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{{short description|American psychologist and extremist (born 1939)}}
{{Other people}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name             = Paul Cameron
| image            = JKRUK 20191114 PAUL CAMERON KIELCE IMG 8797 (2).jpg
| caption          = Cameron lecturing in [[Kielce]], 2019
| birth_name       = Paul Drummond Cameron
| birth_date       = {{birth date and age|1939|11|9}}
| birth_place      = [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date       = 
| death_place      = 
| field            = [[Psychology]]
| workplaces       = [[Stout State University]]<br>[[Wayne State University]]<br>[[University of Louisville]]<br>[[Fuller Theological Seminary]]<br>[[University of Nebraska–Lincoln]]<br>[[Family Research Institute]]
| education        = [[Los Angeles Pacific College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[California State University, Los Angeles]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]])<br>[[University of Colorado, Boulder]] ([[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])
}}
'''Paul Drummond Cameron''' (born November 9, 1939) is an American [[psychologist]]. While employed at various institutions, including the [[University of Nebraska–Lincoln]], he conducted research on [[passive smoking]], but he is best known today for his claims about [[homosexuality]]. After a successful 1982 campaign against a [[LGBT rights by country or territory|gay rights]] proposal in [[Lincoln, Nebraska]], he established the Institute for the Scientific Investigation of Sexuality (ISIS), now known as the [[Family Research Institute]] (FRI). As FRI's chairman, Cameron has written contentious papers asserting unproven associations between homosexuality and the perpetration of [[child sexual abuse]] and [[LGBT life expectancy|reduced life expectancy]]. These have been heavily criticized and frequently discredited by others in the field.

In 1983, the [[American Psychological Association]] expelled Cameron for non-cooperation with an ethics investigation. Position statements issued by the [[American Sociological Association]], [[Canadian Psychological Association]], and the [[Nebraska Psychological Association]] accuse Cameron of misrepresenting social science research.<ref name="UC Davis">{{cite web |url=http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_cameron_sheet.html |title=Paul Cameron Bio and Fact Sheet |access-date=2013-05-13 |publisher=UC Davis |archive-date=2018-12-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228060524/http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_cameron_sheet.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Cameron has been designated by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] as an [[anti-gay]] extremist.<ref name="Modern American Extremism and...">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lRVbDwAAQBAJ |title=Modern American Extremism and Domestic Terrorism: An Encyclopedia of Extremists and Extremist Groups |last=Balleck |first=Barry J. |date=2018-06-30 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781440852756 |pages=59 ''et. seq.'' |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/maxseddon/discredited-us-anti-gay-activist-addreses-russian-parliament |title=Discredited U.S. Anti-Gay Activist Addresses Russian Parliamentarians Over "Family Values" |access-date=2019-10-04 |language=en |website=BuzzFeed News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/paul-cameron |title=Paul Cameron |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |language=en |access-date=2019-10-04}}</ref>

==Biography==

===Early life and career===
Cameron was born in [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]], U.S., on November 9, 1939.<ref name=mww>{{cite book |author=Marquis Who's Who LLC. |author-link=Marquis Who's Who |title=The Complete Marquis Who's Who Biographies |via=[[LexisNexis]] |date=2007-02-02 |chapter=Cameron, Paul Drummond }}</ref> His family moved shortly afterwards to [[Florida]].<ref name=harkavy>{{cite news |first=Ward |last=Harkavy |title=Slay It With a Smile: Paul Cameron's mission to stop homosexuality is hard to swallow |url=http://www.westword.com/1996-10-03/news/slay-it-with-a-smile/full |work=Westword |date=October 3, 1996 |access-date=2006-02-20 |archive-date=2012-02-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211154829/http://www.westword.com/1996-10-03/news/slay-it-with-a-smile/full/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> He received a BA from [[Los Angeles Pacific College (defunct)|Los Angeles Pacific College]] in 1961, an MA from Los Angeles State College (now [[California State University, Los Angeles]]) the following year and a PhD from the [[University of Colorado at Boulder]] in 1966.<ref name=mww/><ref name=kranish>{{cite news | url=https://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/07/31/beliefs_drive_research_agenda_of_new_think_tanks/?page=full | title=Beliefs drive research agenda of new think tanks | first=Michael | last=Kranish | work=Boston Globe | date=July 31, 2005 | access-date=February 10, 2024|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060208125918/http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/07/31/beliefs_drive_research_agenda_of_new_think_tanks/?page=full|archivedate=February 8, 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref> He held posts as an assistant psychology [[professor]] at [[University of Wisconsin–Stout]] (1966–67) and [[Wayne State University]] (1967–68), before becoming an associate professor at the [[University of Louisville]] (1970–73) and the Fuller Graduate School of [[Psychology]] (part of the [[Fuller Theological Seminary]]) (1976–79). In 1979, he became an associate professor of Marriage and Family Therapy at the [[University of Nebraska–Lincoln]].<ref name=mww/>

During this period, Cameron conducted research on a variety of topics, including the effects of [[passive smoking]]<ref name="Modern American Extremism and..." /> and the relationship between [[pet]] ownership and [[happiness]]. In his 1978 book, ''Sexual Gradualism'', he supported a middle ground between liberal and conservative [[Christianity|Christian]] attitudes to sexuality, arguing that teenagers should avoid [[sexual intercourse|intercourse]] while experimenting with lower "levels" of sexual intimacy.<ref name=harkavy/>

