On January 31, 1986, the American Psychological Association (APA) filed an amicus curiae brief with the US Supreme Court favoring constitutional protection for consensual sodomy. The APA claimed that: (1) the Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith survey found that “62% of heterosexual men reported that their first sexual experience was with another male; 39% of homosexual men reported such experience,” (2) “data do not support” a linkage between childhood homosexual activity and sexual orientation, and (3) “there are no empirical data to support the popular myth that homosexual orientation or behavior results from ‘contagion’ by other homosexuals.” It is judged that, in violation of standards for scientific reporting, the Bell, et al. finding was pulled out of context so that it favored the APA position, and the studies the APA cited in this section of the brief were either contrary to, nonsupportive of, or did not bear upon the APA's contentions. Professional scientific organizations have a special obligation to (a) be accurate in representations to the US Supreme Court and (b) adhere to accepted standards of scholarship in their use of citations.
