California Psychological Association States Opposition to Proposition 8

As Pam's House Blend is reporting, the California Psychological Association has announced it's opposition to passage of California Proposition 8 which would deprive same-sex couples the right to marry under California law. In my view, it is important that LEGITIMATE mental health organizations take public stands in opposition to the quackery of groups like Focus on the Family and similar Christianist organizations who routinely parade out bogus experts who are little more that snake oil merchants and charlatans. Would that the APA and CPA would start revoking the licenses of quacks who peddle reparative therapy and "pray away the gay" programs popular with wingnuts like VP candidate, Sarah Palin. Here are some highlights from the CPA release:

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This past Spring CPA joined the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the National Association of Social Workers and its California chapter in filing an Amicus Brief with the California Supreme Court on the subject of same sex marriage. The CPA Board of Directors engaged in a robust discussion about this matter, and voted overwhelming to take this action. The Amicus Brief provided extensive psychological research on key points relevant to the issue, and this brief was the only brief cited (out of the 45 Amicus Briefs the Court received) in the Court's opinion issued on May 15, 2008 that struck down California's ban on same sex marriage.

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The November ballot in California will include Proposition 8, a ballot measure that, if passed, would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. The measure would, in effect, overturn the recent Supreme Court decision that was supported by the Amicus Brief mentioned above.
In light of the fact that CPA joined with APA and the other mental health associations in filing the Amicus Brief, and upon the recommendation of the Government Affairs Committee of CPA, the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors recently voted that CPA take a formal position of opposition to Proposition 8. The CPA Board of Directors and the Executive Committee asked that we inform the full membership of this decision. We ask that you consider this information as you make your decisions in the November election.

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In the referenced Amicus Brief cited by the California Supreme Court in its historic decision, the CPA argued in part as follows:

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B. Homosexuality Is a Normal Expression of Human Sexuality. . . . In recognition of the scientific evidence, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the DSM in 1973, stating that “homosexuality per se implies no impairment in judgment, stability, reliability, or general social or vocational capabilities. After thoroughly reviewing the scientific data, the American Psychological Association adopted the same position in 1975, and urged all mental health professionals “to take the lead in removing the stigma of mental illness that has long been associated with homosexual orientations.” The National Association of Social Workers has adopted a similar policy.

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Thus, mental health professionals and researchers have long recognized that being homosexual poses no inherent obstacle to leading a happy, healthy, and productive life, and the vast majority of gay and lesbian people function well in the full array of social institutions and interpersonal relationships. With particular relevance to the issues before the Court in this case, as explained at greater length in Sections III and IV below, such functioning included the capacity to form healthy and mutually satisfying intimate relationships with another person of the same sex and to raise healthy and well-adjusted children.

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Like heterosexuals, lesbians and gay men benefit to the extent that they are able to share their lives with and receive support from their family, friends, and other people who are important to them. In many studies, for example, lesbians and gay men have been found to manifest better mental health to the extent that they hold positive feelings about their own sexual orientation, have developed a positive sense of personal identity based on it, and have integrated it into their lives by disclosing it to others (commonly referred to as “coming out of the closet” or simply “coming out). By contrast lesbians and gay men who feel compelled to conceal their sexual orientation tend to report more frequent mental health concerns than their openly gay counterparts, and are also at risk for physical health problems. In fact, no major mental health organization has sanctioned efforts to change sexual orientation.