While George Rekers has pretty much destroyed his own credibility as an "expert" on the lgbt community, religious right groups who utilized his studies probably aren' t worried about losing him as a resource.
As it is, there remains a plethora of studies they refer to when seeking to make the case that homosexuality is nothing more than a "dangerous lifestyle." And surprisingly, a lot of this data is legitimate.
It's just of matter of inaccurate interpretation.
The following is a list of studies which "traditional values" group have used (and continue to use) against the lgbt community along with an explanation of how they distort these studies.
Distortion - Lgbt homes are not ideal homes to raise children because gay supportive researcher Judith Stacey said so in her study:
"A study conducted by Judith Stacey and Timothy Biblarz, sociologists at the University of Southern California, revealed that children raised by homosexual couples 'seem to grow up to be more open to homoerotic relationships.' The study showed that 12 percent of girls raised in lesbian homes became active lesbians themselves--increasing the likelihood of lesbianism by more than 400 percent." - Fast Facts, Gay Adoption, Coral Ridge Ministries
Researcher Judith Stacey thinks that children do well in homosexual homes. She says her study found that girls brought up by lesbians show greater interest in masculine activities and dress and seek non-traditional female jobs. Boys in lesbian homes are more feminine and more nurturing. Children in these homes also become sexually active with same-sex partners. - Children In Homosexual Homes Become Sexually Confused, Traditional Values Coalition
Truth - Judith Stacey had gone on record numerous times decrying how her research in lgbt homes have been distorted. According to respectmyresearch.org:
. . . Stacey and Biblarz noted preliminary evidence of some "modest and interesting" differences between children raised by heterosexual parents and children raised by lesbian and gay parents, but they affirmed that "parental sexual orientation has no measurable effect on the quality of parent-child relationships or on children's mental health or adjustment."
Distortion - Lesbian and gay relationships are generally violent
A study in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence examined conflict and violence in lesbian relationships. The researchers found that 90 percent of the lesbians surveyed had been recipients of one or more acts of verbal aggression from their intimate partners during the year prior to this study, with 31 percent reporting one or more incidents of physical abuse." - Comparing the Lifestyles of Homosexual Couples to Married Couples, Family Research Council
There is a higher rate of violence in lesbian and homosexual relationships than in married, heterosexual relationships. A study in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence examined conflict and violence in lesbian relationships. The researchers found that 90% of the lesbians surveyed had been recipients of one or more acts of verbal aggression from their intimate partners during the year prior to this study, with 31% reporting one or more incidents of physical abuse. - Same-Sex Parenting is Harmful to Children Says REAL Women of Canada, Lifesite News
Truth - According to the Journal of Interpersonal Violence's own web page:
The Journal of Interpersonal Violence offers the most up-to-date information on domestic violence, rape, child sexual abuse and other violent crimes . . . Focusing on both victims and perpetrators, the journal examines theoretical links between all types of interpersonal violence, exploring the similarities and differences between these types of crimes.
Those surveyed in journal articles are the victims of violence, verbal or otherwise, because this is what the journal is designed to track.
However, what religious right groups are doing here is the equivalent of taking a study of domestic violence in the African-American community published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence and using it to allege that all black relationships are indicative of violent behavior.
Distortion - Homosexuals have a lot of sex partners and their relationships do not last Part 1.Studies indicate that the average male homosexual has hundreds of sex partners in his lifetime, a lifestyle that is difficult for even "committed" homosexuals to break free of and which is not conducive to a healthy and wholesome atmosphere for the raising of children. A. P. Bell and M. S. Weinberg, in their classic study of male and female homosexuality, found that 43 percent of white male homosexuals had sex with five hundred or more partners, with 28 percent having 1,000 or more sex partners - Homosexuality, Placing Children at Risk, Family Research Council
Alan P. Bell and Martin S. Weinberg studied 574 white male homosexuals, 100 percent of whom had already had at least three sexual partners, 97 percent at least ten, 75 percent at least one hundred, and 28 percent at least one thousand. - House Dems Try to Hide Homosexual Agenda on "Bullying" Bill, American Family Association of Michigan
Truth - Bell and Weinberg's study was compiled in the 1970s. They used the study to write the book Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity among Men and Women.
