[Vision2020] Doug W's letter to Gov. Kempthorne

Melynda Huskey mghuskey@msn.com
Thu, 22 Jan 2004 01:13:23 -0800


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In a recent press release quoted by Saundra Lund, Doug Wilson wrote:

"Actually, when you consider the statistics on life expectancy for homose=
xuals, the inevitable conclusion is that it is the gay lifestyle that wan=
ts to kill gays, not us. Just imagine the controversy if cigarettes reduc=
ed the life expectancy of smokers to the same extent that the common homo=
sexual lifestyle does for homosexuals."

I suspect that Doug draws his statistics on the life expectancy of homose=
xuals from the widely discredited "gay obituary" study performed by Paul =
Cameron.  Cameron was expelled from both the American Psychological Assoc=
iation and the American Sociological Association for violations of their =
codes of professional ethics.  He has never published any scholarly work =
in a reputable, peer-reviewed journal.  (Sound familiar at all?)

In the mid-nineties Cameron co-authored a study which purported to determ=
ine that the average life expectancy of a gay man is 43, and of lesbians,=
 "mid-fifties."  The research sample was obituaries published in gay news=
papers.  For a full explanation of why this methodology is purely goofy, =
I recommend http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_cameron_obit=
html
The short version looks like this:  convenience samples of statistically =
insignificant size yield stunningly invalid results.

Cigarettes, of course, are extremely dangerous.  There is no shortage of =
reputable scientific information on this point.  =20

Anecdotally, it appears that no lie is too low, or too stupid, for homoph=
obic bigots to repeat, especially when trying to distract attention from =
their own public relations nightmares.

Not dead yet, =20

Melynda HuskeyGet more from the Web.  FREE MSN Explorer download : http:/=
/explorer.msn.com

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<HTML><BODY BGCOLOR=3D"#ffffff" STYLE=3D"font:10pt verdana; border:none;b=
ackground-color:#ffffff; "><DIV>In a recent press release quoted by Saund=
ra Lund, Doug Wilson wrote:</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=3D62=
5461006-22012004>"Actually, when you consider the statistics on life expe=
ctancy for homosexuals, the inevitable conclusion is that it is the gay l=
ifestyle that wants to kill gays, not us. Just imagine the controversy if=
 cigarettes reduced the life expectancy of smokers to the same extent tha=
t the common homosexual lifestyle does for homosexuals."</SPAN></DIV> <DI=
V><SPAN class=3D625461006-22012004></SPAN>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=3D=
625461006-22012004>I suspect that Doug draws his statistics on the life e=
xpectancy of homosexuals from the widely discredited "gay obituary" study=
 performed by Paul Cameron.&nbsp; Cameron was&nbsp;expelled from both the=
 American Psychological Association and the American Sociological Associa=
tion for&nbsp;violations of their codes of professional ethics.&nbsp; He =
has never published any scholarly work in a reputable, peer-reviewed jour=
nal.&nbsp; (Sound familiar at all?)</SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=3D62546=
1006-22012004></SPAN>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=3D625461006-22012004>I=
n the&nbsp;mid-nineties&nbsp;Cameron co-authored&nbsp;a study which purpo=
rted to determine that the average life expectancy of a gay man is 43, an=
d of lesbians, "mid-fifties."&nbsp;&nbsp;The research sample was obituari=
es published in gay newspapers.&nbsp; For a full explanation of why this =
methodology is purely goofy, I recommend <A href=3D"http://psychology.ucd=
avis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_cameron_obit.html">http://psychology.ucdavis.=
edu/rainbow/html/facts_cameron_obit.html</A></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN clas=
s=3D625461006-22012004>The short version looks like this:&nbsp; convenien=
ce samples of statistically insignificant size yield stunningly invalid r=
esults.</SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=3D625461006-22012004></SPAN>&nbsp;<=
/DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=3D625461006-22012004>Cigarettes, of course, are ex=
tremely dangerous.&nbsp; There is no shortage of reputable scientific inf=
ormation on this point.&nbsp; </SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=3D625461006-=
22012004></SPAN>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=3D625461006-22012004>Anecdo=
tally, it appears that no lie is too low, or too stupid, for homophobic b=
igots to repeat, especially when trying to distract attention from their =
own public relations nightmares.</SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=3D62546100=
6-22012004></SPAN>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=3D625461006-22012004>Not =
dead yet, </SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=3D625461006-22012004></SPAN>&nbs=
p;</DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=3D625461006-22012004>Melynda Huskey</SPAN></DIV=
> <DIV><SPAN class=3D625461006-22012004></SPAN><SPAN class=3D625461006-22=
012004></SPAN>&nbsp;</DIV></BODY></HTML><br clear=3Dall><hr>Get more from=
 the Web.  FREE MSN Explorer download : <a href=3D'http://explorer.msn.co=
m'>http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></p>

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