Rockway Institute to Fight the False Science of Antigay Groups 
News Release
Media Contact: Rick Moore
(415) 314-8952
rmoore.rockway@alliant.edu
San Francisco - March 1, 2007 - A new research think tank -- the Rockway Institute -- has joined efforts to stop the right-wing’s blatantly antigay distortion of research. Funded in part by the Gill Foundation, the Rockway Institute’s primary goal is to assemble a group of prominent social scientists, mental health professionals, and physicians to participate in media interviews and to provide expert testimony about LGBT issues to federal and state legislatures and the courts. Approximately 30 experts already have been selected for this work. They include a group of faculty at the California School of Professional Psychology—a nonprofit educational institution training the largest number of clinical psychologists in the nation since 1969, now a graduate division of Alliant International University. Also participating are 20 Rockway Institute “Fellows” who are international leaders in their specialized areas of LGBT research. Most of these Fellows are professors at major research universities in the U.S. During the coming year, media trainings for additional experts are scheduled around the annual convention of the American Psychiatric Association (in San Diego during May) and the annual convention of the American Psychological Association (in San Francisco during August). These media trainings will be conducted by Rockway Institute staff in collaboration with GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). On June 7, 2007, Rockway Institute Fellows will be the principal speakers at a public event titled “Lesbian and Gay Relationships: Fighting the False Science of the Right” to be held at New School University in New York. Although a majority of Rockway’s current Fellows are located in the Northeast and California, the Institute is seeking broader geographical representation of Fellows by recruiting experts in all regions of the US, as well as bilingual researchers for interviews in the Spanish language media. Robert-Jay Green, PhD, Executive Director of the Rockway Institute and Distinguished Professor at the California School of Professional Psychology, explained that research has been the foundation of progress toward equal rights. “All of the successful challenges to the so-called sodomy laws were based firmly on the American Psychiatric Association’s 1973 decision to declassify homosexuality as a mental illness,” Green noted. “That decision, in turn, was based largely on earlier research by psychologists such as Evelyn Hooker showing that gay and heterosexual men were indistinguishable from one another on the basis of their mental health. Similarly, all of the currently active court cases and legislative hearings concerning same-sex marriage, LGBT parenting rights, harassment of LGBT youth in schools, and workplace discrimination against LGBT employees make very heavy use of social science and mental health research findings.” Thus the Rockway Institute intends to serve as a central “go-to” resource for social science, mental health, and medical research expertise on LGBT topics in the U.S. and internationally. Rockway will help any organizations in the LGBT community that have a need for specialized research experts to speak to the media, legislatures, or the courts about public policy issues central to their missions. Furthermore, there is a critical need for well-designed studies on a host of questions related to LGBT public policy. For example, as Dr. Green explained, “Because courts and politicians are now asking questions about why same-sex marriage rights are needed when civil unions or domestic partner laws offer some of the same legal benefits, we urgently need studies of the psychological effects of being excluded from marriage per se. Such data would be useful immediately in court cases and legislative decisions concerning same-sex marriage bans. In addition, although there are several outstanding quantitative studies of children conceived and raised by lesbian mothers, we now need a large scale quantitative study examining the developmental outcomes of children raised by gay fathers after early adoption or after surrogacy. Results from such a study could inform LGBT adoption laws and child custody cases involving gay fathers nationwide.” Rockway Institute researchers are planning to address these and other issues, pending financial support for each project. Research scientists, mental health professionals, and physicians with LGBT expertise who wish to volunteer as Rockway Fellows should contact the Institute by email at rockway@alliant.edu . Media Contact Information Donor Information
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