Feb 9th, 2006
How is Paul Cameron able to sleep at night?
I mentioned in a previous post that “Dr.” Paul Cameron’s “scientific research” is neither. I know, because my book was used in his so-called research.
An article in the Intelligence Report published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has reminded me that I have yet to publicly explain how Cameron distorted my work. The article, “Gay Bowel Syndrome? Yeah, Right” by David Holthouse came to me via the regular emails I receive from Alternet — a source for “alternative” media and opinion that I highly recommend.
Holthouse gives a run down on some of the bogus research Cameron has put forth, and more frightening, how other researchers and politicians cite his work without looking into it, usually because the journals his articles run in sound so gosh darn official…never mind if he is paying for his article to run.
Soon after my book, Families Like Mine was released, I was contacted by Pediatrics to peer review an article. I thought this was strange since in the context of academic journals I thought “peer” meant one who has a Ph.D. When I called and asked why I had been asked specifically, I was told it was because my “work” had been included in the submission. Curious to find out what this was, I moved forward on the process.
I was shocked. I had interviewed over 50 adult kids for my book. Cameron had broken down my sample by gender and sexual orientation of the the parent, and the gender and sexual orientation of the offspring. He did the same for two other books, tallied up who dates men and who dates women and concluded that this sample is reflective of the broader population of people with gay parents.
That’s when I understood why I was contacted as a “peer.” Cameron glossed over that what he was citing were books. Non-scientific books. In fact, I had made a point of having a roughly even number of straight kids and second generation kids so that both views would be evenly represented in the book. In other words, because of the goals of my book, I deliberately aimed to have 50% of the kids interviewed to be queer. Not because it is statistically reflective of the population, but to give it balance of perspective.
So here’s what I wrote in my “peer review” for Pediatrics Journal:
This article is fundamentally flawed, and the ignorant bias of the author is so clear. One example: it is noted that a gay son of a gay dad “had had sex with his father from 6-to-18-years old.” Any fair-minded researcher would not refer to this as “having sex” but instead refer to it as abuse. Furthermore, mention of this case of incest in this article is irrelevant, again exposing the author’s biased assumption (as he so inappropriately suggests in the abstract) that the father “introduced” homosexuality to the son through sexual abuse.
I was under the assumption that this would be a double blind review process, but the manuscript I printed out clearly states the author’s name. No matter; I could have figured it out right away. Cameron is known for his outrageous claims and distortion of statistics to paint homosexuals as pedophiles and deviants. He was expelled from APA for his questionable research procedures.
Regardless of who wrote this article, however, it is positively laughable. The sample in my book FAMILIES LIKE MINE, which accounts for the majority of his “facts” is not scientific, nor did I make any attempt to select sources so that the sexual orientation of the children would reflect the larger population of children of gays. Particularly hilarious is reference to my “subsample” of 11 adult children (p. 169), which is nothing more than an anecdote about a casual get-together. OUT OF THE ORDINARY is a literary collection, and selection of the contributors was based on literary merit, not sexual orientation.
Finally, I am not an academic, and doubt that I would have been asked to review this paper had the journal understood that. (Again, this reinforces the misrepresentation in Cameron’s article, since he refers to me as an “investigator” as if I were a social scientist, and he calls my mainstream book a “report.”) Without a PhD after my name, you might dismiss this review altogether. But it doesn’t take a PhD to realize this article is nothing short of hysterical and irresponsible. Should Pediatrics choose to accept this article, the journal risks facing a damage-control nightmare.
Pediatrics declined to publish Cameron’s paper. Pediatrics took the safe exit in the rejection letter, saying they always have more submissions than they can publish (instead of telling him he’s a disgrace and he shouldn’t consider submitting again).
End of story? I thought it would be, but it wasn’t. I Googled the name of the article, “Children of Homosexuals and Transsexuals More Apt To Be Homosexual” and lo and behold, Cameron apparently continued submitting it until it was accepted. You can find it in the May 2005 issue of the Journal of Biosocial Science, which touts itself as “a leading interdisciplinary and international journal in the field of biosocial science, the common ground between biology and sociology.”
Now, I have not read the actual article in the published form for this particular journal, but I can’t stomach the idea of handing over $25.00 to support a journal that publishes so recklessly. It’s clear that his conclusions, however, have not changed since the journal’s website provides this abstract:
Do the sexual inclinations of parents influence those of their children? Of 77 adult children of homosexual parents who volunteered for three different investigations, at least 23 (30%) were currently homosexual: twelve (55%) of 22 daughters and three (21%) of fourteen sons of lesbians; five (29%) of seventeen daughters and three (17%) of eighteen sons of gays; none of six sons with both a gay and a lesbian parent. At least 25 (32%) were currently heterosexual. Of the ten with transsexual parents, one of nine daughters was currently lesbian, one was currently heterosexual, and one was transsexual. The son’s sexual preference was not reported. These findings suggest that parents’ sexual inclinations influence their children’s.
Over half of the above 77 adult children are from my book. I know my writing will be distorted and taken out of context; it comes with the territory of bringing truth to a controversial issue. But it’s one thing to have my messages distorted on blogs or on a fundamentalist cable access show. It’s quite another to find this work in journals, where readers assume there is a certain level of trust and credibility.
