Secondary School Principals,
National Association of Social Workers,
National Education Association,
School Social Work Association of America:
"The terms reparative therapy and sexual orientation conversion therapy refer to counseling and psychotherapy aimed at eliminating or suppressing homosexuality. The most important fact about these “therapies” is that they are based on a view of homosexuality that has been rejected by all the major mental health professions".
"Efforts to change sexual orientation through therapy have been adopted by some political and religious organizations and aggressively promoted to the public. However, such efforts have serious potential to harm young people because they present the view that the sexual orientation of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth is a mental illness or disorder, and they often frame the inability to change one’s sexual orientation as a personal and moral failure".
"The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Counseling Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American School Counselor Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the National Association of Social Workers, together representing more than 480,000 mental health professionals, have all taken the position that homosexuality is not a mental disorder and thus is not something that needs to or can be “cured”".

MILITARY SERVICE

The American Psychological Association (APA), 2004:
"Empirical evidence fails to show that sexual orientation is germane to any aspect of military effectiveness including unit cohesion, morale, recruitment and retention... and... comparative data from foreign militaries and domestic police and fire departments show that when lesbians, gay men and bisexuals are allowed to serve openly there is no evidence of disruption or loss of mission effectiveness... and... when openly gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals have been allowed to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces..., there has been no evidence of disruption or loss of mission effectiveness".

The American Psychiatric Association (APA), 1990:
"APA opposes exclusion and dismissal from the armed services on the basis of sexual orientation. Furthermore, APA asserts that no burden of proof of judgment, capacity, or reliability should be placed on homosexuals which is greater than that imposed on any other persons within the armed services".

The American Bar Association (ABA), 2010:
"On behalf of the American Bar Association, I write to express our strong support for repeal of 10 U.S.C. §654, the statute commonly known as “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”".

The American Medical Association (AMA), 2010:
"(The) American Medical Association will advocate for repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the common term for the policy regarding gay and lesbian individuals serving openly in the U.S. military".

The American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA), 2009:
"It is the position of APsaA that sexual orientation is not germane to any aspect of military effectiveness".