DETROIT ― Attorneys seeking to overturn Michigan’s gay marriage ban tried to peck away Tuesday at the credibility of a social scientist whose disputed 2012 study questioned the well-being of children who grew up in a home where a parent had a same-sex relationship.
Mark Regnerus said his study found that young adults had more problems than other young adults if they were raised with a mother or father who had a same-sex relationship. He testified Monday that the best scenario for a child is to grow up in a home led by a married man and woman.
As Regnerus was testifying on behalf of the state of Michigan, which is defending a ban on same-sex marriage, his University of Texas colleagues were distancing themselves from his work.
Christine Williams, the chairwoman of the school’s sociology department, said the department doesn’t share Regnerus’ views.
“Nor do they reflect the views of the American Sociological Association, which takes the position that the conclusions he draws from his study of gay parenting are fundamentally flawed on conceptual and methodological grounds,” Williams wrote on the department’s website.
She said Regnerus’ work has been used by gay-marriage opponents to “diminish the civil rights” of gays and lesbians.
Regnerus was asked about Williams’ statement during cross-examination Tuesday and said it was “sad” and “regrettable.”
