The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that's more or less in the mainstream rather than on the far edges of the right, and which enjoys close ties to the Bush administration, has launched a research database for conservative policy wonks. Naturally, they devote an entire section to "homosexuality." And what passes for solid social science research at Heritage these days? How about at least two pieces by the king of social science falsification, Paul Cameron.
As you may recall, we have posted a few pieces revealing what a scurrilous creature Cameron is, including "Queer Science" by Mark E. Pietrzyk (originally published in the New Republic). Excerpt:
Cameron himself is also a demonizer of gays: several times he has proposed the tattooing and quarantining of AIDS patients and raised the possibility of exterminating male homosexuals. Most important, he is the architect of unreliable "surveys" that purport to show strains of violence and depravity in gay life.
And Walter Olson, writing on "Phony Statistics," notes:
Cameron resigned under fire from the American Psychological Association and was later formally terminated from membership following complaints about his research methods. He has had run-ins with other professional groups, including the Nebraska Psychological Association and the American Sociological Association.
So maybe Heritage isn't so mainstream after all.
Informed Chat.
Our own Jon Rauch had an online chat this week with readers of the Washington Post. An excerpt:
I favor going a state at a time with gay marriage. Let it start out where it has social support. Then it has the best shot at working. And as the rest of the country sees that the sky doesn't fall and in fact marriage is strengthened, GM will win not just legal but also social acceptance.
Which is like getting a bicycle instead of a unicycle.
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