Michigan Judge Delivers Devastating Blow to Junk Scientist Regnerus

[TexasTowelie]

Moments ago, Michigan Federal Judge Friedman found the state’s marriage ban unconstitutional. While the ruling itself is a historic moment for the Great Lakes region, it is equally significant that Judge Friedman, a Reagan appointee, spoke out against UT Austin sociologist Mark Regnerus.

In his ruling, Judge Friedman recognizes “New Family Structures Study,” a research project conceived and mostly funded by the conservative Witherspoon Institute, as a horrendous piece of anti-LGBT propaganda.

He wrote:

"The Court finds Regnerus's testimony entirely unbelievable and not worthy of serious consideration. The evidence adduced at trial demonstrated that his 2012 'study' was hastily concocted at the behest of a third-party funder, which found it 'essential that the necessary data be gathered to settle the question in the forum of public debate about what kinds of family arrangement are best for society' and which 'was confident that the traditional understanding of marriage will be vindicated by this study.' ... While Regnerus maintained that the funding source did not affect his impartiality as a researcher, the Court finds this testimony unbelievable. The funder clearly wanted a certain result, and Regnerus obliged."

The 2012 study alleges that children raised by same-sex parents are more likely to attempt suicide and experience sexual abuse than children raised by a married mother and father. In reality, the “New Family Structures Study” never measured the outcomes of children raised by same-sex couples.

Since the study’s publication in 2012, fellow social scientists, scholars and the American Sociological Association have rejected Mark Regnerus’s biased work. In March, UT Austin denounced his research as “fundamentally flawed on conceptual and methodological grounds and that findings from Dr. Regnerus’ work have been cited inappropriately in efforts to diminish the civil rights and legitimacy of LBGTQ partners and their families.”

More at http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/michigan-judge-delivers-devastating-blow-to-junk-scientist-regnerus .

Cross-posted in the Texas Group.

Related thread:
UT Professor: Legalizing Gay Marriage Will Make Everyone Gay and Slutty
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107815543

[blkmusclmachine]

1. Question is, can Scalia/Thomas et. al. resurrect Regnerus' "study"? You know they'll try their best!