from Political News
In a decision handed down by the New York Appellate Division, First Department of the New York Supreme Court, a panel of judges ruled in Hernandez v. Robles. This case involved the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York state.
A lower court had sided with same-sex marriage advocacy in the APA's friend of the court brief as well as briefs filed by gay rights organizations to have same-sex marriage mandated under the state's Domestic Relations Law. The case was appealed to the appellate court and was overturned.
Writing for the majority, Judge Milton L. Williams observed that lower court Judge Ling-Cohan had not only wrongly decided that state law on marriage was unconstitutional but "proceeded to rewrite it [the state law] and purportedly create a new constitutional right, an act that exceeded the court's constitutional mandate and usurped that of the legislature."
The APA's amicus brief filed in the lower court, includes a lengthy section on "The Children of Lesbians and Gay Men," and includes numerous statements that critics claim are factually inaccurate and that ignore the entire body of research that contradicts its case. The APA's gay division includes a listing of nearly two dozen friend of the court briefs filed on behalf of same-sex marriage, discrimination, sodomy, and gays in the military.
The APA brief repeatedly cites "(How) Does the Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter?" by J. Stacey & T.J. Biblarz (66 Am. Soc. Rev. 159, 162 & n. 2 (2001), as well as the research from C. J. Patterson. Professor Patterson is a lesbian activist and professor at the University of Virginia whose scientific neutrality has been called into question by NARTH Scientific Advisory Committee members Drs. A. Dean Byrd and Gerald Schoenewolf. The problems with the Stacey and Biblarz report are dealt with in Dr. Byrd's paper, Gender Complementarity and Child-rearing: Where Tradition and Science Agree.
Professor Patterson's questionable objectivity is described in the following NARTH documents: When Activism Masquerades as Science: Potential Consequences of Recent APA Resolutions; When Propaganda Is Disguised As Research: The Case of Charlotte J. Patterson.