Gay Men: Negotiating Procreative,Father, and Family Identities

Our qualitative study examines the social psychology of gay men’s experiences with their procreative, father, and family identities. In‐depth interviews were conducted with 19 childless gay men and 20 gay men in the United States who have fathered using diverse means excluding heterosexual intercourse. By focusing on men aged 19 – 55 residing primarily in Florida and New York, our novel analysis illuminates how emerging structural opportunities and shifting constraints shape gay men’s procreative consciousness. Findings reveal that gay men’s procreative consciousness evolves throughout men’s life course, and is profoundly shaped by institutions and ruling relations, such as adoption and fertility agencies, assumptions about gay men, and negotiations with birth mothers, partners, and others.     

Made wrong,excluded, and ignored: Introduction to a special issue on lesbians and the law

Abstract

For some time now, the specific experiences that lesbians have with the law have been considerably overlooked. This is because there is a focus on how gay males have contact with the law, as gay males are the group whose same-sex intimacies are most often criminalized in legislative frameworks. It is rare for the same-sex intimacies of lesbians to be targeted explicitly in legislative frameworks. This special issue therefore focuses on how lesbians have contact with the law. It features articles focused on what the guest editors conceptualize as how lesbians are being made wrong, being excluded, and being ignored by the law, and each of these are outlined in further detail in this introduction. The articles highlight the relational nexus between lesbians and different frameworks, processes, rules, policies, institutions and applications of law, and the far-reaching impacts this nexus produces in the lives of lesbians around the world.     

Heterosexuals' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men: Correlates and gender differences

This paper discusses the basis for differences among heterosexuals in their reactions to gay people, with special emphasis on the issue of gender differences. Three studies conducted with students at six different universities revealed a consistent tendency for heterosexual males to express more hostile attitudes than heterosexual females, especially toward gay men. The same social psychological variables appear to underlie both males’ and females’ attitudes toward both gay men and lesbians: religiosity, adherence to traditional ideologies of family and gender, perception of friends’ agreement with one's own attitudes, and past interactions with lesbians and gay men. The role of these variables in shaping attitudes is discussed and areas for future research are proposed. Construction and validation of the Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men (ATLG) scale are also described.     

“And then AIDS came along”: A life course turning point and sub-cohorts of older gay men

Research on life course turning points focuses on heterosexuals. Scholars acknowledge that the early AIDS epidemic was a period of crisis for current older gay men, and that this period has shaped and will likely continue to impact their lives. However, few studies have considered the range of early AIDS-related experiences within this group. In this article, I use a life course perspective and in-depth interviews with 40 gay men (60+) in Atlanta to address the following questions: (1) How did current older gay men's experiences vary during the AIDS years? (2) What social factors shaped this variation? I identified three AIDS-related sub-cohorts, which were defined by how participants' social and spatial relationships to urban gay communities influenced their experiences of personal loss, community loss, personal support, and community support between 1981 and 1996. The results suggest that scholars and service providers interested in how early life experiences impact later life should consider the divergent early AIDS-related experiences within the group “older gay men.”     

Oh,Canada

SUMMARY

This article focuses on an exploratory study, documenting the experience of ten working class gay men in Toronto. Using qualitative methods in an effort to uncover clues about how the informants themselves perceive the experience, this article offers practice insight into the world of some working class gay men. Various themes such as the issue of appearance, the role of work, coming out to families, and attitudes and participation in the Toronto gay political/social scene are discussed.     

Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,Transgender, and Queer Media: Key Narratives,Future Directions

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people have become a familiar presence on the media landscape. For more than half a century, scholars have examined the importance of this recognition. In this article, I extend the work of British sociologist Ken Plummer to argue that key narratives have endured in discussions of LGBTQ media. These narratives include the victim, the community, the militant/queer, and the assimilationist. In addition, this paper points toward new directions for analysis and discussion; I argue that future research should take a more nuanced approach by examining overlaps and tensions among these stories.     

Alternative Domesticities

Abstract

This special issue responds to a growing body of literature at the nexus of studies on queer/sexuality and home/domesticity. It builds on this existing research that seeks to destabilize the heteronormative ideology of home and domesticity, while also opening up this important space—and its constituent practices—for a plurality of identity formations and subjective experiences. Additionally, it addresses calls from lesbian, gay, and queer studies to shift our attention from public spaces and community places to the domestic. This special issue introduction speaks to continuing investigations of how different groups of people seek to creatively construct intimate relations across time, space, and place. Towards this end, the five articles in this special issue are introduced in the context of their contribution to a cross-disciplinary approach to alternative domesticities.     

