The Herald Sun reported that 22 Victorian doctors have come out in opposition to same-sex marriage on the basis that “the evidence is clear that children who grow up in a family with a mother and father do better in all parameters than children without”.

The clear inference is that the opinion of these doctors that same-sex marriage is harmful to children, is based on medical research. Everyone is entitled to have their own opinion regarding same-sex marriage. For it is an issue that provokes strong responses on both sides of the debate.  However, it is important that the opinions of Doctors for the Family be honestly represented as based on personal or religious views, and not medical science.

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Dr Paula Gerber is an Associate Professor at the Monash University Law School and a Deputy Director of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law.

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