Gay Rights, Military Wrongs: Political Perspectives on Lesbians and Gays in the Military. Craig A. RimmermanIt's Our Military, Too! Women and the U.S. Military. Judith Hicks Stiehm

IN THE NEAR DECADE SINCE Herbert Sussman published this journal’s last review essay on the study of masculinities (in VLC 20 from 1992), we in the U.S. have engaged in a heated national debate over “gays in the military,” have participated in a wonderfully perverse (to my mind) public discussion on whether or not oral sex is really “sex,” have seen a muscle-bound ex-wrestler elected governor of Minnesota and a cross-dressing “bisexual” basketball player make national sports headlines for his skills on the court and in front of the makeup mirror. Issues of masculinity — specifically, issues of self-control, proper and improper forms of male self-expression, and the importance (or lack thereof) of traditional adult male “role models” for youth — have been raised by or figured in all of these controversies. Frankly, I have loved the 1990s, have found it a time of enormously entertaining and productive social, cultural, and, yes, scholarly confusion and dynamism. At its best, the decade saw the tackling of some of the most profound issues imaginable regarding the intertwined nature of identity, performance, and politics. At its worst, of course, it simply saw the rehashing of dreary, formulaic answers to some of the toughest questions it dared to pose (a media-encouraged policy of “Oh, ask, please ask, . . . but first let’s promise not to tell each other anything that we don’t particularly want to hear”).

Download Full-text

The Power of Equality? Polarization and Collective Mis-representation on Gay Rights in Congress, 1989–2019

Political Research Quarterly ◽

10.1177/1065912920953498 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 106591292095349

Author(s):

Benjamin G. Bishin ◽

Justin Freebourn ◽

Paul Teten

Keyword(s):

Gay Rights ◽

Public Support ◽

Hate Crimes ◽

Executive Order ◽

Supreme Court Ruling ◽

Collective Representation ◽

Gays And Lesbians ◽

Mass Opinion ◽

The Military ◽

The U.S

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent application of employment protections to gays and lesbians in Bostock v. Clayton County highlights the striking absence of policy produced by the U.S. Congress despite two decades of increased public support for gay rights. With the notable exceptions of allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the military, and passing hate crimes legislation, every other federal policy advancing gay rights over the last three decades has been the product of a Supreme Court ruling or Executive Order. To better understand the reasons for this inaction, we examine the changing preferences of members of Congress on LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) issues. Examining scores from the Human Rights Campaign from 1989 to 2019, we find a striking polarization by the parties on LGBTQ issues, as Democrats have become much more supportive and Republicans even more opposed to gay rights. This change has been driven not by gerrymandering, mass opinion polarization, or elite backlash, but among Republicans by a mix of both conversion and replacement, and among Democrats primarily of replacement of more moderate members. The result is a striking lack of collective representation that leaves members of the LGBTQ community at risk to the whims of presidents and jurists.

Download Full-text

Issue Evolution?

The Path to Gay Rights ◽

10.18574/nyu/9781479822133.003.0005 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 125-147

Author(s):

Jeremiah J. Garretson

Keyword(s):

Public Opinion ◽

Attitude Change ◽

Media Coverage ◽

Gay Rights ◽

Election Study ◽

The Public ◽

National Election Study ◽

Gays In The Military ◽

Mass Opinion ◽

The Military

Chapter 5 begins the book’s examination of mass opinion change by first looking at the effects of Clinton’s endorsement of gay rights in 1992 and the 1993 gays-in-the-military debate. Using the American National Election Study, a small movement of Democrats in the public appear to have shifted more liberal on gay rights in 1992, but the magnitude of the effect was small. Likewise, the 1993 gays-in-the-military debate only resulted in polarization along political lines, not liberalization. However, declining fear of AIDS in the mid-1990s appear to have caused some attitude change. This leads to the conclusion that media coverage of gay rights in 1992 and 1993 only moved public opinion in a relatively minor fashion.

Download Full-text

What Would it Take to Put a Chiropractor in Khakis? Effecting Chiropractors as Commissioned Officers in the U.S. Military—A Historical Brief

Military Medicine ◽

10.1093/milmed/usab324 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

James P Barassi

Keyword(s):

Military Medicine ◽

Active Duty ◽

Health Care Facilities ◽

Musculoskeletal Injuries ◽

Government Employees ◽

Care Facilities ◽

Medical Service Corps ◽

The Military ◽

Veteran Health Care ◽

The U.S

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to provide a historical perspective on the commissioning of chiropractors within the U.S. Military and to propose a pathway by which this can be accomplished. A comprehensive review of Congressional actions proposed and enacted, and historical documents to create a chronology of actions that influence and support a proposed pathway for commissioning. The authority to commission chiropractors within the U.S. Military has long been provided to the Secretary of Defense, but it has never been acted upon despite decades of legislation. Chiropractors currently serve within the DoD as contractors or government employees; however, the direct association with the military in terms of commissioning has remained elusive. Musculoskeletal injuries are statistically one of the most prevalent combat-related injury classifications within the active duty military and subsequent veteran population. Chiropractic physicians serving within military medicine and veteran health care facilities routinely manage common and complex neurological and musculoskeletal injuries sustained by combat and non-combat servicemen and women. Patient satisfaction with chiropractic services within both the active duty and veteran population is high and routinely sought after. Chiropractic inclusion in the medical corps or medical service corps within the DoD is long overdue.

