 Family Research Institute Logo | |
| Founded | 1982 (1982) |
|---|---|
| Founder | Paul Cameron |
| Type | Nonprofit |
| EIN 470649778 | |
| Focus | Research |
| Location | |
| Method | [data missing] |
Key people | Paul Cameron, Chairman Kirk Cameron, Vice Chairman |
| Revenue | $70,629 (2010)[1] |
| Website | familyresearchinst |
Formerly called | Institute for the Scientific Investigation of Sexuality |
TheFamily Research Institute (FRI), originally known as theInstitute for the Scientific Investigation of Sexuality (ISIS), is an Americansocially conservativenon-profit organization based inColorado Springs, Colorado, which states that it has "...one overriding mission: to generate empirical research on issues that threaten the traditional family, particularly homosexuality, AIDS, sexual social policy, and drug abuse".[2] The FRI is part of asociopolitical movement of socially conservative Christian organizations which seek to influence the political debate in the United States. They seek "...to restore a world where marriage is upheld and honored, where children are nurtured and protected, and where homosexuality is not taught and accepted, but instead is discouraged and rejected at every level."[2] TheBoston Globe reported that the FRI's 2005 budget was less than$200,000.[3][quantify]
The FRI is led byPaul Cameron, who received a doctorate inpsychology from theUniversity of Colorado at Boulder in 1966. Cameron founded theInstitute for the Scientific Investigation of Sexuality in 1982, and this institute later became the FRI.[3]
The Family Research Institute has been designated an anti-gayhate group[4] by theSouthern Poverty Law Center since 2006[5][6] because of Cameron's discredited research and claims about LGBT people.[7][8][9][10][11]
FRI (known then as ISIS) was founded in 1982 inLincoln, Nebraska, by psychologistPaul Cameron.[12] In 1980, a local organization, theLincoln Legion of Lesbians, had asked the Lincoln city government to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.[13] Cameron was vehemently opposed to legal protections for gay people, and presented his opposition as grounded in his psychological research.[14] The opposition organization he formed was successful not only in defeating the proposed law, but in quickly becoming a major part of the nationwide anti-LGBT movement.[15]
SociologistSara Diamond ofUC Berkeley states that theAIDS epidemic gave FRI a chance to oppose gay rights using "fear-mongering pseudoscience" before accurate scientific understanding of AIDS could be communicated to the public.[16] Among other proposals, FRI advocated limiting AIDS by imprisoning "sexually active homosexuals" inconcentration camps.[12]
The organization's name was changed to the current one in 1987.[16] It moved to Colorado Springs in 1992.[12]
In 1984, the Nebraska Psychological Association adopted a resolution stating that it "formally disassociates itself from the representations and interpretations of scientific literature offered by Dr. Paul Cameron in his writings and public statements on sexuality."[3]
In 1986, theAmerican Sociological Association (ASA) passed a resolution condemning Cameron for "consistent misrepresentation of sociological research"[17] based on a report from the ASA's Committee on the Status of Homosexuals in Sociology, which summarized 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 Bell, have been 'appalled' at the abuse of their work."[18] In 1996, the board of directors of theCanadian Psychological Association approved a position statement disassociating the organization from Cameron's work on sexuality, stating that he had "consistently misinterpreted and misrepresented research on sexuality, homosexuality, and lesbianism".[19]
Herek and others have also said that the FRI's research has been published inPsychological Reports. TheBoston Globe says that the small journal charges authors to publish their studies, and that it has a non-standard peer-reviewing policy. Herek says that it has a "low rejection rate" and that Cameron's research "would have been rejected by more prestigious scientific journals"[20]
TheChristian right began to distance itself from FRI and Cameron in the mid-1990s. His acrimonious attacks on gays and lesbians were backfiring, according to journalistWayne Besen; his attacks were responsible for a growing impression that Christianity was intolerant, and his claims appeared further removed from the truth as public understanding of AIDS grew.Focus on the Family denounced FRI, and moved on to associate itself with other pseudoscientific claims, such asconversion therapy, instead.[21] However, FRI's claims are still cited in politics as of 2020.[22]
TheSouthern Poverty Law Center has listed FRI as an anti-gay hate group[4] because of Cameron's discredited research[8][9] and claims about LGBT people. According to the SPLC, Cameron's "continued demonization of LGBT people and the shoddy and suspect research methods he uses to advance his claims have earned his Family Research Institute (FRI) a place on the SPLC's anti-LGBT hate group list."[10]
According to political scientist Barry J. Balleck, FRI continues to publish "pseudoscientific studies" as of 2019 that, Balleck says, "remain central to anti-LGBT groups on the extreme right of the political spectrum."[12] Organizations that cite FRI's pseudoscientific research include theAmerican Family Association,Coral Ridge Ministries,Concerned Women for America,Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, theFamily Research Council. TheIllinois Family Institute has also cited FRI's research, but no longer does.[11][23]
It has glued "anti-gay" and "hate" labels on several Judeo-Christian organizations that uphold traditional marriage and pro-life moral views - and make sure we keep "Christ" in Christmas. The groups range from the Traditional Values Coalition in California and the Family Research Institute in Colorado to Coral Ridge Ministries in Florida and Concerned Women for America in the nation's capital.
The figures are based on research by anti-gay activist Paul Cameron that was discredited years ago.
Cameron, 66, is a discredited psychologist who has made it his purpose in life to disseminate wildly inaccurate "facts and figures" about gay men and lesbians under the auspices of the Family Research Institute, a nonprofit corporation he founded in 1982.
During his years at the FRC, Knight penned anti-gay tracts that used the research of thoroughly discredited psychologist Paul Cameron, head of the Colorado-based hate group the Family Research Institute
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