A Time magazine column by James Dobson, president of Focus on the Family, created an uproar among gay rights activists who said he ‘misinformed’ readers. (Photo by Mark J. Terrill/AP)
‘Time’ for a rebuttal? Dobson’s anti-gay parenting column draws fire
GAY
RIGHTS
ACTIVISTS
are
outraged
at
Time
magazine
for
publishing
a
column
by
James
Dobson
that
suggested
lesbian
Mary
Cheney
and
her
partner
cannot
provide
a
child-rearing
environment
comparable
to
a
married
heterosexual
couple.
The
critics
charge
that
the
news
magazine’s
editors
didn’t
do
their
homework,
and
the
researchers
cited
by
Dobson
to
support
his
anti-gay
claims
say
the
president
of
Focus
on
the
Family
“distorted,”
“twisted”
and
“cherry
picked”
their
data.
Cheney,
37,
daughter
of
Vice
President
Dick
Cheney,
announced
she
was
pregnant
Dec.
6.
She
and
her
partner
of
15
years,
Heather
Poe,
45,
are
expecting
the
baby
in
late
spring.
Dobson’s
column,
“Two
Mommies
Is
One
Too
Many,”
was
posted
on
Time’s
website
Dec.
12.
It
appears
in
this
week’s
print
edition.
“With
all
due
respect
to
Cheney
and
her
partner
Heather
Poe,
the
majority
of
more
than
30
years
of
social-science
evidence
indicates
that
children
do
best
on
every
measure
of
well-being
when
raised
by
their
married
mother
and
father,”
Dobson
wrote.
TIME
SPOKESPERSON
ALI
ZELENKO
said
Dobson’s
column
does
not
represent
the
opinions
of
the
magazine’s
staff.
“It’s
clearly
labeled
as
a
viewpoint
and
he’s
clearly
labeled
as
president
of
Focus
on
the
Family,”
Zelenko
said.
Asked
specifically
how
something
that
researchers
said
distorted
their
facts
could
be
published,
Zelenko
said
it’s
a
matter
of
debate.
“Occasionally
Time
invites
someone
with
a
very
strong
opinion
to
make
a
statement
that
reflects
their
reading
of
the
data,”
Zelenko
said
in
an
e-mail.
“In
this
instance
…
Time
very
quickly
posted
on
Time.com
someone
whose
reading
of
the
data
differs
from
Mr.
Dobson’s.
Time
has
a
strong
tradition
of
hosting
debates
of
this
kind,
not
just
about
ideas
but
about
evidence.”
“Two
Mommies
or
Two
Daddies
Will
Do
Fine,
Thanks,”
written
by
Family
Pride
Executive
Director
Jennifer
Chrisler,
was
posted
on
Time’s
website
Dec.
14
as
a
rebuttal
to
Dobson.
Dobson
“put
to
work
the
time-worn
tools
of
lies
and
distortion
to
make
his
argument
that
lesbian
and
gay
parents
are
not
able
to
provide
environments
for
their
children
comparable
in
quality
to
those
created
by
heterosexual
parents,”
wrote
Chrisler,
whose
group
advocates
for
gay
families.
CHRISLER
ACCUSED
TIME
of
being
irresponsible
by
publishing
Dobson’s
column.
“It’s
outrageous
that
he
could
get
away
with
printing
that
kind
of
misinformation,”
she
said.
“I
am
continually
amazed
at
how
often
these
lies
show
up
in
mainstream
media.”
Dobson
cited
the
works
of
Yale
professor
Dr.
Kyle
Pruett
and
New
York
University
professor
Dr.
Carol
Gilligan.
In
letters
to
Dobson
obtained
by
Truth
Wins
Out,
a
gay
rights
advocacy
group,
Pruett
and
Gilligan
demand
that
he
stop
using
their
research.
Gilligan
said
in
the
letter
she
was
“mortified
to
learn
that
you
had
distorted
my
work
this
week
in
a
guest
column
you
wrote
in
Time
magazine.”
Pruett
said
he
was
also
disgusted
by
Dobson’s
column.
“You
cherry-picked
a
phrase
to
shore
up
highly
(in
my
view)
discriminatory
purposes,”
he
said.
In
response
to
the
allegations,
Focus
on
the
Family
released
a
statement
through
spokesperson
Nima
Reza.
“In
the
cases
of
both
Drs.
Gilligan
and
Pruett,
the
question
is
not,
‘Did
Dr.
Dobson
apply
their
research
only
to
political
stands
they
agree
with?’
but
rather,
‘Is
the
essay
true
to
what
these
individuals
have
written?’”
Reza
stated.
“We
believe
that
it
is.”
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