In 1980, Cameron left the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and took up private practice as a psychologist in [[Lincoln, Nebraska]].<ref name=mww/> In 1982, when the Lincoln city council asked residents to vote on a proposal to ban discrimination based on [[sexual orientation]], Cameron led the opposition as chairman of the committee to Oppose Special Rights for Homosexuals.<ref name=lincoln>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=Lincoln Rejects Gay Rights Measure |via=[[LexisNexis]] reprint |date=1982-05-12 }}</ref> Despite his earlier moderate position on teenage relationships, Cameron had come to take a hard-line stance on the topic of [[homosexuality]]. He has stated that his approach, emphasizing the harms he believed to be caused by homosexual behavior and its acceptance, was influenced by his work on the "lethal" behavior of smokers.<ref name=harkavy/>

During the campaign in Lincoln, Cameron delivered a speech at the [[University of Nebraska–Lincoln]] Lutheran chapel. This drew much attention after he stated that a four-year-old boy had suffered a brutal homosexual assault in a local [[shopping mall|mall]]. Police were unable to confirm the incident, and Cameron acknowledged that he had heard the story only as a rumor.<ref name=harkavy/> On May 11, Lincoln voters rejected the proposed measure by a 4&ndash;1 margin.<ref name=lincoln/>

===Family Research Institute===
In 1982, Cameron co-founded the Institute for the Scientific Investigation of Sexuality in Lincoln.<ref name=harkavy/> Believing that earlier sex surveys, including those conducted by ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine, had overestimated the prevalence of homosexuality, Cameron set out in 1983 to conduct what he described as "a fair sexuality poll, not one based on volunteers." His expectation was that the results would support his case for a ban on homosexual acts throughout the United States. Funding, according to Cameron, was provided by businessmen including several Nebraska [[chief executive officer|chief executives]].<ref>{{cite news |first=James Allen |last=Flanery |title=Lincoln Man: Poll Will Help Oppose Gays |url=http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/assets/images/WH052383.gif |format=[[GIF]] reprint |work=[[Omaha World-Herald]] |date=May 23, 1983 |access-date=2007-04-12 |archive-date=2013-12-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206143732/http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/assets/images/WH052383.gif |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[1983 ISIS Survey]], an "extensive self-administered questionnaire", was offered to 9,129 adults in five U.S. cities, and 4,340 responses were received. In 1984, these were supplemented with data from 824 adults from [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]].<ref name=teachers>{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/00223980.1996.9915034 |pmid=9005252 |first1=Paul |last1=Cameron |first2=Kirk |last2=Cameron |date=November 1996 |title=Do Homosexual Teachers Pose a Risk to Pupils? |journal=Journal of Psychology |volume=130 |issue=6 |pages=603&ndash;613 }}</ref> Under the banner of ISIS, Cameron produced a number of "lurid pamphlets about the supposed social ills associated with homosexuality", containing numerous false or unverifiable claims.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jf7ZAAAAMAAJ |title=Perfect Enemies: The Religious Right, the Gay Movement, and the Politics of the 1990s |last=Bull |first=Chris |date=1996 |publisher=Crown Publishers |isbn=9780517701980 |language=en |chapter=1 |chapter-url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/perfectenemies.htm}}</ref>

ISIS was shortly afterwards renamed the [[Family Research Institute]] (FRI) and moved to [[Washington, D.C.]] In 1995, FRI changed location again, this time to [[Colorado Springs, Colorado]], where it remains based.<ref name=mww/><ref name=harkavy/> In his capacity as FRI's chairman, Cameron has authored pamphlets and scientific articles on the topic of homosexuality. The cover photograph for Cameron's pamphlet ''Child Molestation and Homosexuality'' depicted "a young boy being pulled into a men's bathroom," while ''Murder, Violence and Homosexuality'' showed "a little girl cowering beneath an arm wielding an ax."<ref name=harkavy/> Many of Cameron's scientific articles have been based on the 1983&ndash;1984 ISIS survey, including a 1996 paper that concluded based on participants' answers concerning their teachers that homosexual teachers could influence their students to become homosexual.<ref name=teachers/>