P.S. If someone wants to send me a rant on how this post is inherently homophobic in its defense, please read Chapter Seven of Families Like Mine first. I am the last person to wave around research to say “don’t worry, gay parents won’t turn their kids gay; here’s proof.” If you know my writing you know I am a strong advocate for supporting kids of any sexual orientation and I abhor the politicalization of this issue.
===
Read related posts.
I totally get the not wanting to support the journal that did publish him but if it’s any kind of “credible” source that people go to, you should consider sending them a letter denouncing his use of your research. This stuff has a way of getting perpetuated and that journal is published by Cambridge University Press so probably considered a fairly serious journal in the field.
Hi Abigail,
Not sure if you have the email address but you may wish to email the Associate Editor.
Miss Caroline M. Gallimore
Department of Biological Anthropology
University of Cambridge
Downing Street
Cambridge CB2 3DZ
UK
Email cmg26@cam.ac.uk
Unfortunately, people like Cameron use publication in such a journal as proof of the veracity of his “research”.
I hope you have some luck emailing the associate editor….
cheers
richard
To this day and for the rest of my life I do not understand the theory that gay parents cause gay children. I know in my life that my grandparents were as straight as it gets and they have a gay daughter.
And as for me. I was born in 1981 to a wonderful mother and father. Thay were married until 1994. That year my father remarried, a woman, and I lived with them until I was 14. At 14 I went to live with my single mother. After much apprehension and fear, I told my mother I was a lesbian. After the “talk” my mother told me she was also a lesbian. But, she didn’t want to influence my life in any way as she had thought that I might be a lesbian also. So, she didn’t have a partner or do anything to even slightly influence me.
After I was okay with being gay and okay with her being gay is when she began dating. She dated one woman and is with that person to this day.
So my mom lived in the closet until I was aware of the world around me and of myself. My gay parent put her child first, not because she was ashamed but because, unfortunately, she is older and knows how the world is (so many assumptions so little basis). She wanted to protect me! At least I know who I am, who my mother is. And I am glad to be able to say my mother didn’t make me gay (and neither did my father or step-mother or anyone else). I was simply born that way. So these so-called researchers and scientists, how do they explain me? And more importnantly my mom, the gay child of striaght parents
Hi Abigail,
Jim Burroway over at Box Turtle Bulletin has also done some analyzing of Cameron’s “work” — and Paul’s always a popular topic of conversation at exgaywatch.com as well.
Thanks for the work you do…it’s so important that people continue to speak out against him and his statistics!
Paul Cameron was kicked out of the APA (American Psychological Foundation) and is widely regarded as a fraud (e.g., in most academic circles, of which I am a part). And yet, the man continues to publish. Fortunately, many respected academics and professionals have begun to speak out against him, and to shine the light on the flaws in his so-called research. For example, respected researcher Gregory Herek notes:
Herek goes on to dissect Cameron’s claims…go here to read more
[...] Poor Paul. I have to wonder what’s happening with his memory these days. He remembers reading in Abigail’s book that her sample was “fairly representative.” But during the same interview, he said that he doesn’t remember submitting his manuscript to the journal Pediatrics, he doesn’t remember being censured by the Nebraska Psychological Association and the American Sociological Association, and he doesn’t remember what Abigail “enjoys doing in her bedroom.” [...]
Thank you for your stand against the liar Paul Cameron (I do not use that word lightly). I am a British Healthcare Professional and writer and am afraid to say that some of his lies have crossed the ocean. Fortunately all that happened was it got the fool who quoted him into very hot water.
I know what it is like to your work taken out of context and I applaud your stand. Keep up the good work.
Yours,
Drew Payne.
Homosexual Parents More Likely to Have Homosexual Children:
In a 14-year study comparing 25 children of 18 lesbian mothers against 21 children of 16 single mothers, when asked what they thought their mother wanted them to become, 40% of the lesbians’ children but none of the children of divorced heterosexuals said that they believed their mother wanted them to be homosexual. Not surprisingly, 67% of the daughters and 57% of the sons of the lesbian mothers vs. 13% of the heterosexual mothers’ daughters and 20% of their sons said that they would consider homosexual relations. Also, 29% of the daughters of lesbians and 13% of their sons (but none of the children of single mothers) reported a homosexual relationship. In fact, two of the lesbians’ daughters said that when it came to sex, they primarily enjoyed homosexuality.
– Golombok S, Tasker F Do parents influence the sexual orientation of their children? Developmental Psychol 1996; 32:3-11.
Adding together the various studies of children of homosexuals published through 1999, at least 19% of 115 daughters and 16% of 120 sons said that they themselves engaged in homosexuality; that is, 17% of 235 offspring. In the comparison groups that were employed in these studies, only 2% of 66 children of heterosexuals said they practiced homosexuality.
– Cameron P Homosexual parents: testing common sense. Psychol Rpts 1999; 85:282-322.
Paul Cameron, Ph. D. is a *$%(@* if i ever did see one. Open his mouth and sh*& come out
[...] February 9: How is Paul Cameron able to sleep at night? [...]
[...] of Social Science (Copyright 2005, Cambridge University Press). (My previous related posts are here and [...]
I do not buy into Cameron’s theory that a parent’s sexual orientation has a major influence on their child’s sexuality. If his claims are so, why are there homosexual children with heterosexual parents. According to his accusations, this should not be the case. A child that grows up in a heterosexual household would imitate the parents and identify themself as a heterosexual.
[...] are “more apt” to raise homosexual children. Details to follow in an upcoming post; this is too long and involved to include [...]