Research

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  Two Models of the Prison: Accidental Humanity and Hypermasculinity in the L.A. County Jail

  By Sharon Dolovich
  January 2013
  

  Gay male and transgender women prisoners are vulnerable to sexual assault behind bars. Rather than ignoring the problem or confining members of these groups to solitary confinement, the L.A. County Men’s Central Jail segregates them into a special unit called “K6G.” Drawing on extensive interviews with K6G residents and with the officers in charge of the unit, Dolovich concludes that the K6G unit offers a plausible model, if not the only one, for protecting gay male and transgender women detainees from sexual assault.

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  Administrative Impact of Adding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity to Texas’s Employment Non-Discrimination Law

  By Christy Mallory & M.V. Lee Badgett
  December 2012
  

  Texas law does not prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Based on data from the U.S. Census, it is estimated that approximately 431,095 LGBT workers live in Texas. Adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s non-discrimination law would offer protection to these workers, and would have a minimal impact on state agencies and the state budget.

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• Same-Sex Legal Marriage and Psychological Well-Being: Findings from the California Health Interview Survey

  By Richard G. Wight, Allen J. LeBlanc, and M.V. Lee Badgett
  December 2012
  

  Psychological distress is lower among lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals who are legally married to a person of the same sex, compared with those not in legally recognized unions. The study also has implications for understanding mental health disparities based on sexual orientation: There were no statistically significant differences in psychological distress between heterosexuals, and lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons in any type of legally recognized same-sex relationship.

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• Patterns and Predictors of Disclosure of Sexual Orientation to Healthcare Providers among Lesbians, Gay Men, and Bisexuals

  By Laura E. Durso & Ilan H. Meyer
  December 2012
  

  New research shows that bisexual men and women are less likely than gay men and lesbians to disclose their sexual orientation to healthcare providers. The study found that concealment of sexual orientation from healthcare providers was related to poor psychological wellbeing. The study found that LGB individuals with greater internalized homophobia were less likely to disclose their sexual orientation to healthcare providers than individuals with lesser internalized homophobia.

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• LGBT Vote 2012

  By Gary J. Gates
  November 2012
  

  Exit polls from the 2012 presidential election suggest that 5% of the electorate identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. These LGB voters overwhelmingly supported President Obama for re-election. Exit polls suggest that the President garnered 76% of the LGB vote compared to 22% support for Gov. Mitt Romney. The strong LGBT support for President Obama was likely a key factor in his ability to win the national popular vote and the very close election in Florida. This research brief considers the impact of the LGBT vote on the Electoral College and explores the extent to which LGBT identity impacts the LGBT vote.

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• Adolescents with Lesbian Mothers Describe Their Own Lives

  By Nanette Gartrell, Henny Bos H, Heidi Peyser, et al.
  November 2012
  

  Teens with lesbian mothers are academically successful and happy with their lives. These adolescents had strong family bonds, and they were nearly unanimous in describing their mothers as good role models. They also reported having numerous close friends—generally with same-age peers who were predominantly heterosexual. Teenagers were asked a series of questions about their everyday life experiences including academics, extracurricular activities, aspirations, friendships, family interactions, role models, health problems and wellbeing.

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• Gallup Special Report: The LGBT Vote in the 2012 Presidential Election

  By Gary J. Gates, Frank Newport
  October 2012
  

  A Gallup Report finds that 71% of LGBT Americans who are registered voters support President Obama for reelection, while 22% support Governor Mitt Romney. From June to September, non-LGBT registered voters preferred Romney to Obama by one percentage point, 47% to 46%. However, when LGBT voters are added to electorate, Obama moves slightly ahead of Romney (47% to 45%). These findings suggest that the highly Democratic vote of the LGBT population could be enough to swing a very close election toward Obama.

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• Gallup Special Report: The U.S. Adult LGBT Population

  By Gary J. Gates, Frank Newport
  October 2012
  

  A Gallup report finds that 3.4% of U.S. adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), with the highest incidence among those who are non-white, younger, and less educated. The findings are based on the largest representative sample of LGBT men and women ever collected. This is the first of several reports that will analyze data collected as part of Gallup’s daily tracking survey where respondents are asked if they personally identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.

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• The Future Impact of Same-Sex Marriage: More Questions Than Answers

  By Nan D. Hunter
  October 2012
  

  The greatest potential for changes in the social meaning of marriage will arise in three areas for which there is empirical evidence of significant differences between gay and straight couples: division of household labor, sexual exclusivity & childrearing. While the number of same-sex couples in the population is too small to produce significant change in overall patterns of behavior, the issue of gay marriage has generated so much attention and debate that a mixed process of gay assimilation to and effect on the social meaning of marriage is a reasonable expectation.

