Findings

Yuletide gay

Kevin Lewis

December 24, 2016

Ethnic Identity as a Predictor of Microaggressions Toward Blacks, Whites, and Hispanic LGBs by Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics

Troy Elias, Alyssa Jaisle & Cynthia Morton-Padovano

Journal of Homosexuality, January 2017, Pages 1-31

Abstract:
Results of the study suggest racial differences still exist when it comes to attitudes toward homosexuality in the United States. Findings indicate Black individuals hold significantly less favorable attitudes toward lesbian/gay/bisexual (LGB) individuals than non-Hispanic White individuals but not Hispanics, after controlling for demographics. Hispanic individuals’ attitudes toward LGBs were not significantly different from those of non-Hispanic Whites. Despite less favorable attitudes toward LGBs, however, Black Americans display a significantly lower likelihood of engaging in LGB-directed microaggressions than both non-Hispanic Whites and Hispanics. Finally, the results of the study indicate that as non-Hispanic White individuals’ ethnic identity gets stronger, their likelihood of engaging in microaggressions toward LGBs increases, more so than Black or Hispanic individuals.

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Should Mary and Jane Be Legal?: Americans’ Attitudes toward Marijuana and Same-Sex Marriage Legalization, 1988–2014

Landon Schnabel & Eric Sevell

Public Opinion Quarterly, forthcoming

Abstract:
Marijuana and same-sex marriage are two of the fastest changing and most widely debated opinion and policy issues in the United States. Research has examined public opinion on marijuana legalization and same-sex marriage legalization individually, but has neglected to examine these two issues together. We use General Social Survey data from 1988 to 2014 to compare four groups: (1) those who support neither; (2) those who support marijuana but not same-sex marriage legalization; (3) those who support marriage but not marijuana legalization; and (4) those who support both. This study provides four key findings: (1) marijuana and same-sex marriage attitudes have changed simultaneously; (2) most people hold these attitudes in tandem, and there has been a precipitous decline in the percentage of people who support legalizing neither and a remarkable increase in the percentage who support legalizing both; (3) attitudes toward both issues are liberalizing across all social and ideological groups, suggesting a society-wide redefinition of both behaviors as publicly accepted issues of individual autonomy; and (4) the support bases for marijuana and marriage legalization vary systematically by sociodemographic characteristics. We conclude that notions of individual autonomy may be increasingly important to the American public and their beliefs about what the government should regulate.

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Increases in Sex with Same-Sex Partners and Bisexual Identity Across Cohorts of Women (but Not Men)

Paula England, Emma Mishel & Mónica Caudillo

Sociological Science, November 2016

Abstract:
We use data from the 2002–2013 National Surveys of Family Growth to examine change across U.S. cohorts born between 1966 and 1995 in whether individuals have had sex with same-sex partners only, or with both men and women, and in whether they have a bisexual or gay identity. Adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, immigrant status, and mother’s education, we find increases across cohorts in the proportion of women who report a bisexual identity, who report ever having had sex with both sexes, or who report having had sex with women only. By contrast, we find no cohort trend for men; roughly 5 percent of men in every cohort have ever had sex with a man, and the proportion claiming a gay or bisexual attraction changed little. We speculate that this gender difference is rooted in a broader pattern of asymmetry in gender change in which departures from traditional gender norms are more acceptable for women than men.

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The Sexuality of Malcolm X

Christopher Phelps

Journal of American Studies, forthcoming

Abstract:
This article engages the controversy over whether Malcolm Little, who would become Malcolm X, had same-sexual encounters. A minute sifting of all evidence and claims, augmented by new findings, yields strong indication that Malcolm Little did take part in sex acts with male counterparts. If set in the context of the 1930s and 1940s, these acts position him not as a “homosexual lover,” as has been asserted, but in the pattern of “straight trade” – heterosexual men open to sex with homosexuals – an understanding that in turn affords insights into the black revolutionary's mature masculinity.

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The Detrimental Effect of Affirming Masculinity on Judgments of Gay Men

Luis Rivera & Nilanjana Dasgupta

Psychology of Men & Masculinity, forthcoming

Abstract:
A group-based affirmation reminds individuals of important ingroup attributes and highlights positive distinctiveness. Because nonprototypical ingroup members threaten the distinctiveness of the ingroup, group-affirmed individuals may be motivated to derogate fellow nonprototypical ingroup members. Four experiments test this hypothesis by affirming masculinity in heterosexual men and examining its effect on their judgments of gay men, who are often considered nonprototypical of their gender. Consistent with the main hypothesis, heterosexual men whose masculinity was affirmed via feedback or a values writing task expressed more prejudice against gay men relative to heterosexual men who were not affirmed (Experiments 1–4). Second, affirming masculinity and threatening masculinity had the same effect—both increased antigay prejudice (Experiment 2). Third, antigay prejudice increased in response to a masculinity affirmation only when the affirmed attribute was in a domain in which gay men are considered nonprototypical (masculine toughness), but not in a domain irrelevant to gay men’s prototypicality as men (professional ambition; Experiment 3). Finally, affirming masculinity by targeting masculine characteristics important to individual male participants versus the group as a whole both increased antigay prejudice, which was mediated by social categorization (Experiment 4). Together, these findings suggest that a group-based affirmation can sometimes paradoxically increase prejudice.

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Evaluation of the Acceptance Journeys Social Marketing Campaign to Reduce Homophobia

Shawnika Hull et al.

American Journal of Public Health, January 2017, Pages 173-179

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of the Acceptance Journeys social marketing campaign to reduce homophobia in the Black community in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Methods: We assessed the campaign’s effectiveness using a rolling cross-sectional survey. Data were collected annually online between 2011 and 2015. Each year, a unique sample of Black and White adults, aged 30 years and older, were surveyed in the treatment city (Milwaukee) and in 2 comparison cities that did not have antihomophobia campaigns (St. Louis, MO, and Cleveland, OH; for total sample, n = 3592).

Results: Black self-identification and Milwaukee residence were significantly associated with exposure to the campaign, suggesting successful message targeting. The relationship between exposure and acceptance of gay men was significantly mediated through attitudes toward gay men, perceptions of community acceptance, and perceptions of the impact of stigma on gay men, but not through rejection of stereotypes. This model accounted for 39% of variance in acceptance.

Conclusions: This evidence suggests that the Acceptance Journeys model of social marketing may be a promising strategy for addressing homophobia in US Black communities.

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“Under the Same Quilt”: The Paradoxes of Sex Between Men in the Cultural Revolution

Heather Worth et al.

Journal of Homosexuality, January 2017, Pages 61-74

Abstract:
This article describes the paradoxes experienced by homosexual men during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Interviews with 31 elderly Chinese gay men were carried out in four cities in China in 2011. Although homosexual men were terribly persecuted, chaotic situations and dislocations of youth from their families provided young homosexual men with a remarkable degree of personal freedom and the opportunity to explore same-sex relations. Analysis of this seemingly contradictory conflation of persecution and freedom will allow us to explore the conditions and effects of the coming of age of homosexual men in a unique epoch in Chinese history.


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