“Complete disregard for facts and lack of understanding fuels discrimination”
DES MOINES – Carolyn Jenison, executive director of One Iowa is calling upon Representative Dwayne Alons to correct untrue and irresponsible statements regarding the lives of gays and lesbians. Alons is the sponsor of House Joint Resolution 6, which seeks to ban any form of legal recognition for same sex couples, including the freedom to marry.
In a recent interview with Think Progress, Alons was asked about an Iowa Family Policy Center seminar that asserts that same sex marriage is more dangerous than smoking. The seminar relies on discredited reports from the 1980s claiming health risks and shorter life spans due to homosexuality. Authored by Dr. Paul Cameron, the report has been thoroughly discredited by the American Psychological Association and other professional organizations.
In the interview, Representative Alons reiterated these debunked claims:
“I think life, longevity, of a lot of these folks is below 50, when you know, the normal people that do not enter into that kind of relationship, their either late into their 70s or early 80s for longevity.”
One Iowa’s Carolyn Jenison is calling on Alons to correct these untrue statements:
“As we’ve seen throughout history, a complete disregard for facts and lack of understanding fuels discrimination,” said Jenison. “No matter where one stands on marriage, junk science and discredited information have no place in this debate. We welcome a civil conversation about how the freedom to marry has bettered the lives of Iowans, but we will not stand by as gay and lesbian Iowans are slandered with junk science.”
Video of the Alons interview can be seen at Think Progress: http://bit.ly/f1LMzy
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One Iowa is the state’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) advocacy organization, committed to full equality for LGBT individuals, including the freedom to marry.
