In an October 15 op-ed column in The Pueblo Chieftain in which he advocated the passage of a Colorado constitutional amendment that would define marriage as being between one man and one woman, Bishop Phillip Porter argued that "[k]ids do best with a married mom and a dad" and claimed that “mountains of social science data support” the contention that “mothers and fathers are absolutely necessary for the healthiest outcomes in children.” In fact, the American Psychological Association (APA) concluded in a 2005 study of lesbian and gay parenting that "[n]ot a single study has found children of lesbian or gay parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents." The study also said that “the evidence to date suggests that home environments provided by lesbian and gay parents are as likely as those provided by heterosexual parents to support and enable children's psychosocial growth.”

Amendment 43 would, as summarized by the Colorado Blue Book, “amend[] the state constitution by defining marriage in Colorado as only a union between one man and one woman.” Porter, whom the Chieftain identified as a bishop for the Church of God in Christ, is president of Amendment 43's sponsoring organization, Coloradans for Marriage. Neither Porter's op-ed nor the Coloradans for Marriage website cites any documentation supporting Porter's suggestion that children of same-sex couples are disadvantaged in comparison with children of opposite-sex couples.

The APA study includes an annotated bibliography containing 148 entries in the following categories:

• Empirical studies specifically related to lesbian and gay parents and their children,
• Empirical studies generally related to the fitness of lesbians and gay men as parents,
• Reviews of empirical studies specifically related to lesbian and gay parents and their children,
• Reviews of empirical studies generally related to the fitness of lesbians and gay men as parents,
• Legal reviews,
• Case studies and popular works related to lesbian and gay parenting, and
• Theoretical and conceptual examinations related to lesbian and gay parenting.

The APA study concluded that “there is no evidence to suggest that lesbian women or gay men are unfit to be parents or that psychosocial development among children of lesbian women or gay men is compromised relative to that among offspring of heterosexual parents.” It further concluded:

Not a single study has found children of lesbian or gay parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents. Indeed, the evidence to date suggests that home environments provided by lesbian and gay parents are as likely as those provided by heterosexual parents to support and enable children's psychosocial growth.

From Porter's op-ed column, “Protection of marriage crucial to healthy society,” in the October 15 edition of The Pueblo Chieftain:

The “social experts” assured us, back then, that divorce would have no lasting impact on children and families -- and we bought it hook, line and sinker. Yet today, gay marriage advocates are trying to sell us the same bill of goods -- claiming yet again there's no social consequences for messing with marriage

But the clergy of Colorado know better. Kids do best with a married mom and a dad. And, as with divorce, legalized gay unions intentionally create motherless and fatherless homes.

In fact, mountains of social science data support what we're seeing in our congregations, that mothers and fathers are absolutely necessary for the healthiest outcomes in children. That males and females offer unique contributions in child-rearing. That gender isn't interchangeable. Major religions recognize the value of having both a mom and a dad in the home.

And if we truly care about kids' long-term emotional health we'll give them what evidence and experience shows they need.