American Psychological Association Passes Resolution Supporting Same Sex Marriage, Tim Pawlenty Believes That There Still Exists A Scientific Dispute About Climate Change And Supports State And Federal Amendment Defining Marriage As That Between A Man And A Woman, American Family Association Founder Says Homosexuals Will Become “Part Of Elite Class” Unless Stopped, Kellan Lutz Shirtless, Alexander Skarsgard Strolls

The world's largest organization of psychologists took its strongest stand to date supporting full marriage equity; a move that observers say will have a far-reaching impact on the national debate, USA Today reporting that the policymaking body of the American Psychological Association unanimously approved the resolution 157-0 on the eve of the group's annual convention, which opened in Washington Wednesday. The group, with more than 154,000 members, has long supported full equal rights for gays, based on social science research on sexual orientation. Now the nation's psychologists — citing an increasing body of research about same-sex marriage, as well as increased discussion at the state and federal levels — took the support to a new level. "Now as the country has really begun to have experience with gay marriage, our position is much clearer and more straightforward — that marriage equity is the policy that the country should be moving toward," says Clinton Anderson, director of APA's Office on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns. The resolution points to numerous recent studies, including findings that "many gay men and lesbians, like their heterosexual counterparts, desire to form stable, long-lasting, and committed intimate relationships and are successful in doing so." It adds that "emerging evidence suggests that state-wide campaigns to deny same-sex couples legal access to civil marriage are a significant source of stress to the lesbian, gay and bisexual residents of those states and may have negative effects on their psychological well-being." Six states and the District of Columbia currently allow same-sex marriage."Psychologists have been very important in helping to keep the discussion at a fact-based level and not let it steer off into stereotypes," says M.V. Lee Badgett, research director at the non-profit Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law & Public Policy at the University of California-Los Angeles. Sociologist W. Bradford Wilcox, director of the non-profit National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia-Charlottesville, says his board is divided on the issue and hasn't taken a stance on same-sex marriage. He says the APA resolution will likely have a broad impact."I don't think it's very significant for the population at large, but I do think this move is significant for the ongoing public policy and legal battles in Washington and around the states," he says. Clinical psychologist Mark Hatzenbuehler, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar at Columbia University in New York, whose new research is cited in the resolution, says the courts tend to look at these kinds of policy statements because "they're really looking to see what social science research says about the influence on gay marriage and marriage bans on a whole host of outcomes." Badgett's research of same-sex marriage across cultures is also cited in the resolution. She says the Netherlands was the first to allow gay couples to marry, and it showed "very little change in the overall society, but it was very important to gay couples themselves." The last APA resolution on sexual orientation and marriage was approved in 2004. The resolution notes that since that time, APA has worked on 11 amicus briefs filed in same-sex marriage cases since 2004.

The Miami Herald interviews Republican presidential candidate (and former governor of Minnesota) Tim Pawlenty, and asked if he thinks there exists man-made climate change, Pawlenty answers “Well, there’s definitely climate change. The more interesting question is how much is a result of natural causes and how much, if any, is attributable to human behaviour. And that’s what the scientific dispute is about.” Asked about same-sex marriage, Pawlenty answers “When I was in the Minnesota Legislature, I was a co-author of the Defense of Marriage Act defining marriage as between a man and a woman. I support a state and federal amendment to the constitutions defining amendments as such.”

The New York Times reports on the American Family Association, the far-right wing hate group financing Texas Governor Rick Perry’s day of prayer this Saturday in Houston. The Times suggest that the AFA has moved from being a marginalized conservative group to a political power, “the association has sharpened its edge over the years, moving from its well-known crusades for public “decency” to harshly opposing what it calls an anti-Christian ‘homosexual agenda’ — not only same-sex marriage and the acceptance of gay troops in the military, but any suggestion that homosexual ‘behaviour is normal.’ The association also campaigns against ant bullying programs that teach tolerance and corporations (like Home Depot, a current target) that support gay pride parades.” Donald E. Wildmon, the AFA founder and chairman, adding a warning that if current cultural trends are not stopped, “homosexuals will become part of an elite class” and “Christians will be second-class citizens at best.”

Kellan Lutz, shirtless naturally, spotted working out.

The newly single Alexander Skarsgard is seen strolling through the streets of Soho.