Another of Cameron's conclusions, based partly on his studies of obituaries in gay newspapers, is that homosexuals as a group have a median age of death about 20 years lower than that of heterosexuals.<ref>Cameron, P., Playfair, W. L., & Wellum, S. (1994). ''The longevity of homosexuals: Before and after the AIDS epidemic.'' Omega, 29, 249-272.</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title=New Study Shows that Homosexuals Live 20 Fewer Years |publisher=Family Research Institute |date=June 7, 2005 |url=http://www.illinoisfamily.org/news/contentview.asp?c=26217 |access-date=2007-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605113444/http://www.illinoisfamily.org/news/contentview.asp?c=26217 |archive-date=June 5, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> After analyzing official data from [[Denmark]], which allowed [[same-sex union]]s in 1989, and [[Norway]], which allowed [[same-sex marriage]] in 2009,<ref>{{cite news |title=Norwegian law on marriage as of 2009.1.1 |url=http://www.lovdata.no/ltavd1/filer/nl-20080627-053.html}}</ref> Cameron reported in 2007 that "married lesbians lived to age 56 and married gay men to age 52."<ref>{{cite news |first=Linda |last=Zhang |title=New Study Finds Early Death in Gay 'Marriages' |work=[[The Christian Post]] |date=March 29, 2007 |url=http://www.christianpost.com/Society/Homosexuality/2007/03/new-study-finds-early-death-in-gay-marriages-29/ |access-date=2009-01-31}}</ref> Cameron states that many victims of [[child sexual abuse]] are the same sex as their abusers &ndash; one FRI study on sexual abuse by [[foster parent]]s in [[Illinois]] reported that 34% of perpetrators were guilty of same-sex abuse<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.familyresearchinst.org/Default.aspx?tabid=61 |title=Homosexual Child Molestations By Foster Parents: Illinois, 1997-2002 |access-date=2007-02-25 |publisher=Family Research Institute |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070218215944/http://www.familyresearchinst.org/Default.aspx?tabid=61 |archive-date = February 18, 2007}}</ref> &ndash; and concludes that "there is a strong, disproportionate association between child molestation and homosexuality."<ref>{{cite book |first=Paul |last=Cameron |title=Child Molestation and Homosexuality |url=http://www.familyresearchinst.org/FRI_EduPamphlet2.html |access-date=2007-02-25 |series=FRI educational pamphlets |year=1993 |publisher=Family Research Institute |location=Colorado Springs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206200023/http://www.familyresearchinst.org/FRI_EduPamphlet2.html |archive-date=2007-02-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Cameron has asserted that 75 percent of [[gay men]] regularly ingest [[feces]] and that 70 to 78 percent have had a [[sexually transmitted disease]], that all are [[promiscuous]], and that homosexuals commit proportionately more [[homicide]]s than non-homosexuals.<ref name="Herman p78">{{Cite book |last=Herman |first=Didi |title=The Antigay Agenda: Orthodox Vision and the Christian Right |date=1997 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=0-2263-2764-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/antigayagendaort00herm/page/78/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration |page=78}}</ref>
He has been quoted in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' as saying that homosexual sex was more pleasurable than most heterosexual sex, and as a result, if homosexuality were tolerated then it would become predominant within a few generations.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Holy war On Gays | first=Robert  | last=Dreyfuss  | magazine=Rolling Stone | date=March 18, 1999 }}</ref>

Cameron's publications have been cited as support by some groups who oppose [[same-sex marriage]] and allowing [[homosexuality|homosexuals]] to become [[foster parent|foster]] or [[adoption|adoptive parents]], including the [[Traditional Values Coalition]].<ref name=kranish/> Cameron testified in the case ''Baker v. Wade'' (1985).<ref name=baker>{{cite court |litigants=Baker v. Wade |vol=106 |reporter=F.R.D. |opinion=526 |date=1985-07-01 |url=http://www.qrd.org/qrd/religion/anti/cameron/baker.v.wade.txt }}. Retrieved on 2007-02-20.</ref> In 1992, [[Gale Norton]], then the [[Attorney General]] of [[Colorado]], employed Cameron as a consultant when defending a law preventing the extension of [[civil rights]] legislation to homosexuals. Cameron's testimony went unused, and the law was struck down by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]]. Cameron campaigned against a gay-rights initiative in [[Maine]] in 2000, testified in favor of the failed [[Virginia Anti-Gay Adoption Bill]] in 2005,<ref name=kranish/><ref>{{cite news |title=Antigay adoption bill rejected in Virginia |url=http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid3160.asp |work=Advocate.com |date=February 18, 2005 |access-date=2007-02-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930153947/http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid3160.asp |archive-date=September 30, 2007 }}</ref> and opposed a 2007 [[Colorado]] bill intended to allow cohabiting couples to adopt.<ref>{{cite news |first=April M. |last=Washington |title=Amid debate on gays, Senate panel approves adoption bill |url=http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5459902,00.html |work=[[Rocky Mountain News]] |date=April 3, 2007 |access-date=2007-04-15 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070420025851/http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5459902,00.html |archive-date = April 20, 2007}}</ref> He was tricked into appearing in [[Sacha Baron Cohen]]'s 2009 [[mockumentary]] film ''[[Brüno (film)|Brüno]]''.<ref>{{cite news |first=Reed |last=Tucker |date=July 7, 2009 |title=Duper freak: Bruno's victims speak out! How Sacha Baron Cohen fooled another army of suckers |work=[[New York Post]] |url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/07052009/entertainment/movies/dubper_freak_177640.htm |access-date=2009-07-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090708075412/http://www.nypost.com/seven/07052009/entertainment/movies/dubper_freak_177640.htm |archive-date=July 8, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[Southern Poverty Law Center]] has classed the Family Research Institute as a [[hate group]].

