TRADITIONAL family supporters raised the alarm yesterday after Government research claimed that lesbians made the best parents.

Campaigners said that research paid for with taxpayers’ money to pander to same-sex couples only succeeded in marginalising fathers to the detriment of society.

The National Academy for Parenting Practitioners struck a blow to the heart of the conventional family after it said the latest research showed that children prospered when raised by two women. ...

But the research showed that children brought up by lesbians had higher aspirations to become ­doctors or lawyers and were more confident to fight for social justice.

Speaking last week, director of the research Stephen Scott said: “Lesbians make better parents than a man and a woman.” Campaigners Fathers4Justice attacked the study for failing to promote the role of fathers and laid blame for a pending “unprecedented social ­crisis” at the Government’s door.

Labels: culture, family structure, Fathers, gay parenting, lesbians, parenting, professional associations, Scotland

posted by Eve at 3:07 PM EMAIL SHARE PRINT

A licensing complaint against Nokomis High School guidance counselor Don Mendell about his appearance in a TV commercial opposing gay marriage has sparked a political fight as voters go to the polls.

The complaint was filed by Ann Sullivan, a social worker at Newport Elementary School, according to the Yes on 1 campaign, which supports the effort to repeal the state's same-sex marriage law in today's referendum vote, and the Alliance Defense Fund, whose lawyers now represent Mendell.

Messages left for Sullivan on Monday at Newport Elementary School were not returned.

The Morning Sentinel obtained the complaint last week. It has been filed with the state Department of Professional and Financial Regulation. ...

Citing Mendell's opinion as expressed in the TV commercial, the complaint seeks to revoke Mendell's license because "he does not have the right as a licensed social worker to make public comments that can endanger or promote discrimination."

The complaint cites a code of ethics set by the National Association of Social Workers. The cited sections state that social workers should "treat colleagues with respect and ... should avoid unwarranted negative criticism of colleagues in communications" and they "should not practice, condone, facilitate, or collaborate with any form of discrimination" on the basis of several factors, including "sexual orientation."

In the commercial, Mendell describes Gould as a "gay activist" and says repealing the law will "prevent homosexual marriage from being pushed on Maine students." Mendell later said in an interview that he wanted people to know "at least one experienced educator, counselor, thought at stake here was something that would have a profound effect on the raising of children," because children should have equal opportunities to be raised by a mother and father, if possible, he said.

Labels: culture, gay marriage, Maine, professional associations, schools

posted by Eve at 4:51 PM EMAIL SHARE PRINT

We shouldn't have to choose between gay rights and religious liberties.

The media often report on the very real pain of same-sex couples unable to validate their relationships through marriage. But reporters almost never discuss the full implications of same-sex marriage, or the underlying aims of some of its supporters.

Privately, many of my fellow professors argue that a religiously affiliated college or university should receive no government funding for student loans or faculty research until gay and lesbian couples can wed at the campus chapel, synagogue or mosque. ...

Recently, such secular intolerance made me a conscientious objector in this particular culture war. At a political science conference, I had the temerity to argue that, rather than refusing to hold our conventions in states without same-sex marriage, we professors should tolerate a wide range of views. Given the reaction, I'm just glad I don't need a grant from any of the professors who heard it.

Labels: gay marriage, professional associations, religious liberty

posted by Eve at 9:22 AM EMAIL SHARE PRINT

Responding to concerns that psychologists might be required to counsel homosexual couples about strengthening their relationship, Catholic leaders in Nebraska are asking for conscience protections for psychologists who refuse to treat or refer clients because of religious or moral convictions.

Speaking during a licensing rules hearing before the Board of Mental Health Practice, Nebraska Catholic Conference executive director Jim Cunningham proposed a “convictions of conscience” rule for psychologists. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that he warned that Catholic Charities in Omaha and Catholic Social Services in Lincoln might have to stop hiring licensed counselors and psychologists if they are not protected by the law. The Lincoln agency provides about $100,000 in free mental health services. ...

The Nebraska Catholic Conference has also argued for conscience protections for social workers and marriage and family therapists.

Labels: Catholic Church, culture, Marriage, Nebraska, professional associations, religion

posted by Eve at 6:29 PM EMAIL SHARE PRINT

I’ve been a member of the American Philosophical Association (APA) for about fifteen years. I go to the annual meetings, I get the publications, and I peruse the frightfully scarce listings in “Jobs for Philosophers.”

Last week a colleague sent me a petition addressed to the APA. The petition notes that many universities “require faculty, students, and staff to follow certain ‘ethical’ standards which prohibit engaging in homosexual acts,” and that some of these advertise in “Jobs for Philosophers.”

It goes on to point out that the APA’s anti-discrimination policy “rejects as unethical all forms of discrimination based on race, color, religion, political convictions, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identification or age, whether in graduate admissions, appointments, retention, promotion and tenure, manuscript evaluation, salary determination, [etc.].”

Philosophers hate contradictions, and the petitioners detect one here. Arguing that these anti-gay ethical codes run afoul of the APA anti-discrimination policy, they conclude:

“We, the undersigned, request that the American Philosophical Association either (1) enforce its policy and prohibit institutions that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation from advertising in ‘Jobs for Philosophers’ or (2) clearly mark institutions with these policies as institutions that violate our anti-discrimination policy.”

One would think that as a longtime openly gay philosopher, I would jump at the chance to sign this petition. But I paused.

Labels: professional associations

posted by Eve at 12:05 PM EMAIL SHARE PRINT