US gay marriage and adoption trial tries to overturn ban

Detroit — Testimony continued Wednesday in the federal trial on a lawsuit seeking to overturn Michigan’s bans on adoption for same-sex couples and gay marriage. This week, attorneys for the state of Michigan, defending the state’s bans on same-sex adoption and marriage presented testimony from their experts who so far have maintained that children raised by heterosexual parents experienced better outcomes. The lawsuit was brought by plaintiffs April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, two nurses from Hazel Park who hope to adopt each other’s adoptive children and legally marry. Testifying Wednesday, Louisiana State University family studies professor Loren Marks, criticized a 2005 American Psychological Association study that found there was no difference in the outcomes of children raised by heterosexual or gay and lesbian parents. That study has been cited by witnesses for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit brought by DeBoer and Rowse. Marks denounced the APA’s stance on same-sex families, saying the research it based the policy on was not complete and in some instances flawed. Marks said he analyzed the 59 cases the APA studied before taking its position. “I was struck by the strength of the language used in the claims,” said Marks, who published his analysis in the Social Science Research journal two years ago. “Not a single study seemed strong to me. I found the language strong and lacking caveat.” Marks said the studies lacked racial diversity and did not include enough gay men. He said the sample size was too small. Experts for the plaintiffs, such as Stanford University Michael Rosenfeld, have testified that children raised in same-sex couple households do just as well as children raised in other households. Testimony is expected to wrap up Thursday and closing arguments are expected to be done Friday. Article: 5th March 2014 www.detroitnews.com