===Family===
Cameron is married and has three children.<ref name=harkavy/> His son, Kirk<!--Do not wikilink to "Kirk Cameron"; the actor is a separate person with the same name--> (not to be confused with the [[Kirk Cameron|actor of the same name]]), has been involved with the Family Research Institute since 1983.<ref name=harkavy/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.familyresearchinst.org/About/tabid/55/Default.aspx |title=FRI Scientists |access-date=2007-11-03 |publisher=Family Research Institute |year=2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071009160611/http://www.familyresearchinst.org/About/tabid/55/Default.aspx |archive-date = October 9, 2007}}</ref>

==Criticism==
===From professional organizations===
The [[American Psychological Association]] (APA) launched an investigation into Cameron after receiving complaints about his work from members.<ref name=harkavy/><ref name=kranish/> The APA President Max Seigel sent Cameron a letter on December 2, 1983, stating that the Board of Directors had decided to drop him from membership for failure to cooperate with their investigation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.familyresearchinst.org/APA_Monitor-letter.html |title=Letter to Paul Cameron |access-date=2007-02-20 |first=Max |last=Seigel |date=1983-12-02 }}</ref> FRI has contended that Cameron had already resigned from the organization in November 1982, citing correspondence from before his formal expulsion.<ref>{{cite journal |publisher=Family Research Institute |date=November–December 1994 |title=Revisiting New Republic's Attack on Cameron |journal=Family Research Report |url=http://www.familyresearchinst.org/Default.aspx?tabid=85 |access-date=2007-02-20 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070219065134/http://www.familyresearchinst.org/Default.aspx?tabid=85 |archive-date = February 19, 2007}}</ref>  In a letter published in the March 1983 edition of the ''APA Monitor'', Cameron stated that his reasons for leaving included his opinion that the organization was becoming more of a "liberal [[political action committee|PAC]]" than a professional society.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Paul |last=Cameron |date=March 1983 |title=Withdrawing |journal=APA Monitor |url=http://www.familyresearchinst.org/APA_Monitor-letter.html |access-date=2007-02-20 }}</ref>  The APA, however, does not allow the resignation of a member who is the subject of an ethics investigation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/committee.aspx |title=APA Ethics Committee Rules |access-date=2013-05-13 |publisher=American Psychological Association }}</ref>  An APA spokesperson told ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' in 2005, "We are concerned about Dr. Cameron because we do believe that his methodology is weak."<ref name=kranish/>

In 1984, the Nebraska Psychological Association issued a statement disassociating itself "from the representations and interpretations of scientific literature offered by Dr. Paul Cameron."<ref name=kranish/> In 1986, the [[American Sociological Association]] passed a resolution stating, "The American Sociological Association officially and publicly states that Paul Cameron is not a sociologist, and condemns his consistent misrepresentation of sociological research."<ref>{{cite journal |publisher=American Sociological Association |date=February 1987 |title=Official Reports and Proceedings |journal=Footnotes |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=13&ndash;16, [http://www.asanet.org/footnotes/1987/ASA.02.1987.pdf#page=14 p. 14] |url=http://www.asanet.org/footnotes/1987/ASA.02.1987.pdf#page=13 |format=PDF |access-date=2009-01-31 }}</ref> This was based on a report from the ASA's Committee on the Status of Homosexuals in Sociology, which summarised Cameron's inflammatory statements and commented, "It does not take great analytical abilities to suspect from even a cursory review of Cameron's writings that his claims have almost nothing to do with social science and that social science is used only to cover over another agenda. Very little of his work could find support from even a bad misreading of genuine social science investigation on the subject and some sociologists, such as [[Alan P. Bell]], have been 'appalled' at the abuse of their work."<ref>{{cite journal |author=Committee on the Status of Homosexuals in Sociology |date=January 1987 |title=The Cameron Case |journal=Footnotes |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=4, 6 |url=http://www.asanet.org/footnotes/1987/ASA.01.1987.pdf#page=4 |format=PDF |access-date=2009-01-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305223319/http://www.asanet.org/footnotes/1987/ASA.01.1987.pdf#page=4 |archive-date=2009-03-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In 1996, the board of directors of the [[Canadian Psychological Association]] approved a position statement disassociating the organisation from Cameron's work on sexuality, stating that he had "consistently misinterpreted and misrepresented research on sexuality, homosexuality, and lesbianism."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cpa.ca/aboutcpa/policystatements/ |title=Policy Statements |access-date=2007-02-20 |publisher=Canadian Psychological Association }}</ref>
Cameron responded to the Nebraska Psychological Association's resolution, arguing that it was based on organizational opinion and not accompanied by peer-reviewed refutation. He reiterated this in a 1994 publication addressing multiple professional disassociations.<ref>{{cite journal |publisher=Family Research Institute |date=November–December 1994 |title=Revisiting New Republic's Attack on Cameron |journal=Family Research Report |url=http://www.familyresearchinst.org/Default.aspx?tabid=85 |access-date=2007-02-20 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070219065134/http://www.familyresearchinst.org/Default.aspx?tabid=85 |archive-date = February 19, 2007}}</ref>
In March 2015, Cameron sued the Polish gay rights organisation 'Pracownia Różnorodności' for calling him a 'homophobic liar'.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://m.wyborcza.pl/wyborcza/1,105402,17550983,Amerykanski_psycholog_pozywa_polskich_dzialaczy_LGBT_.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407144538/http://m.wyborcza.pl/wyborcza/1,105402,17550983,Amerykanski_psycholog_pozywa_polskich_dzialaczy_LGBT_.html |archive-date=2015-04-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{Relevance inline|paragraph|date=December 2019}}

