Pride march
How ENDAs Extend the Workweek: Legal Protection and the Labor Supply of Behaviorally Gay Men
Michael Martell
Contemporary Economic Policy, forthcoming
Abstract:
Employment Nondiscrimination Acts (ENDAs) have received much political attention in the recent past. Despite the political attention, very little research has investigated the impact of ENDAs. I analyze the impact of ENDAs on labor supplies, which is under-researched in the policy analysis literature. My work is the first to investigate the labor supply patterns of behaviorally gay men using data that are representative of the entire behaviorally gay population. I show that ENDAs motivate behaviorally gay men to work roughly 15-20 h more per week and increase the probability that behaviorally gay men will supply any labor by approximately 7%. These results suggest that ENDAs increase the labor supply of behaviorally gay workers by increasing workplace tolerance of homosexuality.
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Marcus Dillender
Demography, April 2014, Pages 563-585
Abstract:
Some conservative groups argue that allowing same-sex couples to marry reduces the value of marriage to opposite-sex couples. This article examines how changes in U.S. legal recognition laws occurring between 1995 and 2010 designed to include same-sex couples have altered marriage rates in the United States. Using a difference-in-differences strategy that compares how marriage rates change after legal recognition in U.S. states that alter legal recognition versus states that do not, I find no evidence that allowing same-sex couples to marry reduces the opposite-sex marriage rate. Although the opposite-sex marriage rate is unaffected by same-sex couples marrying, it decreases when domestic partnerships are available to opposite-sex couples.
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Social Esteem and Participation in Contentious Politics: A Field Experiment at an LGBT Pride Rally
Gwyneth McClendon
American Journal of Political Science, April 2014, Pages 279-290
Abstract:
What motivates individuals to participate in contentious, political forms of collective action? In this article, I consider the possibility that the promise of social esteem from an ingroup can act as a powerful selective incentive for individuals to participate in contentious politics. I conducted a field experiment - the first to my knowledge to take place in the context of a political march, rally, or social-identity event - to isolate this esteem mechanism from others. Using measures of intent to attend, actual attendance, and reported attendance at a gay and lesbian pride event in New Jersey, I find evidence that the promise of social esteem boosts all three measures of participation. The article offers new theoretical and practical implications for the study of participation in nonvoting forms of collective action.
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Does Job Satisfaction Vary with Sexual Orientation?
Karen Leppel
Industrial Relations, April 2014, Pages 169-198
Abstract:
The results of this study, which uses data from the 2007-2008 Canadian Community Health Survey, suggest that job satisfaction may vary with sexual orientation. Probit regression analysis indicated that compared to heterosexuals, gay men and lesbians tended to be less satisfied with their jobs. Bisexuals appear to be more satisfied. Additional research is needed to corroborate the findings and the reasons for the differences.
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Effects of Cross-Sex Hormone Treatment on Cortical Thickness in Transsexual Individuals
Leire Zubiaurre-Elorza et al.
Journal of Sexual Medicine, forthcoming
Aim: A longitudinal design was conducted to investigate the effects of treatments on brain cortical thickness (CTh) of FtMs and MtFs.
Methods: This study investigated 15 female-to-male (FtMs) and 14 male-to-female (MtFs) transsexuals prior and during at least six months of cross-sex hormone therapy treatment. Brain MRI imaging was performed in a 3-Tesla TIM-TRIO Siemens scanner. T1-weighted images were analyzed with FreeSurfer software to obtain CTh as well as subcortical volumetric values.
Results: After testosterone treatment, FtMs showed increases of CTh bilaterally in the postcentral gyrus and unilaterally in the inferior parietal, lingual, pericalcarine, and supramarginal areas of the left hemisphere and the rostral middle frontal and the cuneus region of the right hemisphere. There was a significant positive correlation between the serum testosterone and free testosterone index changes and CTh changes in parieto-temporo-occipital regions. In contrast, MtFs, after estrogens and antiandrogens treatment, showed a general decrease in CTh and subcortical volumetric measures and an increase in the volume of the ventricles.
Conclusions: Testosterone therapy increases CTh in FtMs. Thickening in cortical regions is associated to changes in testosterone levels. Estrogens and antiandrogens therapy in MtFs is associated to a decrease in the CTh that consequently induces an enlargement of the ventricular system.
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Birth Cohort and the Specialization Gap Between Same-Sex and Different-Sex Couples
Lisa Giddings et al.
Demography, April 2014, Pages 509-534
Abstract:
We examine differences in household specialization between same-sex and different-sex couples within and across three birth cohorts: Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y. Using three measures of household specialization, we find that same-sex couples are less likely than their different-sex counterparts to exhibit a high degree of specialization. However, the "specialization gap" between same-sex and different-sex couples narrows across birth cohorts. These findings are indicative of a cohort effect. Our results are largely robust to the inclusion of a control for the presence of children and for subsets of couples with and without children. We provide three potential explanations for why the specialization gap narrows across cohorts. First, different-sex couples from more recent birth cohorts may have become more like same-sex couples in terms of household specialization. Second, social and legal changes may have prompted a greater degree of specialization within same-sex couples relative to different-sex couples. Last, the advent of reproductive technologies, which made having children easier for same-sex couples from more recent birth cohorts, could result in more specialization in such couples relative to different-sex couples.
