Feature Channels: LGBTQ Issues

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Public Religion Research Institute will host a teleconference on Tuesday, March 22, 2011, to release a major new research report of Catholic attitudes on gay and lesbian issues. The new report offers the most comprehensive national portrait to date of Catholic attitudes on gay and lesbian issues, and includes previously unreleased data from PRRI’s monthly Religion and Politics Tracking polls. Catholic scholar Michele Dillon, professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, is among the select group of national experts who will discuss the new research during the teleconference.

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New paper outlines ways physicians can examine the effect their own beliefs and practice habits can have on their LGBT patients and offers several minor but effective changes to create comfortable office settings for all patients.

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American University professor organizes world’s only conference exploring lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer issues facing society.

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The continuing debate over same-sex marriage has put the issue of gender at the forefront of conversations about whom the law recognizes as a child’s parents. “The shift in family law’s treatment of gender has been transformative,” says Susan Appleton, JD, family law expert and the Lemma Barkeloo and Phoebe Couzins Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis.

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Ritch Savin-Williams, professor of developmental psychology and director of Cornell University’s Sex & Gender Lab, will talk with media members about the dangerous myth of a gay youth suicide epidemic and the real messages our culture needs to send adolescents as featured speaker for the November Inside Cornell.

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When some students at Ithaca College heard about a recent string of suicides by young people in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, they decided to take action.

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In light of the charges against Bishop Eddie Long, Vanderbilt sociologist Richard Pitt is available for comment to media. Pitt’s research interests include the intersection of sexual identity and religion. He looks specifically at homosexuality and the black church in his papers “Killing the Messenger: Gay Black Men’s Negotiation of Anti-Gay Religious Messages,” and “Still Looking for My Jonathan: Gay Black Men’s Management of Religious and Sexual Identity Conflicts.”

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Being married has often been associated with improving people’s health, but a new study suggests that having that long-term bond also alters hormones in a way that reduces stress. Unmarried people in a committed, romantic relationship show the same reduced responses to stress as do married people.

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A study by Indiana University researchers found that terminology and efforts to frame an issue -- often effective in influencing public opinion -- have no effect on public opinion concerning the ongoing debate in the U.S. over legalizing same-sex marriage.

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Family law expert Jennifer Drobac says the ruling concerning the overturning of California's ban against same-sex marriages could contribute to a growing acceptance of same-sex marriages.

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Despite the overturning of California’s Proposition 8, the issue may face a long journey to the U.S. Supreme Court as other, similar cases work their way through the legal system, WUSTL experts say.

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Cynthia Grant Bowman, professor of law at the Cornell University Law School and an expert on family law and gender, comments on the Aug. 4 decision of the Federal District Court in California holding that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.

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The American Psychological Association’s 2010 meeting will include a full program of sessions summarizing the areas of research that have been key in recent same-sex marriage court cases and other legal decisions supporting equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Sessions will feature the latest scientific research into same-sex couples’ relationships and family formation among lesbian, gay and bisexual people, as well as the effect of sexual stigma on individuals and families. Experts will explain how the most recent scientific evidence and legislation support same-sex marriage and adoption and counter prejudice and discrimination.

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Two faculty experts at Indiana University Bloomington are available to comment on the ruling Wednesday by a federal judge that California’s prohibition of same-sex marriage violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

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The American Psychological Association hailed Wednesday’s ruling overturning Proposition 8, in which voters had taken away the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.

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Indiana U. sociologist Brian Powell has talked with more than 2,000 adults nationwide about their attitudes toward same-sex marriages and is publishing a book in September on the topic. He is available to talk about the issue and can be reached on Wednesday.

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Should the sexual orientation of prospective adoptive parents be considered when placing children in adoptive homes? According to the results of a new University of Virginia study, the answer may be "no."

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The first study ever to examine the experiences of gay male partners who became fathers via surrogacy shows that they are more likely than heterosexual fathers to scale back their careers in order to care for their children. Also, these fathers report that their self-esteem and their closeness with their extended families increases after becoming parents.

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Male homosexuality doesn’t make complete sense from an evolutionary point of view. One possible explanation is what evolutionary psychologists call the “kin selection hypothesis.” Homosexuality may convey an indirect benefit by enhancing the survival prospects of close relatives.

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As more and more gay men set out to become parents, a new book by University of Iowa Professor Ellen Lewin explores their desire to become parents, the challenges they face along the path to parenthood, and how fatherhood affects their identities as gay men.

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Challenging the idea that marriage is necessary for solidifying relationships, a new study from The University of Texas at Austin reveals same-sex couples in long-term relationships believe marriage is more important in terms of legal rights, but less so as a symbol of commitment.

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Although some commentators have argued that governments should be out of the marriage business--whether straight or gay--University of Iowa law professor Ann Estin believes that marriage is such a strong part of American culture that it demands a government role.

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Experts available on same-sex marriage and relationships to comment on California Supreme Court ruling on Proposition 8.

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Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, is available to statewide trends regarding voter views on same-sex civil marriage as well as recent polling of New Hampshire voters on the issue. The New Hampshire State Senate is expected to vote today, Wednesday, April 29, 2009, on the state's same-sex marriage legislation. If approved, New Hampshire would join three other New England states where same-sex marriage is legal.

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Recent legal and legislative decisions to legalize gay marriage in Iowa and Vermont have brought suggestions from some commentators that government should get out of the marriage business entirely, grant civil unions to all couples and leave marriage to religious faiths. But University of Iowa law professor Ann Estin said that such ideas fail to recognize the deeply rooted importance of marriage in American culture.

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When marriage amendments are on the ballot, lesbian, gay and bisexual people experience acute psychological stress and downturns in general well-being; they also become more politically active.

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In November, California citizens passed Proposition 8 upholding the idea that marriage is defined as and limited to the union of one man with one woman. The vote has given encouragement to many in other states who want to pass similar legislation. The United States is about to enter a period of legal upheaval on the question of marriage in the civil law, suggest Frank K. Flinn, Ph.D., adjunct professor of religious studies in Arts & Sciences. His proposal? Give marriage to the churches and let the state define civil unions.

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As the Iowa Supreme Court prepares to hear a case that could clear the way for gay marriage in Iowa, a poll shows nearly sixty percent of voters in the state favor some type of legal recognition of same-sex relationships in Iowa. In the random, statewide poll of 586 voters, University of Iowa political scientists found that 28 percent of Iowans support same-sex marriage. Another 30 percent support civil unions, not gay marriage. About one in three oppose both.

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Indiana University professors of law and sociology discuss issues involved with the same-sex marriage debate in the United States.

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Groundbreaking new book, Same Sex, Different Politics (University of Chicago Press, October 2008), compares results, and sheds light on the conditions that lead to contradictory policies, across six key LGBT rights issues: legalization of homosexual conduct, military service, adoption, marriage and partner recognition, hate crimes, and civil rights.

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A study conducted 13 months after same-sex marriage in Massachusetts became legal found that obtaining legal protections and making a public statement of commitment were the most often mentioned motivations for same-sex marriage. It also found that lack of family approval and difficulties planning and paying for the wedding were the most noted obstacles to marriage.

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Marriage Equality in California "“ Sources for follow-up stories.