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posted Friday, May 9, 2008 - Volume 36 Issue 19 |
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Researcher says Focus on the Family "grossly distorted" work |
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| Researcher says Focus on the Family "grossly distorted" work |
TruthWinsOut.org published a letter today from a researcher who claims Focus on the Family twisted his work. In the letter, Gary Remafedi, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota, asked Focus on the Family's leader James Dobson to stop misrepresenting his findings from a key 1992 study.
"I want to draw your attention to a gross misrepresentation of our research at the website of Focus on the Family," Remafedi wrote in his letter to Dobson. "More important, had the authors of 'Myths and Facts' actually read the article, they would have found no support for their contention that 'many children experience a period of sexual-identity confusion when they can be influenced in either direction.'"
Remafedi's report was published in Pediatrics in 1992. The study explored patterns of sexual orientation in a representative sample of more than 34,000 Minnesota students in grades 7 to 12. Focus on the Family distorted his findings to make the case that young people should not learn about homosexuality because they were sexually confused, and could thus be influenced by educational material.
"Focus on the Family has engaged in a disturbing pattern of misrepresenting the work of legitimate researchers to further their anti-Gay agenda," said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of TruthWinsOut.org. "We call on Focus on the Family to immediately expunge all falsehoods and fallacies presented as 'facts' from their past and present literature."
Focus on the Family has an ignoble history of manipulating or cherry picking the research of genuine scientists. Last year, several researchers held Dobson accountable for misrepresenting their work. Letters and videos from these scientists can be viewed at www.RespectMyResearch.org.
TruthWinsOut.org is currently working to find examples where right wing organizations have twisted scientific work. If you have a case that is worthy of investigation, please contact TWO's Director of Research, Peter Cabrera, at petercabrera74@yahoo.com. TruthWinsOut.org is a non-profit organization that counters right wing propaganda, exposes the "ex-Gay" myth and educates America about gay life. For more information, visit www.TruthWinsOut.org.
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