Complaint Prompts University to Investigate Professor's Study Showing Trouble with Kids of Gays

Allegations of "scientific misconduct" have prompted the University of Texas to investigate a professor's study that found children are negatively affected by having gay parents, Statesman.com reports. The study, authored by sociology professor Mark Regnerus and published last month in the journal Social Science Research, found that adults with gay parents tended to report lower economic and relational success and were more likely to have mental health issues. After New York City freelance writer Scott Rosensweig, who uses the byline Scott Rose to write about LGBT issues for a blog called "The New Civil Rights Movement," sent a letter of complaint to UT president Bill Powers on June 21, the university began an inquiry of Regnerus' study. Rosensweig alleged that Regnerus had committed "scientific misconduct" because he had created "a study designed so as to be guaranteed to make gay people look bad, through means plainly fraudulent and defamatory." Regnerus declined to comment on the inquiry but said his study followed the standard protocol of scholarly research. If the panel of UT professors conducting the inquiry decides Regnerus' work constitutes scientific misconduct -- defined by the university as "fabrication, falsification or plagiarism" and "practices that seriously deviate from ethical standards" -- Provost Steven Leslie would decide how the administration would proceed.