Shrinking Morality: Psychiatrist Wary of APA's Tentative Nod to Same-Sex 'Marriage'
by Mary Rettig
May 26, 2005
(AgapePress) - The American Psychiatric Association has conditionally approved a statement urging the legalization of same-sex marriage, but one Christian psychiatrist says the reasoning behind the group's decision is faulty.
In a written statement, the APA says its support for same-sex marriage comes "in the interest of maintaining and promoting mental health." But Dr. Robert Rogan, a North Carolina psychiatrist and member of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations, says the psychiatric organization's argument is a weak one.
"I guess if you want to see that [homosexual marriage] helps mental health, you may be able to see it," Rogan concedes. However, he adds, "Personally, from my experience, I have not seen that as a strong point for mental health. The people I've dealt with in a professional sense that have been involved in that kind of lifestyle have not been happy people."
Rogan feels pro-family psychiatrists need to speak out against this move by the APA, so the entire psychiatric profession will not be aligned -- or perceived as aligned -- with the homosexual agenda. "As a psychiatrist, I'm concerned," he says, "because if this vote goes through, people are going to say, 'Well, he's a psychiatrist -- he's one of those ones that approve that gay marriage thing.'"
The newly resolved statement still needs to be approved by the American Psychiatric Association's directors, who will vote on the resolution in July. If the directors approve the tentative statement at that time, it would mark the first time a major U.S. medical group has taken an official stance in support of homosexual marriage.
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
