Psychologists take off the gloves. Bigot looses.

San Diego-based licensed clinical psychologist named Trayce Hansen, who attempted to portray marriage equality as somehow dangerous to children.

word got to Dr. Thomas Marra, also a practicing clinical psychologist and author, who decided he couldn't let Hansen's diatribe sit out there unchallenged.

here's the wisdom of Dr. Trayce Hansen:
Love Isn't Enough: 5 Reasons Why Same-Sex Marriage Will Harm Children.
First, mother-love and father-love–though equally important–are qualitatively different and produce distinct parent-child attachments.
Secondly, children progress through predictable developmental stages.
Third, boys and girls need an opposite-sexed parent to help them moderate their own gender-linked inclinations.
Fourth, same-sex marriage will increase sexual confusion and sexual experimentation by implying all choices are equally acceptable and desirable.
And fifth, if society permits same-sex marriage, it also will have to allow other types of marriage.

Response from from Dr. Thomas Marra:
Dr. Hansen's reasoning is flawed on 4 fundamental points. First, she engages in sexism by presuming that mothers are primarily permissive and fathers are primarily limit setters.
There is nothing preventing a male from performing similar functions.
Third, Dr. Hansen draws upon the developmental aspects of a child's growth to predict that an infant needs a mother more and an older child needs a father more.
These functions are not gender specific. A father can soothe a child, and a mother can provide disapproval for dangerous and inappropriate behavior. It is the skill of the parent in matching guidance and nurturance behaviors to the developmental needs of the child that predict success. This again is not gender specific. It is skill specific.
Lastly, Dr. Hansen begs the question when she posits that same-sex parents will increase the sexual confusion of the child they raise. Her argument presumes that sexual orientation is a lifestyle choice made by individuals based upon learning experiences in society. The research does not support this notion.