===From individuals===
After Cameron submitted [[affidavit]]s to the U. S. District Court of Dallas in ''[[Baker v. Wade]]'' (1985), Judge Buchmeyer wrote in his opinion that Cameron had engaged in "fraud" and "misrepresentations to this Court"<ref name=baker/> noting that, "His sworn statement that 'homosexuals are approximately 43 times more apt to commit crimes than is the general population' is a total distortion of the Kinsey data upon which he relies – which, as is obvious to anyone who reads the report, concerns data from a non-representative sample of delinquent homosexuals (and Dr. Cameron compares this group to college and non-college heterosexuals)."<ref name="UC Davis"/> Buchmeyer's decision was reversed by the Fifth Circuit on other grounds, without mentioning Buchmeyer's finding that Cameron had made misrepresentations.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Baker v. Wade |vol=769 |reporter=F.2d |opinion=289 |court=5th Cir. |year=1985 }}.{{request quotation|date=July 2008}}</ref> FRI has disputed Judge Buchmeyer's assessment of Cameron's affidavits.<ref>{{cite journal |publisher=Family Research Institute |date=September 2004 |title=Judge Buchmeyer: A Liar |journal=Family Research Report |volume=19 |issue=5 |url=http://www.familyresearchinst.org/FRR_04_09.html  |access-date=2007-02-20 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080129174444/http://www.familyresearchinst.org/FRR_04_09.html |archive-date = 2008-01-29}}</ref>

Epidemiologists Morten Frisch and Henrik Brønnum-Hansen argue that Cameron was wrong to infer reduced [[life expectancy]] from the fact that deaths among homosexually married partners in Denmark and Norway occurred at a lower median age than those among heterosexually married partners: "Because the age distribution among persons in same-sex marriages was considerably younger than that of people who had ever been heterosexually married, the average age at death among those who actually died during the observation period was, not surprisingly, considerably younger in the population of same-sex married persons." Their own analysis found that excess mortality in Danish same-sex marriages since 1995 was "restricted to the first few years after a marriage, presumably reflecting preexisting illness at the time of marriage".<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Morten |last1=Frisch |first2=Henrik |last2=Brønnum-Hansen |date=January 2009 |title=Mortality Among Men and Women in Same-Sex Marriage: A National Cohort Study of 8333 Danes |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=99 |issue=1 |pages=133&ndash;137 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2008.133801 |pmid=19008504 |pmc=2636618 }}</ref> Similarly, critics have argued that obituaries in gay-themed newspapers, which Cameron used to estimate homosexual mortality, do not provide a representative sample of deaths and ignore surviving members of the same generation.<ref>{{cite news |first=Walter |last=Olson |author-link=Walter Olson |title=William Bennett, Gays, and the Truth: Mr. Virtue dabbles in phony statistics |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/1997/12/william-bennett-gays-and-the-truth.html |work=Slate |publisher=[[MSN]] |date=December 19, 1997 |access-date=2009-01-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090514013026/http://slate.msn.com/?id=2098 |archive-date=May 14, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Cameron has also been criticized for placing responsibility for same-sex child sexual abuse on "homosexuals"; Scientists say someone who carries out such abuse need not have a homosexual [[sexual orientation|orientation]] with respect to other adults.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Gregory M. |last=Herek |author-link=Gregory M. Herek |year=1991 |title=Myths About Sexual Orientation: A Lawyer's Guide to Social Science Research |journal=Law and Sexuality |volume=1 |pages=133&ndash;172, pp. 153&ndash;156 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Carl |last=Bialik |author-link=Carl Bialik |title=Debate Over Gay Foster Parents Shines Light on a Dubious Stat |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB111461604615918400 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=April 28, 2005 |access-date=2007-02-25 }}</ref> [[Gregory M. Herek]], a psychologist specializing in prejudice against sexual minorities, charges that Cameron misrepresented the literature he had reviewed and cited to support his claims, such as a Groth and Birnbaum (1978) study in which none of the participating child molestors actually identified as homosexuals, and none of those who were bisexual claimed to prefer men over women. Furthermore, while Cameron assumed all the same-sex molestations were perpetrated by homosexuals, he did not assume all the opposite-sex molestations were perpetrated by heterosexuals; he included a "bisexual correction" only for opposite-sex molestations that effectively increased the number of perpetrators described as "homosexual" without changing the number described as "heterosexual".<ref>{{cite web |first=Gregory M. |last=Herek |year=1997–2007 |title=Facts About Homosexuality and Child Molestation |url=http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_molestation.html#cameron |access-date=2007-09-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100419022239/http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/HTML/facts_molestation.html#cameron |archive-date=2010-04-19 }}</ref>

