10/25/2011

Washington– The Human Rights Campaign – the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization – today condemned remarks made by anti-gay extremist and disgraced psychologist Paul Cameron in Moldova, where he is speaking out against proposed non-discrimination legislation that would include sexual orientation.

During a press event in Moldova today, Cameron repeated some of his most vicious and false remarks about gay people, including likening homosexuality to pedophilia. Cameron said: “While no one can say precisely how dangerous a homosexual teacher is; no one can say exactly how dangerous a homosexual priest is; it is clear that they are many, many more times dangerous to their charges – to the children they oversee … whoever is pushing this thing [non-discrimination legislation] wants to sprinkle homosexuals throughout your society.” Watch Cameron’s remarks.

“Paul Cameron’s remarks aren’t only false and offensive, they’re also incredibly dangerous,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “We saw in Uganda the dangerous impact that Lou Engle’s anti-LGBT rhetoric had on citizens there, and Cameron’s incendiary and blatantly untrue lies put gay Moldovans at the same risk. Cameron has been roundly disgraced by his colleagues here at home – but when he takes his hate abroad, government officials are often unaware that his purported science is a sham.”

The American Psychological Association expelled Cameron in 1983 for grossly misrepresenting research. And both the American Sociological Association (ASA) and the Canadian Psychological Association say Cameron misuses research to fit his rhetoric. In a 1985 resolution, the ASA said of Cameron: "Dr. Paul Cameron has consistently misinterpreted and misrepresented sociological research on sexuality, homosexuality, and lesbianism…Dr. Paul Cameron has repeatedly campaigned for the abrogation of the civil rights of lesbians and gay men, substantiating his call on the basis of his distorted interpretation of this research."

Cameron founded the Institute for the Scientific Investigation of Sexuality – later renamed the Family Research Institute – and used the organization as a platform to publish his propaganda by buying space in publications. In addition to linking homosexuality to pedophilia, Cameron has called AIDS a “godsend,” advocating for placing those who are HIV positive or living with AIDS in “detention centers,” and has called being gay a “crime against humanity.”

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.