Ridiculous claims are made by academics all over the world... and every now and then they turn out to be true
I agree that this study jumps to conclusions with totally inadequate data. But it seems that most criticism came from lesbians who merely didn't like the conclusion. If an equally inadequate study came to the conclusion that on average gay people are smarter, I don't think there would be as much criticism from those same people. Also I think there is a logic in the argument of the study: If sexual orientation is determined, even partially, by genetics, then lesbian women being attractive to men could help them spread their genes and increase the chances of more lesbians being born. Then again a few decades / centuries ago probably nobody would know which women were lesbian... at least in our kind of societies. But maybe this is something that had an effect much earlier, before being lesbian became a taboo.