How will you vote in the Marriage Equality referendum? Mod Note Post 1

Take a minute to read this folks..Blows MFMs nonsense & lies outta the water..
There is something that is constantly getting under my skin in the lead up to marriage equality referendum. It is the complete lack of respect for research which has been carried out about the well-being of children raised in traditional and same-sex parented families by the ‘no’ campaign. This has even developed into a complete misrepresentation of research, to the point where the ‘no’ campaign is circulating disinformation which I can only assume is to mislead and confuse the voting public.
If I can draw your attention to the following video clip, which is from the launch of the ‘Mothers and Fathers Matter’ campaign:
After seeing this and the many sponsored posts on my facebook feed, I checked out the ‘Mothers and Fathers Matter’ website to try and find the research that they talk about. What I found was the following:
'Mothers and Fathers Matter' quote a study which they claim defends their stance that "having a loving mother and father involved in the lives of children is particularly beneficial to everyone concerned." I can only assume they are stating that same-sex parents are at some sort of disadvantage and unequal. The study they quote is a Unicef Innocenti Report Card from 2007. These report cards try to give an idea of child well-being in rich countries.
The paragraph they quote does not support what they say it actually does, so I decided to look the report card up myself. What I found was that there was never any distinction made between traditional and same-sex parented families. I decided to contact Unicef directly through the e-mail address included in the report and I asked two primary questions:
1) Were same-sex families included in the families studied as part of this report?
2) Is it fair based off the above quote that your report concludes that having a traditional family is more beneficial than having a same-sex family?
I first got a clarification from Unicef’s Office of Research, they stated the following:
1) No, there was no references to same sex families in the report or its background research. Even if same-sex families were present in national survey data (which I later discovered they were) on which some of the indicators were based, they were not identified as such.
2) No.
They also said that “It is very unfortunate that RC7 was used to imply that traditional families are in any way better for children than other families.”
I also got a reply from the lead researcher of the Innocenti Report Cards of 2007 and 2013, Professor Jonathan Bradshaw of the University of York. His responses to my questions were as follows:
1) Same sex families would have been included in the studies but not identified as a separate category.
2) No, the quote does not say anything about same sex families – it refers to step and single parent families.
He went on to state:
“I don’t think RC7 or anyone has ever drawn conclusions about child well-being and same sex couples. I don’t think that sentence in RC7 drew on the evidence in the survey but more probably a review of the international literature. But he is talking about broken families not same sex families. In fact if we are talking about subjective well-being then there is no relationship with broken families. Anne Marie Brooks has completed an analysis of the Growing Up in Ireland study, which concludes that when you control for poverty and other things there is no relationship between family structure and child outcomes – and that is the conclusion of most modern studies.”
He is correct – the majority of modern studies show there is no difference in child well being for a child from a traditional or same-sex parented family. When poverty and other variables are controlled for, family structure means nothing in relation to child-outcomes.
So where does this leave us?
The study 'Mothers and Fathers Matter' quote doesn’t support their argument. It strengthens the ‘Yes’ side, because same-sex families were included as families in the study. They misrepresent an international study conducted by Unicef (who supports marriage equality by the way) to defend a stance which can’t be defended by research. The study makes it’s conclusion in relation to broken families. Not same-sex families or families that may exist due to IVF or other forms of Assisted Human Reproduction.
What I find disgraceful about this is the following. Mothers and Fathers Matter is run by an advisory group of individuals, some who have PhD’s, some of whom still work in third-level institutions and yet as academics, they have no respect for research and choose to misrepresent it.
BUT WAIT! They left a note at the bottom of their resources page, just in case anyone actually caught on to their tactics:
"Note: Research in this area is not directly relevant to the specific debate on families headed by same-sex couples but it is highly relevant to the overall debate about Article 41 of our Constitution which rightly recognises the unique value of the family based on marriage as presently defined in Irish Law."
I see your note ‘Mothers and Fathers Matter’ and raise you one:
Note: The act of putting a note at the end of your resources page does not excuse you from the act of mispresentation of research or the circulation of disinformation in support of your cause for which any actual evidence is significantly lacking.
Might I suggest and edit to the 'Mothers and Fathers Matter' resources page?
“Having LOVING PARENTS, involved in the lives of children, regardless of their gender, is particularly beneficial to everyone concerned. Many studies testify to this.”
At least then they won’t be spreading lies and will be accurately reporting on the study.
The advisory group of Mother’s and Father’s matter should be ashamed of the tactics they are using in the run up to the referendum. As a PhD candidate in the University of Limerick I have no respect for a campaign that warps, twists and outright lies about research that has been conducted. Research that in fact proves them wrong. People need to know this, they need to know they are being lied to. It only shows the complete lack of respect the 'no' campaign have for the irish voter. We have to do all that we can to convince people that a ‘Yes’ vote is the correct vote in this referendum. Otherwise we risk losing to a group of people who intentionally spread false information.

http://keithjy.wix.com/mots#!Mothers-and-Fathers-Matter-The-Truth-Doesnt/c218b/5538ff430cf23d01644653ec