In a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal published April 1, Professor Emeritus Donald Bersoff wrote that barring same-sex couples from marrying can harm their children.

Bersoff, who is president of the American Psychological Association, cited “dozens of studies” that have found no evidence that children raised by same-sex parents are harmed in any way.

“There is no scientific basis for concluding that gay and lesbian parents are any less fit or capable than heterosexual parents or that their children are any less psychologically healthy and well-adjusted than children raised by heterosexual couples,” Bersoff wrote. “Laws that confer second-class status upon same-sex couples and their families—as current California and federal laws do—make California and the federal government purveyors of harmful prejudice and discrimination and deny lesbian and gay people and their children the extensive legal, economic, social and psychological benefits that are associated with marriage.”