Herek noted that most of the Cameron group's academic publications in the past 15 years have been based on a survey study conducted in 1983 and 1984. The main survey was completed in seven U.S. cities and towns in 1983. Data were later added from a 1984 Dallas (TX) sample. Most of the Cameron group's papers have reported data from the combined samples. According to Herek, a critical review of the Cameron group's sampling techniques, survey methodology, and interpretation of results reveals at least six serious errors in their study. Herek concludes, "an empirical study manifesting even one of these six weaknesses would be considered seriously flawed. In combination, the multiple methodological problems evident in the Cameron group's surveys mean that their results cannot even be considered a valid description of the specific group of individuals who returned the survey questionnaire. Because the data are essentially meaningless, it is not surprising that they have been virtually ignored by the scientific community."<ref>{{cite web |first=Gregory M. |last=Herek |year=1997–2007 |title= Critique of Surveys by the Paul Cameron Group|url=http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_cameron_survey.html|access-date=2007-09-06 }}</ref> "The Cameron group has published its empirical research in academic journals with low prestige and, at least in the case of Psychological Reports, with a low rejection rate. Other than the Cameron group itself, researchers have not cited their empirical studies as a source of ideas for new research on sexual orientation. Nor have scientists cited the group's papers to support assertions about the dangers to society posed by homosexuals."<ref name=":11">Gregory M. Herek: [http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_cameron_journals.html Publication Outlets Used By The Cameron Group] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623230719/http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/HTML/facts_cameron_journals.html |date=2012-06-23 }}</ref>

In a widely publicized interview with [[Midweek Politics with David Pakman]], Cameron compared homosexuality to drug use,<ref>{{YouTube|22LJAF3PIz0|Midweek Politics with David Pakman - Interview with Anti-Gay Paul Cameron - Part 1}}</ref> a comparison that drew criticism from several gay rights blogs, websites, and ''[[The Huffington Post]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alvin-mcewen/discredited-researcher-ga_b_461404.html|title=Discredited Researcher: Gays in the Military Want to Rape Their Fellow Servicemen|last=McEwen|first=Alvin|date=15 Feb 2010|work=[[The Huffington Post]]|access-date=6 January 2011}}</ref>

