Dave Agema is back with more anti-gay postings on Facebook. Last week, Agema came under fire from many LGBT rights groups, liberals, and even some Republicans for his sharing of an offensive article full of misleading and badly outdated statistics and statements about the LGBT community meant to lend credence to the idea that they lead a “filthy lifestyle,” and then defended himself by saying it was worth sharing when people called him out on it.

These more recent posts are in line with the religious right’s attitude towards marriage equality, warning his Republican colleagues that supporting it and allowing it to go through will mean it’s taught in schools as an alternative lifestyle, and will harm society as a whole.





The post in question is in reply to Brad Fingeroot on a petition asking Republicans to be more inclusive towards the LGBT community. Fingeroot wrote to Agema thanking him for engaging with others. Agema’s post, in its entirety, reads:

“Brad, you know very well there was no malice on my part, but great name calling and intimidation on yours. What evidence are you willing to accept? I can send you reems [sic] of studies showing the negative health affects [sic] of this lifestyle, instead you would have us accept it, teach it to our kids, include it in our platform and cause great harm to society. You have misquoted and maligned-exactly what you accused me of but I didn’t. “The people of America have the right to know what lays ahead if the Supreme Court rules the wrong way. Dr. Joseph footnoted everywhere he got his information. Deal with it. You want to change the landscape of our party in a direction that has not been accepted for 230 years. I’m trying to maintain or [sic] platform. You are trying to change it. Ask yourself what is (sic) mean? Ask yourself what facts you are willing to accept or whose studies are valid. There are no studies that show this lifestyle is healthy nor better than one man and one woman, both for the couple and the kids.”

The “filthy lifestyle” article is the one that was penned by the Dr. Joseph referenced above. It cites many statistics from many studies that are at least 20 years old, and in many cases 30 or 40, when members of the LGBT community were mostly tightly closeted, the nature of their very being a closely guarded secret, with the exception of those few who were flamboyant about it. This was due to the fact that society in general was much less accepting of alternative lifestyles than it is today.

Agema’s claim that “there are no studies that show this lifestyle is healthy nor better than one man and one woman, both for the couple and the kids,” is also nonsense. While there’s nothing that definitively proves that LGBT couples have, on average, better, stronger relationships than heterosexual couples, or are better parents, there are studies that provide evidence showing their relationships are at least as stable as their hetero counterparts’. In fact, WebMD published an article discussing several studies conducted during the same time frame as the ones Dr. Joseph cites that say there are no differences between children raised by single mothers who were straight and children raised by single lesbians, when it came to intelligence, psychiatric disorders, well-being, peer relationships, self-esteem and more.

Also in the WebMD article are the results of two studies saying that the children of lesbian couples had lower tendencies toward aggression, were more tolerant of differences between people, and were more nurturing as well.

Furthermore, Abbie Goldberg, a researcher of gay and lesbian parenting at Clark University, found that same-sex couples tend to be more motivated as parents, and more committed to being parents, because it’s easier for them to choose to become parents. Heterosexual couples become parents by accident far, far more often than same-sex couples. In 2010, sociologists Judith Stacey and Tim Biblarz conducted a review of nearly every study done on same-sex parents, and found that there’s no difference at all between children raised by straight couples and children raised by lesbian couples.

Beyond that, according to the CDC many of the “health threats” present in the LGBT community are due to social inequality and discrimination, not sexual behavior alone. Stigmas and so-called “homophobia” can result in lower-quality healthcare for people in the LGBT community, or even a lack of accessible and affordable healthcare. Social stigma also contributes to various unhealthy habits, such as suicide attempts, substance abuse, and yes, unhealthy sexual behavior. What actually goes on in the LGBT community when it comes to physical health is far from what Agema and Dr. Joseph claim, which is that the physical health issues experienced at higher rates among LGBT people vs. their heterosexual counterparts are solely because of their willingly chosen sexual behavior. It’s simply not true.

So to say there are no studies that show that this lifestyle is healthy is, in fact, Agema turning a blind eye to anything that doesn’t agree with his view of the LGBT community. After his posting of Dr. Joseph’s article last week, other Michigan Republicans began calling for his resignation, which he has refused to consider. Certainly people like him will not help the GOP’s attempts to avoid insulting big segments of the electorate, or to be a more inclusive party.

Rika Christensen is an experienced writer and loves debating politics. Engage with her and see more of her work by following her on Facebook and Twitter, and check out her blog, They Need To Go.