American Psychological Association Supports Marriage Equality

In a move that holds potential to influence the ongoing legal and public policy debate, the American Psychological Association unanimously approved a resolution in support of full marriage equality.

The policy-making body of the APA voted 157 to 0 in favor of the resolution Wednesday, on the eve of the professional organization's annual conference in Washington, D.C., according to USA Today. The group, which has more than 154,000 members, noted the growing body of research and legal discussion about marriage equality since it first passed a resolution on the topic in 2004.

"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,'" reports USA Today.

"It adds that 'emerging evidence suggests that statewide 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.'"

Since 2004 the APA has filed 11 amicus briefs in same-sex marriage cases.