OTTAWA – The Canadian Psychological Association announced today that its Board of Directors has endorsed Canadians for Equal Marriage, a multi-partisan, nation-wide, bilingual campaign to ensure passage of the federal legislation to provide same-sex couples with access to marriage across Canada.
“The motion passed unanimously without debate,” said CPA president Dr. Patrick O’Neill. “The psychological research into lesbian and gay parenting indicates that there are essentially no differences in the psychosocial development, gender identity or sexual orientation between the children of gay or lesbian parents and the children of heterosexual parents.”
“All children deserve to feel that society accepts and recognizes their families, and children of same-sex couples are no exception,” added Dr. O’Neill.
“We are so happy to have the support of the Canadian Psychological ssociation,” said Laurie Arron, Political Coordinator for Canadians for Equal Marriage. “Many people opposed to letting same-sex couples marry mistakenly believe that children would suffer harm as a result. We know that the opposite is true, that children would benefit from it. This is the opinion of not just the Canadian Psychological Association, but also the Canadian Association of Social Workers, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association.”
Resources on the web:
CEM website: www.equal-marriage.ca
CPA’s press release dated August 6, 2003: http://www.cpa.ca/documents/GayParenting-CPA.pdf
The Canadian Psychological Association is the national organization in Canada representing 5 300 psychologists and students in psychology from all Canadian Provinces and Territories. Its objectives are to lead, advance and promote psychology as a science and as a profession for the benefit of humanity; to provide leadership in psychology in Canada; to promote a sense of identity among psychologists; to promote the advancement, dissemination, and practical application of psychological knowledge; to develop standards and ethical principles for education, training, science and practice in psychology.
For more information:
Ivan Parisien, Communication Coordinator
Tel: (613) 237-2144 ext. 25 or 1-888-472-0657 ext. 25
E-mail: iparisien@cpa.ca
Laurie Arron, Political Coordinator
Canadians for Equal Marriage
Tel: 416-928-1238 or 416-839-7178
E-mail: laurie@egale.ca