Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

January 2017 – Two researchers, psychiatrists Paul McHugh and Lawrence Mayer, at Johns Hopkins University published a study in the fall 2016 issue of The New Atlantis finding insufficient evidence for the claim that homosexuals are “born that way.”

The study further examines the higher-than-average rates of mental health problems among transgenders, as well as of other problems such as substance abuse and abusive relationships. It contends that the prevailing “scientific” explanation of social stressors does not account for the entire disparity.

The Human Rights Campaign issued a warning that Johns Hopkins Hospital’s score on HRC’s Healthcare Quality Index could be dramatically reduced unless the medical research facility distanced itself from the study.

John Hopkins circulated a letter reminding employees that it supports a local Baltimore gay pride event and has policies to welcome and support LGBT people. However, it also maintained that as a research facility, “academic freedom is among our fundamental principles.”

Linda Harvey of Mission America noted: “They need to do some hard thinking about this and reevaluate (as does every hospital and health care institution) their support – their blind support – of these lifestyles and behaviors.”

onenewsnow.com, 10/27/16; thenewatlantis.com