Download Full-text

The Rainbow after the Storm

10.1093/oso/9780197600436.001.0001 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Michael J. Rosenfeld

Keyword(s):

Coming Out ◽

Public Attitudes ◽

Gay Rights ◽

Social Science Research ◽

Science Research ◽

Marriage Equality ◽

Same Sex ◽

Gay Couples ◽

Gays And Lesbians ◽

The U.S

The Rainbow after the Storm tells the story of the rapid liberalization of attitudes toward gay rights that made same-sex marriage the law of the U.S. sooner than almost anyone thought was possible. The book explains how and why public opinion toward gay rights liberalized so much, while most other public attitudes have remained relatively stable. The book explores the roles of a variety of actors in this drama. Social science research helped to shift elite opinion in ways that reduced the persecution of gays and lesbians. Gays and lesbians by the hundreds of thousands responded to a less repressive environment by coming out of the closet. Straight people started to know the gay and lesbian people in their lives, and their view of gay rights shifted accordingly. Same-sex couples embarked on years-long legal struggles to try to force states to recognize their marriages. In courtrooms across the U.S. social scientists behind a new consensus about the normalcy of gay couples and the health of their children won victories over fringe scholars promoting discredited antigay views. In a few short years marriage equality, which had once seemed totally unrealistic, became realistic. And then almost as soon as it was realistic, marriage equality became a reality.

Download Full-text

On improving the training of aircraft engineers

Economic Analysis Theory and Practice ◽

10.24891/ea.20.5.865 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 (5) ◽

pp. 865-885

Author(s):

Leonid B. SOBOLEV

Keyword(s):

Aviation Industry ◽

Information Protection ◽

Global Trends ◽

Space Industry ◽

The Poor ◽

Military Aviation ◽

And Performance ◽

Performance Results ◽

The Military ◽

The U.S

Subject. The article continues the discussion about the method of training aircraft engineers to work in the military and civil segments of aviation and rocket-and-space industry. Objectives. The purpose is to improve the training of Russian engineers to work in the competitive market environment, on the basis of the analysis of experience in training the aviation engineers in leading foreign technical universities. Methods. The study rests on the comparative analysis of implementation of major projects in the military and civil segments of aviation in the U.S. and Russia, as well as programs for training aircraft engineers in both countries. Results. The analysis shows that the duration of modern large military aviation projects in both countries is the same (the comparison of cost is impossible, due to information protection in Russia), while in the civil segment of the aviation industry, Russia's lagging behind is significant both in terms of the duration of projects and performance results. One of the reasons is in the poor training of aircraft engineers to work in the competitive environment. Conclusions. It is crucial to reform Russian aviation universities in terms of conformity to global trends in multidisciplinarity and differentiation of financing and research base.

Download Full-text

Numbers Assigned in the Vietnam-Era Selective Service Lotteries Influence the Military Service Decisions of Children Born to Draft-Eligible Men

Armed Forces & Society ◽

10.1177/0095327x17707197 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 44 (2) ◽

pp. 347-367 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Tim Johnson ◽

Christopher T. Dawes ◽

Matt McGue ◽

William G. Iacono

Keyword(s):

Causal Relationship ◽

Military Service ◽

Armed Forces ◽

Causal Link ◽

Statistical Analyses ◽

Selective Service ◽

Vietnam Era ◽

The Military ◽

The U.S

Previous research has reported correlations between the military service records of parents and their children. Those studies, however, have not determined whether a parent’s military service causally influences an offspring’s participation in the armed forces. To investigate the possibility of a causal relationship, we examined whether lottery numbers issued to draft-eligible men during the U.S. Vietnam-era Selective Service Lotteries influenced the military participation of those men’s children. Our study found higher rates of military participation among children born to fathers whose randomly assigned numbers were called for induction. Furthermore, we perform statistical analyses indicating that the influence of lottery numbers on the subsequent generation’s military participation operated through the military service of draft-eligible men as opposed to mechanisms unrelated to service such as “draft dodging.” These findings provide evidence of a causal link between the military service of parents and their children.

Download Full-text

Repealing “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”: The Impact of Stereotypes on Attitudes toward Homosexuals in the Military

American Review of Politics ◽

10.15763/issn.2374-7781.2013.34.0.85-102 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 34 ◽

pp. 85-102

Author(s):

Mandi Bates Bailey ◽

Keith Lee ◽

Lee R. Williams

Keyword(s):

Gay Men ◽

Presidential Candidates ◽

Gallup Poll ◽

Regional University ◽

Gays In The Military ◽

Don't Ask Don't Tell ◽

Attitudes Toward Homosexuals ◽

Gays And Lesbians ◽

The Military ◽

The Impact

On December 22, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010. This decision appears to coincide with public opinion as a December 2010 Gallup Poll reports that 67 percent of respondents would support openly gay or lesbian individuals serving in the military. Nevertheless, many Republican Congressmen and presidential candidates continue to express support of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” To that end, this research investigates media priming, stereotypes of gays and lesbians, and other factors that may impact support for gay men and lesbians in the military. We use a survey-based experiment drawn from a mid-sized regional university in the southeast where the collection of attitudes toward gays and lesbians preceded the collection of atti- tudes toward homosexuals in the military. Our research points to the media’s ability to prime evalua- tions of gays in the military and suggests that stereotypes of homosexuals are powerful predictors of attitudes toward homosexuals serving in the military. We also find that personal familiarity with gay men/lesbians is related to support for homosexuals serving in the military.

Download Full-text