The AFA, like most of the religious right, relies on outdated, inaccurate, and sometimes ludicrous "research" or "data" to back up their anti-gay campaign of bigotry. In nearly every area that the AFA uses this "research" it is misleading at best and complete rubbish at worst.

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI’s) (HIV/AIDS, Etc.)

The AFA uses "research" to suggest that homosexuality is unhealthy; that it causes gays to lose 20 years off their life. For some time, they used "research" from Dr. Paul Cameron. Cameron has become a laughing stock because his "research" was not based on any form of scientific method. He was even kicked out of the American Psychological Association and discredited by his own peers. Cameron made the earliest claims that homosexual men died younger than heterosexual men. His "research" amounted to combing through obituaries of gay publications.

When the AFA and others could no longer use Cameron because of his ludicrous "research" they jumped at the opportunity to use an obscure study done by Oxford University. This study has been misused by the religious right since it's release and the authors of the study have blasted these activists for using the now-ancient data to justify anti-gay activism. The AFA uses this "research" to portray gays as a threat to public health.

The AFA also uses the Medical Institute for Sexual Health as an authority on the topic of sexually transmitted infections (STI's) because of their official-sounding name. The AFA uses the Medical Institute’s "research" to justify allegations that there are negative health factors to homosexuality. The truth is that you cannot trust the Medical Institute because they are nothing more than a right-wing think tank run by religious fundamentalists. The Institute admits their bias on their own home site. Read more about the biases of the Medical Institute.

Hate Violence

The AFA and other anti-gay activists argue that hate violence against GLBT people is not a real problem. The "data" they choose to use comes from a deeply flawed annual report produced by the U.S. Justice Department. Only two entities produce a report on anti-GLBT hate violence every year. The U.S. Justice Department and the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP). Triangle Foundation is a founding member organization of the NCAVP. To find out more about Triangle Foundation, Michigan's statewide civil rights, advocacy, and anti-violence organization for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, click here.

The Justice Department report is deeply flawed because it produces its report based on hate crime incidents reported by local and state law enforcement agencies. The problem is that only half of all law enforcement agencies in the country have a mechanism by which to document hate violence. Those that have the mechanism on their police forms are still in desperate need of training of how to identify a hate crime. So as the data flows upward it is grossly misrepresentative of the real problem. Even internally, staff at the Justice Department jokingly call their hate crime report "the book of zeroes." They have encouraged people to use the NCAVP report but the AFA and others refuse to because it shows the incidents of anti-gay hate violence are much higher.

Domestic Violence

The AFA uses more "research" to argue that GLBT people are a threat to each other. They argue that incidents of domestic violence are higher among same-sex couples than opposite-sex couples. They also argue that same-sex domestic violence is more prevalent than anti-gay hate violence. Conveniently the religious right uses "gay research" to buttress their argument. But the "research" they use is utterly without substance. There is little to no data on same-sex domestic violence. The data that does exist, (mostly published by the NCAVP) suggests that domestic violence occurs at the same rate among gay and straight relationships. Patrick Letellier, one of the gay researchers that the AFA has been using, has publicly blasted them and others for blatantly misusing and misinterpreting his research. See Patrick Letellier's letter.