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from Parenting & Family
Psychiatrist's Expert Testimony
Rejected By Arkansas Judge
In October 2004, Dr. George Rekers presented scientific evidence before a judge to show that Arkansas' ban on homosexual foster parents has a rational basis supported by empirical evidence and should be maintained. His arguments were rejected by the judge in late December.
January 5, 2005 -
Pulaski County (Arkansas) Circuit Judge Timothy Fox has issued a ruling that the
Arkansas Department of Human Services was wrong to prohibit homosexuals from
becoming foster parents. This ruling is to be appealed to a higher court.
Dr. George Rekers, professor of neuropsychiatry and behavioral science at the
University of South Carolina School of Medicine who received NARTH's 2000
Sigmund Freud Award, was called to provide expert testimony on behalf of the
state, but was prohibited by the state's attorney Kathy Hall from presenting any
evidence regarding the following issues comparing homosexual-behaving
individuals and married heterosexual couples:
- Rates of pedophilia among homosexuals.
- HIV/AIDS transmission rates.
- Rates of domestic violence among homosexual couples.
- Rates of psychiatric disorders among homosexuals.
As a result of these restrictions imposed on him by Ms. Hall, he was allowed to
present only about 20% of the evidence he had available. He also later learned
that Hall is an active ACLU member, volunteers her legal services to the ACLU
Lesbian and Gay Project, and very recently served as co-counsel with Leslie
Cooper on another homosexual advocacy case in Arkansas. Leslie Cooper
represented the ACLU in this Arkansas foster parenting case. During this
Arkansas trial, an attorney filed a complaint against Kathy Hall for a serious
conflict of interest, and the Arkansas Bar currently investigating her conduct
on this Arkansas foster parenting case which could lead to her disbarment.
Judge Fox accepted the arguments of the ACLU and mentioned in his ruling that
Dr. Rekers' testimony was "extremely suspect" and claimed that Rekers "was there
primarily to promote his own personal ideology."
Dr. Rekers had been prepared to present his 75-page research paper on the
current scientific knowledge about the significant differences between
homosexual and heterosexual couples as well as the negative impact upon children
being reared in homosexual households. He was denied the opportunity to present
all of the evidence he had accumulated.
In the summary of his unpublished research paper, Dr. Rekers observed:
It is clearly in the best interests of foster children to be placed with
exclusively heterosexual married-couple foster families because this natural
family structure inherently provides unique needed benefits and produces better
child adjustment than is generally the case in households with a
homosexually-behaving adult.
NARTH will publish excerpts from this report in the near future.
Updated: 3 September 2008
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