=== Claims of linkage between homosexuality and child sex abuse ===
Cameron's claim of homosexuals being more apt to sexually abuse and molest children rests on the fallacious assumption that for all children who are sexually molested or abused by the perpetrators of the same sex as that of the victim, the perpetrators are homosexuals who are mainly attracted to adults of the same sex.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.lgbpsychology.org/html/facts_molestation.html#cameron|title=Facts About Homosexuality and Child Molestation|website=www.lgbpsychology.org|access-date=2019-09-27}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://individual.utoronto.ca/james_cantor/blog1.html|title=Male homosexuality, science, and pedophilia|website=individual.utoronto.ca|access-date=2019-09-27}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Groth|first1=A. Nicholas|last2=Birnbaum|first2=H. Jean|date=May 1978|title=Adult sexual orientation and attraction to underage persons|journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior|volume=7|issue=3|pages=175–181|doi=10.1007/BF01542377|pmid=666571|s2cid=11477434|issn=0004-0002}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Jenny|first1=Carole|last2=Roesler|first2=Thomas A.|last3=Poyer|first3=Kimberly L.|date=1994-07-01|title=Are Children at Risk for Sexual Abuse by Homosexuals?|url=https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/94/1/41|journal=Pediatrics|volume=94|issue=1|pages=41–44|doi=10.1542/peds.94.1.41 |issn=0031-4005|pmid=8008535|s2cid=33124736 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last1=Freund|first1=Kurt|last2=Watson|first2=Robin J.|date=1992-03-01|title=The proportions of heterosexual and homosexual pedophiles among sex offenders against children: An exploratory study|journal=Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy|volume=18|issue=1|pages=34–43|doi=10.1080/00926239208404356|issn=0092-623X|pmid=1556756}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last1=Bailey|first1=J. Michael|last2=Vasey|first2=Paul L.|last3=Diamond|first3=Lisa M.|last4=Breedlove|first4=S. Marc|last5=Vilain|first5=Eric|last6=Epprecht|first6=Marc|date=2016-04-25|title=Sexual Orientation, Controversy, and Science|journal=Psychological Science in the Public Interest|volume=17|issue=2|pages=45–101|doi=10.1177/1529100616637616|pmid=27113562|issn=1529-1006|doi-access=free}}</ref> While any coercive sex between an adult and a minor of the same sex is a homosexual act, the conclusion that the perpetrator is a homosexual in orientation towards adults is not necessarily correct.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last1=Terry|first1=Karen J.|last2=Freilich|first2=Joshua D.|date=2012-07-01|title=Understanding Child Sexual Abuse by Catholic Priests from a Situational Perspective|journal=Journal of Child Sexual Abuse|volume=21|issue=4|pages=437–455|doi=10.1080/10538712.2012.693579|issn=1053-8712|pmid=22809048|s2cid=205714477}}</ref><ref name=":10">{{Cite web|url=http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/child-and-youth-protection/upload/The-Causes-and-Context-of-Sexual-Abuse-of-Minors-by-Catholic-Priests-in-the-United-States-1950-2010.pdf|title=John Jay Report 2011}}</ref> (See page 62 of ref<ref name=":10" />) [[James Cantor]]<ref name=":1" /> mentions that the extremist groups take advantage of confusing terminologies. [[Pedophilia]] is primary sexual attraction towards children. whereas teleiophilia refers to sexual attraction towards adults. Homosexuality or homosexual in the context of pedophilia refers to homosexual pedophiles (those who are primarily sexually attracted to children of the same sex), whereas homosexuality or homosexuals in the context of civil rights or equality or prevalence of homosexuality in the general population refers to homosexual teleiophilia (those who are attracted towards adults of the same sex).  Analogous terms like heterosexual pedophilia and heterosexual teleiophilia are also present. Some literature uses the term "androphiles" for sexual attraction towards adult males (homosexual teleiophile males and heterosexual teleiophile females), whereas the term gynephiles is used for sexual attraction towards females (homosexual teleiophile females and heterosexual teleiophile males). These terminologies are well accepted in the scientific community.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last1=Blanchard|first1=Ray|last2=Kuban|first2=Michael E.|last3=Blak|first3=Thomas|last4=Klassen|first4=Philip E.|last5=Dickey|first5=Robert|last6=Cantor|first6=James M.|date=2012-02-01|title=Sexual Attraction to Others: A Comparison of Two Models of Alloerotic Responding in Men|journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior|language=en|volume=41|issue=1|pages=13–29|doi=10.1007/s10508-010-9675-3|issn=1573-2800|pmc=3310141|pmid=20848175}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Freund|first=K.|date=1963-05-01|title=A laboratory method for diagnosing predominance of homo- or hetero- erotic interest in the male|journal=Behaviour Research and Therapy|volume=1|issue=1|pages=85–93|doi=10.1016/0005-7967(63)90012-3|pmid=14156719|issn=0005-7967}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline
|date=April 2020}} It is known that the fraction of male homosexual pedophiles among male pedophiles is considerably more than the fraction of male homosexual teleiophiles among male teleiophiles.<ref name=":4" /> However, competent scientific studies have documented that it is not sensible to compare homosexual pedophiles with homosexual teleiophiles.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Cantor|first1=James M.|last2=Kabani|first2=Noor|last3=Christensen|first3=Bruce K.|last4=Zipursky|first4=Robert B.|last5=Barbaree|first5=Howard E.|last6=Dickey|first6=Robert|last7=Klassen|first7=Philip E.|last8=Mikulis|first8=David J.|last9=Kuban|first9=Michael E.|last10=Blak|first10=Thomas|last11=Richards|first11=Blake A.|date=2008-02-01|title=Cerebral white matter deficiencies in pedophilic men|journal=Journal of Psychiatric Research|volume=42|issue=3|pages=167–183|doi=10.1016/j.jpsychires.2007.10.013|pmid=18039544|issn=0022-3956}}</ref><ref name=":6" /> Homosexual teleiophiles are not any more  likely to sexually abuse children than heterosexual teleiophiles.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> Scientific, medical and psychiatric bodies across the world do not consider homosexuality to be a disease or a particular risk factor for physically or sexually abusive behavior, and advocate acceptance of LGBT citizens.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israeli-doctors-ban-conversion-therapy-for-gay-people-1.6828815|title=Israeli Doctors Ban 'Conversion Therapy' for Gay People|date=2019-01-10|work=Haaretz|access-date=2019-09-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/homosexuality-not-an-illness-indian-psychiatric-society/article24401307.ece|title=Homosexuality not an illness: Indian Psychiatric Society|date=2018-07-12|work=The Hindu|access-date=2019-09-27|issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pap.org.ph/position-paper/reaffirmation-non-discimination-lgbt-filipinos|title=Reaffirmation of Non-discimination of LGBT Filipinos {{!}} Psychological Association of the Philippines|website=www.pap.org.ph|access-date=2019-09-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Wang|first1=Yuanyuan|last2=Hu|first2=Zhishan|last3=Peng|first3=Ke|last4=Xin|first4=Ying|last5=Yang|first5=Yuan|last6=Drescher|first6=Jack|last7=Chen|first7=Runsen|date=2019-09-01|title=Discrimination against LGBT populations in China|journal=The Lancet Public Health|language=en|volume=4|issue=9|pages=e440–e441|doi=10.1016/S2468-2667(19)30153-7|issn=2468-2667|pmid=31493836|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.nature.com/houseofwisdom/2013/08/homosexuality-not-a-disease-says-lebanese-psychiatric-society.html|title=Homosexuality not a disease, says Lebanese Psychiatric Society : House of Wisdom|website=blogs.nature.com|access-date=2019-09-27|archive-date=2019-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927202157/http://blogs.nature.com/houseofwisdom/2013/08/homosexuality-not-a-disease-says-lebanese-psychiatric-society.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://outrightinternational.org/content/japan-psychiatrists-remove-homosexuality-list-disorders|title=Japan: Psychiatrists Remove Homosexuality from List of Disorders|last=Anonymous|date=1995-06-01|website=Global LGBT Human Rights|access-date=2019-09-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/members/special-interest-groups/rainbow|title=Rainbow SIG|website=RC PSYCH ROYAL COLLEGE OF PSYCHIATRISTS|access-date=2019-09-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/orientation|title=Answers to Your Questions For a Better Understanding of Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality|work=www.apa.org|access-date=2019-09-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ama.com.au/position-statement/marriage-equality-2017|title=Marriage Equality - 2017|date=2017-05-20|website=Australian Medical Association|access-date=2019-09-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ranzcp.org/news-policy/policy-and-advocacy/position-statements/recognising-and-addressing-the-mental-health-needs|title=Recognising and addressing the mental health needs of the LGBTIQ+ population {{!}} RANZCP|website=www.ranzcp.org|access-date=2019-09-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/state-psychiatry-russia|title=The State of Psychiatry in Russia|last=Yu. S. Savenko|first=M. D.|date=2014-02-13|journal=Psychiatric Times|series=Vol 31 No 2 |volume=31 |issue=2 |access-date=2019-09-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/92/9/14-135541/en/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140905033146/http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/92/9/14-135541/en/|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 5, 2014|title=WHO {{!}} Proposed declassification of disease categories related to sexual orientation in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11)|website=WHO|access-date=2019-09-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Africa (ASSAf)|first=Academy of Science of South|date=2015|title=Diversity in Human Sexuality: Implications for Policy in Africa|url=http://research.assaf.org.za/handle/20.500.11911/38}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline
|date=April 2020}}