Correlates of Loneliness in Midlife and Older Gay and Bisexual Men

This study examined the correlates of psychosocial and behavioral factors on loneliness in midlife and older gay and bisexual men in South Florida. A community-based sample of 802 self-identified gay and bisexual men ages 40 to 94 years completed standardized measures of life orientation (optimism versus pessimism), internalized homonegativity, coping self-efficacy, and loneliness. Multivariate modeling successfully explained 45% of the variance in loneliness, which was significantly related to life orientation, coping self-efficacy, internalized homonegativity, and finding partners on the Internet (F = 96.140, df = 6, p < .001). The emphasis on skills building to increase coping self-efficacy and optimism and addressing the effects of internalized homonegativity may have lasting effects in reducing loneliness in older gay and bisexual men and thus improving their mental and physical well-being.     

EXPLAINING COMFORT WITH HOMOSEXUALITY AMONG SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS: THE IMPACT OF DEMOGRAPHIC,CONTEXTUAL, AND ATTITUDINAL FACTORS

While recent research explores the determinants of homophobia among college students, only a few studies look at the perceptions of homosexuals among social work students. Unfortunately these rare studies generally present a modest list of predictor variables or small sample sizes. To address this gap, this research explores the ways in which undergraduate social work students (N=748) from 12 colleges feel about homosexuality. In doing so, the work initially delineates the extent to which future social workers feel comfortable being around gay and lesbian persons. The work then explores the impact of specific social statuses, educational processes, and ideological beliefs. In the end, the role of homosexual peers is emphasized, as are the effects of familial attitudes, the perceived cause of homosexuality, conservative religious maxims, traditional gender role beliefs, and anxieties over AIDS.     

Workplace friendships among social work,counseling, and human service educators: Exploring the impact of sexual orientation and friendships in workplace empowerment

Workplace friendships are deliberate bonds between people in the workplace in which various degrees of confidence, care, emotional support, solidarity, honesty, and trust are shared. For lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) academics in higher education, such friendships may be particularly important as sources of social and institutional support. In this study, the authors examine the relationship between workplace friendships and workplace empowerment among a sample (N?=?204) of LGB and non-LGB educators in social work, counseling, and human services. The findings, taken from this sample of university educators, indicate that sexual orientation and workplace friendship opportunities can predict workplace empowerment. Implications of the study are that workplace behavioral health practice and research that supports LGB and non-LGB workers in developing meaningful relationships at work can positively impact the higher education workplace.     

Carnal Connections: On Embodiment,Apprenticeship, and Membership

This article responds to the special issue of Qualitative Sociology devoted to the author's book, Body and Soul: Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer (vol. 28, no. 3, summer 2005). Four themes are tackled: the positioning of the inquirer and the question of social acceptance and membership; the dynamics of embodiment(s) and the variable role of race as a structural, interactional, and dispositional property; the functioning of the boxing gym as miniature civilizing and masculinizing machine; apprenticeship as a mode of knowledge transmissioin and technique for social inquiry, the scope of carnal sociology, and the textual work needed to convey the full-color texture and allure of the social world. This leads to clarifying the conceptual, empirical, and rhetorical makeup of Body and Soul in relation to its triple intent: to elucidate the workings of a sociocultural competency residing in prediscursive capacities; to deploy and develop the concept of habitus as operant philosophy of action and methodological guide; and to offer a brief for a sociology not of the body (as social product) but from the body (as social spring and vector of knowledge), exemplifying a way of doing and writing ethnography that takes full epistemic advantage of the visceral nature of social life. Response to the special issue of Qualitative Sociology on Body and Soul, vol. 28, no. 2, Summer 2005.     

Public sociability of college‐aged male homosexuals: The gay bar and cruise block

The young, overt, college‐aged male gay community (17 to 24 age group) is examined by focusing on its public sociability. The values of this community, its locale, and its youthful members give this study unique qualities and characteristics which are distinguished from other research efforts that have predominantly focused on sociability from the perspective of the large urban, secret middle‐class older gay community. Nearly all sociability among these young gays occurs at a gay bar. The various functions of the gay bar and its major facilitators of sociability (drugs and special events) are illustrated. In addition, the cruise block, primarily utilized for exchanges of conversation and secondarily for the seeking of impersonal sex, is analyzed.     

