It has become routine for many conservatives opposed to civil marriage for gays to say that they are not homophobic as such, that their arguments are about the need to preserve marriage rather than rooted in hostility to gay people. I do not have a window into people’s souls, so I cannot judge these protestations. My view is that people should not be viewed as bigots unless proven otherwise. But there’s the rub. Take the Heritage Foundation, a critical institution in Washington conservatism. Their research database on the family includes several research papers by one Paul Cameron, a man who is to gay studies what Holocaust deniers are to historians of Nazi Germany. To check out who Cameron is, and what his methodologies are, read this piece and this one by yours truly. Money quote:
Over the years [Cameron] has also argued that gay men are responsible for up to one half of all child abuse cases (despite making up maybe two percent of the population), that they are ten to 20 times more likely to molest children than heterosexuals, and that fully half of all sex murderers are homosexuals. One of Cameron’s “studies” included 41 gay men out of a total sample of 4,340 adults. Another was based on interviews with 34 serial killers. One of his “pamphlets” is illustrated by a photograph of an adult male arm dragging a small boy into a public restroom.
If we rightly ask the left to disown someone like Ted Rall, then why should the right be allowed to propagate the poison of Cameron and expect to be given the benefit of the doubt on homophobia?
The Dish 