In Homosexualities is this statement:
". . . given the variety of circumstances which discourage homosexuals from participating in research studies, it is unlikely that any investigator will ever be in a position to say that this or that is true of a given percentage of all homosexuals."
Distortion - Homosexuals have a lot of sex partners and their relationships do not last Part 2
"Well, what does a homosexual marriage look like? Well the longest term that we have to take a look at it is in the Netherlands. And one sociologist made a study of that and found out that the average marriage between two men lasts 1.5 years. Furthermore, they don't even believe really in monogamous marriages. On average, the average married homosexual man has 8 other sexual partners per year. So those year and a half marriages involved also sex with 12 other men during that time." - The late Rev. James Kennedy, Coral Ridge Ministries
"The journal AIDS reported that in the Netherlands, where "gay marriage" has been legal since 2001, HIV and other diseases are soaring among homosexual men. The study notes that "partnered" homosexuals have "outside" lovers, and are contracting the AIDS virus at alarming rates." - The Real Costs of Gay Marriage and Civil Unions, Concerned Women for America
Truth - The study referenced in these two examples was conducted by one Maria Xiridou of the Amsterdam Municipal Health Service. Her study did not look at gay marriage but was designed to "access the relative contribution of steady and casual partnerships to the incidence of HIV infection among homosexual men in Amsterdam and to determine the effect of increasing sexually risky behaviours among both types of partnerships in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy."
For this study, Dr. Xiridou received her information from the Amsterdam Cohort Study of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and AIDS Among Homosexual Men. To gain this information, researchers studied 1,800 gay men between the years of 1984- 2000. Same sex marriage was legalized in the Netherlands in 2001, thus making the information irrelevant to points about gay marriage. Information for the Amsterdam Cohort Study is found here.
Distortion - Gays have a short life span
"In a major Canadian centre, life expectancy at age twenty for gay and bisexual men is eight to twenty years less than for all men. If the same pattern of mortality were to continue, we estimate that nearly half of gay and bisexual men currently aged twenty years will not reach their sixty-fifth birthday. Under even the most liberal assumptions, gay and bisexual men in this urban centre are now experiencing a life expectancy similar to that experienced by all men in Canada in the year 1871." - Getting it Straight, Family Research Council
One epidemiological study found that "gay" men lose 8-20 years off their lifespan. - Several reasons to oppose same sex marriage, Concerned Women for America
According to a study that appeared in the International Journal of Epidemiology, homosexual behavior risks cutting years off the lives of "gay" men. Examining the homosexual community in Vancouver, Canada, the study said: "In a major Canadian centre, life expectancy at age 20 years for gay and bisexual men is 8 to 20 years less than for all men. . ." - Sexual suicide, The American Family Association
Truth - In 2001, the researchers of this study complained about how it was being misused. They explained what they actually meant and how it is not feasible to use their work to claim that gay men have a "short life span."
These inaccurate interpretations of the mentioned studies are not indicative of just one religious right group, they are indicative of a large number if not all religious right groups.
The problematic issue of lgbt rights is bad enough when one debates it on a religious and ethical level, but when science is added, the stakes are higher.
Religious right have skillfully crafted a body of inaccuracies about the lgbt community backed by misinterpreted studies and this body is easily transported to almost every other so-called traditional value groups across state and country lines. It can also be used by legislators who already have anti-gay biases but are looking for "justification" for their prejudices.
Lastly, anyone who deems himself as an "expert" on the lgbt community can easily refer to these misinterpreted studies. George Rekers was merely one well-paid sounding board. In the long run, it may not matter whether or not his credibility is gone because there are so many other "experts" out there receiving much compensation for saving the soul of America from the "Lavender menace."
And unfortunately not all of them like to get their "luggage lifted."