Suchergebnisse

This research brief quantifies how the United States military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) policy affects retention rates among lesbian, gay, and bisexual military personnel. If the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy had not been instituted, an estimated 4,000 lesbian, gay, and bisexual military personnel would have been retained each year since 1994. The military intends to add more than 18,000 new troops each year for the next five years. If patterns observed in 2004 were to continue for the next five years, the estimated retained LGB personnel would account for nearly one in six of the additional troops required.

AbstractThe proposition that commitment to a relationship is uniquely determined by forces that draw one to the relationship (attractions) and forces that prevent one from leaving the relationship (constraints) was tested with five annual waves of longitudinal data from two samples: both partners from 155 married couples and both partners from 57 gay couples and 50 lesbian couples. Growth curve analyses that controlled for the interdependence of partners' scores indicated that, for both heterosexual and gay/lesbian couples, variability in one's own commitment was uniquely predicted by one's own attractions and one's own constraints, interactions involving one's own attractions and one's own constraints, and one's partner's attractions. It is concluded that attractions and constraints exert unique dynamic effects on maintaining a close relationship.

Prevailing state and institutional ideologies regarding race/ethnicity, gender, and sexuality help to shape, and are influenced by, research priorities. Research ethics committees perform a gatekeeper role in this process. In this commentary, we describe efforts to obtain approval from the ethics committee of a large medical institution for research into the treatment of homosexual persons by health professionals in the South African military during the apartheid era. The committee questioned the "scientific validity" of the study, viewing it as having a "political" rather than a "scientific" purpose. They objected to the framing of the research topic within a human rights discourse and appeared to be concerned that the research might lead to action against health professionals who committed human rights abuses against lesbians and gay men during apartheid. The process illustrates the ways in which heterosexism, and concerns to protect the practice of health professionals from scrutiny, may influence the decisions of ethics committees. Ethics that exclude research on lesbian and gay health cannot be in the public interest. Ethics committees must be challenged to examine the ways in which institutionalized ideologies influence their decision making.

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