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• Gender-Typed Play Behavior in Early Childhood: Adopted Children with Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Parents

  By Abbie E. Goldberg, Deborah A. Kashy, JuliAnna Z. Smith
  October 2012
  

  A study of young children of first-time adoptive parents found that the children of same-gender parents were less gender stereotyped in their play behavior than the children of heterosexual parents, which may translate to strengths that aid them later in life. How parents play, and what kinds of toys they let their kids play with, can affect child development. In the study, the children of same-gender parents were found to engage in more flexible play behavior, thus facilitating their ability to engage in a wide range of behaviors and activities.

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• Religious Affiliation, Internalized Homophobia, and Mental Health in Lesbians, Gay Men, and Bisexuals

  By David M. Barnes, Ilan H. Meyer
  October 2012
  

  Latino and Black lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) men and women are more religious than their White counterparts. This greater religiosity was true by every measure, including likelihood to attend religious services, engage in prayer, and identify a religious affiliation. Attending religious services in non-affirming settings compared to attending in affirming settings or not attending at all was linked in the study with higher levels of internalized homophobia.

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• Sexual Orientation Disparities in History of Intimate Partner Violence: Results From the California Health Interview Survey

  By Naomi G. Goldberg, Ilan H. Meyer
  September 2012
  

  Bisexual women and gay men had elevated risks of experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). For bisexual women, 95% of IPV annual incidents reported occurred outside a same-sex relationship. Almost all (97%) of the annual incidents of IPV incidents occurring to male victims involved a male intimate partner. Lesbians were not at higher risk for intimate partner violence.

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• Same-Sex Couples and Marriage: Model Legislation for Allowing Same-Sex Couples to Marry or All Couples to Form a Civil Union

  By Jennifer C. Pizer and Sheila James Kuehl
  August 2012
  

  A “Model Marriage Code” and a “Model Civil Union Code” will ensure greater consistency and predictability among state laws offering protections to same-sex couples. It also will reduce confusion when separate state rules governing same-sex and different-sex couples affect employers, businesses, government and other institutions.

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• Unit Social Cohesion in the Israeli Military as a Case Study of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

  By Danny Kaplan, Amir Rosenmann
  August 2012
  

  The presence of openly gay soldiers does not undermine unit cohesion, according to a new statistical analysis of the Israel Defense Force (IDF). The study surveyed 417 male Israeli soldiers from 22 military installations. Statistical analysis of responses to the survey indicated that for both combat and non-combat units, the presence of openly gay troops in a unit had no relationship to the cohesiveness of the unit.

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• Sexual Liberty and Same-Sex Marriage: An Argument from Bisexuality

  By Michael Boucai
  August 2012
  

  Published in the San Diego Law Review, this article proposes that same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional under Lawrence v. Texas because they channel people, particularly bisexuals, into heterosexual relations and relationships. In addition to detailing this claim’s legal and factual bases, “Sexual Liberty and Same-Sex Marriage” refutes the supposed doctrinal imperatives that underlie bisexual erasure in gay rights litigation.

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• Serving Our Youth: Findings from a National Survey of Service Providers Working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth Who Are Homeless or At Risk of Becoming Homeless

  By Laura E. Durso, Gary J. Gates
  July 2012
  

  Over the past ten years, the percentage of homeless youth providers serving LGBT clients has increased from 82% to 94%. Nearly seven in ten (68%) respondents indicated that family rejection was a major factor contributing to LGBT youth homelessness, making it the most cited factor.

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• Extending Medicaid Long-Term Care Impoverishment Protections to Same-Sex Couples

  By Jennifer C. Pizer, Craig J. Konnoth, Christy Mallory, Brad Sears
  June 2012
  

  This report explains CMS’s approach to extending Medicaid impoverishment protections to same-sex couples, and provides general information about the procedures through which the protections may be provided by states. States specific reports available for Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Virginia.

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• Adolescents of the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: Male role models, gender role traits, and psychological adjustment

  By Henny Bos, Naomi Goldberg, Loes Van Gelderen, Nanette Gartrell
  June 2012
  

  The absence of male role models did not adversely affect the psychological adjustment of 17-year-old teens raised in lesbian-headed households, based on teens who participated in the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS).

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• Testimony on S.811, The Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2011

  By M. V. Lee Badgett
  June 12, 2012
  

  Official testimony delivered before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), Williams Institute Research Director M.V. Lee Badgett shared research of sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in the workplace and the likely positive impact of the federal protections offered by a law like S. 811, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2011 (ENDA).

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• Evidence of Persistent and Pervasive Workplace Discrimination Against LGBT People: The Need for Federal Legislation Prohibiting Discrimination and Providing for Equal Employment Benefits

  By Jennifer Pizer, Christy Mallory, Brad Sears, Nan Hunter
  June 2012
  

  Millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers remain vulnerable to employment discrimination absent further federal protections against sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination.

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