NIH Director Responds to Fake Medical Group

The other day we were talking about the American College of Pediatricians, a fake medical group that exists to make anti-gay bigotry appear respectable.

Their "Facts About Youth" web site, which is full of fiction, contains a copy of a letter that the ACP sent to all American public school superintendents. Yes, they say all. It includes this tidbit:

Dr. Francis Collins, former Director of the Genome Project, has stated that while homosexuality may be genetically influenced, it is "… not hardwired by DNA, and that whatever genes are involved represent predispositions, not predeterminations.” He also states [that] “…the prominent role[s] of individual free will choices [has] a profound effect on us." Letter to Superintendents

Woops.

A message dated Thursday, April 15th, has been published on the National Institute of Health web site:

"It is disturbing for me to see special interest groups distort my scientific observations to make a point against homosexuality. The American College of Pediatricians pulled language out of context from a book I wrote in 2006 to support an ideology that can cause unnecessary anguish and encourage prejudice. The information they present is misleading and incorrect, and it is particularly troubling that they are distributing it in a way that will confuse school children and their parents."

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.
Director Statement from NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., in Response to the American College of Pediatricians

Misquoting Dr. Collins is a favorite habit of anti-gay extremists. He is a Christian and an extremely well-respected geneticist, and the Nutty Ones were happy to find a quote from a very authoritative figure that seemed to vaguely support their contention that people choose to be gay, and can choose not to be. We have discussed these misquotations several times on this blog, and they have been thoroughly refuted many times on other sites.

For instance, RoseMarie Briggs is a local Montgomery County anti-gay leader who in 2007 told our Montgomery County, Maryland, public school board:

My uncle happens to be Francis S. Collins head of the Human Genome Project in Rockville, and he says sexual orientation is NOT hardwired by DNA. How do you know that it is? New Voice, Same Old Stuff

Even before his niece misrepresented him at a public hearing, Dr. Collins had told Ex-Gay Watch:

The evidence we have at present strongly supports the proposition that there are hereditary factors in male homosexuality — the observation that an identical twin of a male homosexual has approximately a 20% likelihood of also being gay points to this conclusion, since that is 10 times the population incidence. But the fact that the answer is not 100% also suggests that other factors besides DNA must be involved. That certainly doesn’t imply, however, that those other undefined factors are inherently alterable.

Your note indicated that your real interest is in the truth. And this is about all that we really know. No one has yet identified an actual gene that contributes to the hereditary component (the reports about a gene on the X chromosome from the 1990s have not held up), but it is likely that such genes will be found in the next few years. Major Geneticist Francis Collins Responds to NARTH Article

Chastisement by the Director of the National Institutes of Health is a small price for the American College of Pediatricians to pay for their mischief. You can be sure the major media will not be reporting this development. The ACP is actively misinforming the public, working presently through school superintendents, and needs to be stopped. They have the right to send letters to people, but they are fraudulently misrepresenting themselves as spokespersons for the scientific and medical consensus, lying about the research. Somebody should stop them.