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Handedness and sex roles: Mixed-handers are less sex-congruent stereotyped
Ulrich Tran, Stefan Stieger & Martin Voracek
Personality and Individual Differences, August 2014, Pages 10-13
Abstract:
Previous research reported that non-right-handers display a less sex-congruent stereotyped sex-role identity (i.e., women portray themselves as more masculine, men as more feminine) than right-handers. However, classification of handedness was based on arbitrary criteria and did not distinguish between left-handedness and mixed-handedness among non-right-handers. We present data from two large and independent middle-European samples, a discovery (n = 7658) and a replication (n = 5062) sample. Using latent class analysis for handedness classification, it is shown that mixed-handedness, rather than left-handedness, is the driving factor underlying associations between handedness and sex-role identity. We discuss our findings with regard to the Geschwind-Galaburda theory of cerebral lateralization and the need to evaluate the contribution of sexual orientation on this association in future research.
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Increased Gender Variance in Autism Spectrum Disorders and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
John Strang et al.
Archives of Sexual Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Evidence suggests over-representation of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and behavioral difficulties among people referred for gender issues, but rates of the wish to be the other gender (gender variance) among different neurodevelopmental disorders are unknown. This chart review study explored rates of gender variance as reported by parents on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) in children with different neurodevelopmental disorders: ASD (N = 147, 24 females and 123 males), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; N = 126, 38 females and 88 males), or a medical neurodevelopmental disorder (N = 116, 57 females and 59 males), were compared with two non-referred groups [control sample (N = 165, 61 females and 104 males) and non-referred participants in the CBCL standardization sample (N = 1,605, 754 females and 851 males)]. Significantly greater proportions of participants with ASD (5.4 %) or ADHD (4.8 %) had parent reported gender variance than in the combined medical group (1.7 %) or non-referred comparison groups (0-0.7 %). As compared to non-referred comparisons, participants with ASD were 7.59 times more likely to express gender variance; participants with ADHD were 6.64 times more likely to express gender variance. The medical neurodevelopmental disorder group did not differ from non-referred samples in likelihood to express gender variance. Gender variance was related to elevated emotional symptoms in ADHD, but not in ASD. After accounting for sex ratio differences between the neurodevelopmental disorder and non-referred comparison groups, gender variance occurred equally in females and males.
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Heterosexual and homosexual infidelity: The importance of attitudes towards homosexuality
Gayle Brewer
Personality and Individual Differences, July 2014, Pages 98-100
Abstract:
A substantial body of research has investigated male and female responses to sexual and emotional infidelity. However, whilst the cross-cultural and historical incidence of homosexuality suggests that homosexual infidelity may also threaten romantic relationships, there is little awareness of those factors which may influence distress in response to a partner's sexual affair with a same-sex mate. Heterosexual men (N = 56) and women (N = 42) aged 17-26 yrs were opportunity sampled from a British University. Participants were presented with hypothetical scenarios describing their partner's heterosexual or homosexual (sexual) affair. Participants also completed the Heterosexual Attitudes Toward Homosexuality (HATH) scale (Larsen, Reed, & Hoffman, 1980). Findings indicate that men and women are more distressed by a partner's homosexual compared to heterosexual infidelity. The study also demonstrated that attitudes to homosexuality significantly predict male but not female responses to homosexual infidelity.
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Partner preferences across sexual orientations and biological sex
Jarryd Willis
Personal Relationships, March 2014, Pages 150-167
Abstract:
This study examined how partner preferences differ across interpersonal contexts (romantic attachment and relationship expectations) based on sexuality and biological sex. Participants completed measures of attachment and behavioral expectations for their romantic partners, cross-sex friends, and same-sex friends. The attachment anxiety results revealed an effect of sexuality: Single heterosexuals scored higher for their cross-sex friends than same-sex friends, single lesbian/gay individuals scored higher for same-sex friends than cross-sex friends, and bisexuals' attachment anxiety was equal regardless of friends' biological sex. The behavioral expectation results revealed an effect of biological sex indicating that, regardless of sexuality, women are preferred over men for emotional/social needs. Finally, an interaction revealed that lesbians have higher expectations for their girlfriends/wives than straight men have for theirs.
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Sexual orientation of women does not affect outcome of fertility treatment with donated sperm
S. Nordqvist et al.
Human Reproduction, April 2014, Pages 704-711
Study question: Is there a difference in fertility between heterosexual women and lesbians undergoing sperm donation?
Study design, size, duration: This is a national study of 171 lesbians and 124 heterosexual women undergoing sperm donation both as D-IUI (lesbian n = 438, heterosexual n = 298) and as embryo transfers (ET) after IVF with donated sperm (lesbians n = 225, heterosexuals n = 230) during 2005-2010.
Participants/materials, setting, methods: All clinics in Sweden offering sperm donation recruited patients. Differences in patients' medical history, treatment results and number of treatments to live birth were analyzed using independent samples t-test, Pearson's χ2 test or Fisher's exact probability test.
Main results and the role of chance: 71.8% of heterosexuals and 69.0% of lesbians had a child after treatment. The mean number of treatments was 4.2 for heterosexual women and 3.9 for lesbians. The total live birth rate, regardless of treatment type, was 19.7% for heterosexuals and 19.5% for lesbians. For D-IUI, the live birth rate was 12.8% for heterosexuals and 16.0% for lesbians and the live birth rate for all IVF embryo transfers (fresh and thawed cycles) was 28.7% for heterosexuals and 26.2% for lesbians. There were no differences in live birth rate between the groups for each of the different types of insemination stimulations (natural cycle; clomiphene citrate; FSH; clomiphene citrate and FSH combined). Nor was there a difference in live birth rate between the groups for either fresh or thawed embryo transfer. There was no difference between the proportions of women in either group or the number of treatments needed to achieve a live birth. Heterosexuals had a higher prevalence of smokers (9.2%), uterine polyps (7.2%) or previous children (11.3%) than lesbians (smokers 2.8%, P = 0.03; polyps 1.8%, P = 0.03; child 2.5%, P = 0.003).