Not All Men,Situations, and Actions Are Equal

SUMMARY

Since 1985, annual surveys conducted in the French gay press show that gay men in France have made considerable changes in their sexual behavior due to the AIDS epidemic. However, risky behavior still occurs. In this article, some ideas which have been assumed concerning residual risk among gay men are tested. The research questions were: (1) Should all unprotected acts of anal intercourse be considered risky? (2) Has a phenomenon of relapse really occurred among gay men in France? and, (3) Are risks only limited to men who are on the margin of the gay community? Before answering these questions, major landmarks in HIV prevention for gay men in France are reviewed. Then, on the basis of the results of the 1995 Gay Press Surrey, subjects' perception of the degree to which they are socially accepted, and the diversity of homosexual lifestyles are presented, finally, we describe how respondents have adjusted to HIV-risk at a time when there has been much talk about the re-emergence of risk behaviors and a resurgence of the AIDS epidemic among homosexual men.     

Mental disorder,subsistence strategies,and victimization among gay,lesbian, and bisexual homeless and runaway adolescents

This study compares participation in deviant subsistence strategies, street victimization, and lifetime prevalence of five mental disorders (conduct disorder, major depressive disorder, post‐traumatic stress disorder, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse) among heterosexual males and females (n = 366) and gay, lesbian, and bisexual (n = 63) homeless and runaway adolescents from the first wave of a longitudinal study of homeless youth in four Midwestern states. The results indicate that gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents were more likely to have been physically and sexually abused by caretakers, were more likely to engage in risky survival strategies when on their own (including survival sex), were more likely to be physically and sexually victimized when on the streets, and were more likely to meet criteria for mental disorder than were their heterosexual counterparts.     

Experience of Older Gay and Bisexual Men Living with HIV/AIDS

Although HIV/AIDS definitely impacts gay and bisexual men of all ages, the impact on people in their later years has not been actively investigated. This exploratory study obtained detailed narratives from 14 adults between the ages of 51-72, all of whom were infected with HIV. Ten of the participants were potentially infected through male to male sexual contact. The subjects reported living with HIV for substantial periods with an average of 13 years of life since diagnosis, estimating a duration of HIV seropositivity from 1-20 years. Most had significant health problems, which may be related to aging, in addition to a number of HIV-related symptoms. They expressed community identification as people living with HIV; some were highly identified as gay men, while other were closeted or in denial regarding their same-sex activity. Half felt to some extent bisexual, and described relationships with wives or other women. Although many participants maintained active social lives, others expressed feelings of loneliness and isolation. This group was minimally active sexually and several of the participants expressed reservations about safer sex, especially condom usage. A strong theme was the sense of having lived a full life, which may help the individual cope with his diagnosis. The findings suggest the need to examine the diversity among older gay and bisexual men living with HIV, how these experiences vary by race and ethnicity, and identification of issues related to prevention and services.     

The Interplay of Psychology and Societal Transformation

This special issue of the International Journal of Group Tensions examines the contribution of psychology to societal transformation worldwide and the impact of societal transformation on psychology. In this introduction, I review the aims and scope of the journal and the focus of the special issue. Second, I identify several key consequences of societal transformation that are not bounded by culture, nationality, or politics, underscoring the psychosocial outcomes. Third, I articulate the role of psychology in societal transformation, highlighting the conceptual, methodological, and practical tools available to describe, study, and effect change. I also address psychosocial explanations of resistance to societal transformation. Fourth, I discuss the impact of societal transformation on psychology as a discipline and profession, noting how such transformation has influenced academic training and professional practice in psychology. I also note how societal transformation has altered public opinion about psychology. I conclude by providing an overview of the articles that comprise the special issue, underscoring their shared themes.     

Research with Gay Drug Users and the Interface with HIV

Abstract

Studying the co-occurrence of drug use and sexual risk behaviors among gay men poses special challenges for research. The importance of conducting such research, however, is underscored by current trends in the gay community, including increases in methamphetamine and club drug use. This increase has been associated with high-risk behavior for the transmission of HIV and other diseases (e.g., hepatitis B and hepatitis C). The author describes methodological issues related to initiating and conducting research among gay male drug users, and discusses how such research can guide more effective prevention, treatment, and policy initiatives related to drug abuse and HIV/AIDS.     

Introduction

Abstract

“What impact has city life on the individual–our behavior, personality, values, relationships?” George Simmel's 1905 publication of “The metropolis and mental life” remains a seminal essay on this central yet neglected question which we now term “urban psychology.” The centenary of Simmel's essay in 2005 is an apt time to take stock of the history and current status of urban psychology, with a special issue of this journal gathering data-based articles on diverse aspects of urban psychology. This four-part article (a) summarizes Simmel's 1905 essay, (b) comments on the dramatic population trends since 1905, (c) elaborates on 10 remarkable points about urban psychology, past and present, and (d) previews the five urban pychology reports in this special issue.