Cameron has misinterpreted some scientific literature which he says supports the idea that homosexuals are more likely to molest children. Freund  et al. 1992 <ref name=":4" /> state that while fraction of male homosexual pedophiles among male pedophiles is considerably more than fraction of [[androphile]] males (homosexual teleiophile males) among teleiophile males,  these findings would not imply that androphilic males (homosexual teleiophiles)  have more propensity to sexually abuse children than gynephilic males (heterosexual teleiophiles), the conclusion which runs contrary to Cameron's understanding. Another paper from [[Archives of Sexual Behavior]] by Erickson et al. 1988 <ref name=":7">{{Cite journal|last1=Erickson|first1=W. D.|last2=Walbek|first2=N. H.|last3=Seely|first3=R. K.|date=1988-02-01|title=Behavior patterns of child molesters|journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior|volume=17|issue=1|pages=77–86|doi=10.1007/BF01542053|pmid=3358676|s2cid=27344596|issn=1573-2800}}</ref> has been misinterpreted by Cameron. The paper found that roughly 70%  of child sex offenders had abused girls, 25% had abused boys and 5% had abused both. Over 86% of those who had offended against boys were homosexual (i.e. around 26% of total child sex offenders). However what Cameron misses is that the keywords provided by authors in the same paper<ref name=":7" /> include homosexual pedophilia and pedophilia. The paper <ref name=":7" /> is speaking about homosexual pedophiles<ref name=":1" /> It does not have homosexual teleiophilia or androphilia (sexual attraction towards adult males) in its keywords. Usage of homosexuality/homosexuals in context of pedophilia to refer to homosexual pedophiles (which has nothing to do with adult sexual orientation) is widely prevalent in scientific literature.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Nicholas Groth wrote a letter to Nebraska Board of Examiners of psychologists on August 21, 1984, and accused him of misrepresentation of his own work and disgracing his profession.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/religious-right-leader-ad_b_796330|title=Religious Right Leader Admits to Using Bad Research Against the Gay Community|last1=McEwen|first1=Alvin|last2=Bullies|first2=Contributorblogmaster of Holy|date=2010-12-14|website=HuffPost|language=en|access-date=2019-10-07|last3=Monsters|first3=Headless}}</ref>

Apart from self-citations by Cameron's group their work on linking homosexuality with child sex abuse have mostly been cited by other scientists either to counteract it or only to quantify the prevalence of sexual abuse of children by adults of same sex.<ref name=":11" /> While sexual abuses in which  the perpetrator and victims are of same sex are termed as homosexual molestation but it does not necessarily mean that the perpetrator was homosexual in orientation towards adults.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":10" /> Cameron's work on this topic have not influenced scientific consensus on absence of harms possessed by homosexuals to children and society.<ref name=":11" />

==Works ==

* {{cite book |first=Paul |last=Cameron |title=The Life Cycle: Perspectives and Commentary |year=1977 |publisher=Dabor Science Publications |location=Oceanside, NY |isbn=0-89561-057-4 }}
* {{cite book |first=Paul |last=Cameron |title=Sexual Gradualism: A Solution to the Sexual Dilemma of Teen-agers and Young Adults |year=1978 |publisher=HumLife Publications |location=Sun Valley, CA |oclc=5028575 }}
* {{cite book |first=Paul |last=Cameron |title=Exposing the AIDS Scandal |year=1988 |publisher=Huntington House |location=Lafayette, LA |isbn=0-910311-52-8 }}
* {{cite book |first=Paul |last=Cameron |title= The Gay 90s: What the Empirical Evidence Reveals about Homosexuality |year=1993 |publisher=Adroit Press |location=Franklin, Tenn. |isbn=1-884067-01-8 }}

==Notes and references==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070106175304/http://www.familyresearchinst.org/ Family Research Institute website]
* [https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/paul-cameron  "Paul Cameron", ''Southern Poverty Law Center'' -- profile of Paul Cameron]
* [http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/HTML/facts_cameron_sheet.html Gregory M. Herek, "Paul Cameron Bio and Fact Sheet"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228060524/http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_cameron_sheet.html |date=2018-12-28 }}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Paul}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:21st-century American psychologists]]
[[Category:Azusa Pacific University alumni]]
[[Category:California State University, Los Angeles alumni]]
[[Category:People involved in scientific misconduct incidents]]
[[Category:University of Colorado Boulder alumni]]
[[Category:University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty]]
[[Category:Wayne State University faculty]]
[[Category:University of Louisville faculty]]
[[Category:20th-century American psychologists]]