Many Closets

2021 ◽  
pp. 217-227
Author(s):  
Michael J. Rosenfeld
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Women Victims ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Undocumented Immigrants ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
Marriage Equality ◽  
Abortion Rights ◽  
Gays And Lesbians

If coming out of the closet was so effective for gays and lesbians, could the same strategy work for abortion rights, undocumented immigrants, and people who have been victims of sexual assault and harassment? Chapter 16 explores the potential and the potential limitations of coming out of the closet for different kinds of groups. Women victims of assault and harassment have organized around #MeToo and #TimesUp and have managed, by coming out of the closet in numbers, to force many prominent people to be held accountable for their actions. Undocumented immigrants face segregation and status disadvantages, so their ability to change minds by coming out of the closet is limited. Womens’ abortion experiences are almost entirely closeted and this veil of secrecy has allowed opponents of abortion to remain unaware of how many people in their personal circles have actually had abortions. The closet for abortion histories has constrained the ability of abortion rights activists to win a fierce and ongoing public debate with abortion opponents. Marriage equality also had the advantage of being nondisplacing while some other kinds of movements have to displace the rights of others in order to succeed.

The Rainbow after the Storm

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.

Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Michael J. Rosenfeld
Keyword(s):  
Coming Out ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Attitude ◽  
Marriage Equality ◽  
National Movements ◽  
Attitudes Toward Marriage ◽  
Key Events ◽  
The U.S

Chapter 1 presents an overview of how the movement for marriage equality was victorious in the U.S. and why public attitudes toward marriage equality changed more than any other public attitude in American history. The chapter offers a brief explanation of the role of individuals coming out of the closet and an explanation for why national movements need to be studied with national survey data as opposed to focusing only on movement leaders. A time line of key events considers the background of public opinion support for gay rights in order to identify when attitudes began to change and which events were proximate to the change in attitudes.

Coming Out of the Closet and Its Influence, 1985–2013

2021 ◽  
pp. 102-114
Author(s):  
Michael J. Rosenfeld
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Family Member ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Gay Rights ◽  
Science Data ◽  
Social Science Data ◽  
Gays And Lesbians ◽  
First Time ◽  
The U.S

Chapter 7 provides a variety of social science data analysis to show that contact between gays and lesbians and their straight family and friends was responsible for the dramatic liberalization of attitudes toward gay rights in the U.S. When Americans were asked why they became more supportive of marriage equality, they overwhelmingly explained that having a gay friend or family member helped them see the issue more positively. Having a gay friend was influential even to people who were not predisposed to support gay rights. Data show that gays and lesbians in the U.S. were coming out of the closet for the first time in the 1990s, and the 1990s is also when American attitudes toward gay rights started to liberalize.

The Prevalence and Correlates of Psychological Distress Following Physical and Sexual Assault in a Young Adult Cohort

2001 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Feehan ◽  
Shyamala Nada-Raja ◽  
Judith A. Martin ◽  
John D. Langley
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Women Victims ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Multivariate Analyses ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Positive Indicators ◽  
The Relationship

Among a birth cohort of New Zealand’s 21-year-olds, 41% experienced physical or sexual assault in the previous 12 months. The level of psychological distress experienced by the 374 victims was determined in interviews assessing for symptoms indicative of posttraumatic stress disorder and ratings of impairment in activities of daily living. Of the 141 women victims, 32.6% were identified as experiencing psychological distress as were 9.9% of the 233 men. For men, bivariate analyses showed psychological distress was significantly associated with factors indicative of increased assault severity, and for women an increased likelihood of distress was associated with the location of assault and the relationship to the assailant. Positive indicators of social support were not significantly associated with less adverse psychological outcomes. However, for both men and women, resisting the assailant was associated with a reduced likelihood of psychological distress. Multivariate analyses revealed that for both women and men, unemployment uniquely predicted variance in distress, over and above that accounted for by characteristics of the assault.

Rights for Same-Sex Couples and Public Attitudes Toward Gays and Lesbians in Europe

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 868-895 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tarik Abou-Chadi ◽  
Ryan Finnigan
Keyword(s):  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Target Population ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Marriage Equality ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Attitudes Toward Homosexuality ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
Gays And Lesbians ◽  
Positive Effect

This article investigates how changes in same-sex rights affect attitudes toward homosexuality. We argue that different same-sex relationship policies vary in their impact. Whereas registered partnership laws construct a distinct target population that receives new benefits, marriage equality sends an unambiguously positive signal and reduces the perceived group difference through inclusion into existing rights. As a consequence, marriage equality should have a positive effect on attitudes toward homosexuality, whereas partnership laws should have much less positive effects and could even lead to backlash among some groups. Combining data from eight waves of the European Social Survey with data on legislation, we analyze the effects of same-sex marriage, registered partnerships, and marriage bans on attitudes toward gays and lesbians. Marriage has a positive effect, bans and registered partnerships have a negative effect. Legalized partnership is especially associated with significantly more negative attitudes among nonreligious and less educated people.

scholarly journals Dangerous liaisons?: A feminist and restorative approach to sexual assault

Temida ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brunilda Pali ◽  
Madsen Sten
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
High Standard ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
Gendered Violence ◽  
Complex Issue ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Relationship

The appropriateness of restorative justice (RJ) for gendered violence offences such as domestic violence and sexual assault has always been and still is highly contested. This paper focuses on the appropriateness of RJ measures in addressing sexual assault, primarily with reference to experience of restorative dialogues as practiced at the Centre for Victims of Sexual Assault in Copenhagen, and it takes a feminist approach to the application of RJ measures to sexual assault. Within this framework, the paper tackles two issues in particular: the privacy element of RJ versus the public aspect of the criminal justice system (CJS), and the intersection of the CJS and RJ in cases of sexual assault. In relation to the relationship between CJS and RJ, the authors argue that RJ could be used for victims of sexual assault, not primarily as part of diversion programmes, but when offered apart from and/or parallel to the CJS. In relation to the private/public debate, the authors argue that while RJ encounters, by taking place in highly confidential settings, might have a negative impact on efforts by women?s movements to move violence against women out of the private and into the public realm, creating high standard alternatives for individual women who are in need of support and constantly generating public debate about gendered violence is a good feminist response to this complex issue.

Undocuqueer Activism

2020 ◽  
pp. 77-104
Author(s):  
Kevin Escudero
Keyword(s):  
Coming Out ◽  
Undocumented Immigrants ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Immigrant Rights ◽  
Immigrant Rights Movement ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Queer Communities

This chapter examines the experiences of those who identify as both undocumented and queer: undocuqueer activists. As the narratives in the chapter demonstrate, undocuqueer activist experiences point to the potential promise of an intersectional movement identity in bringing together immigrants, queer communities, and undocuqueer individuals. Undocuqueer activists begin by drawing parallels between the “coming-out” processes that undocumented immigrants and queer individuals have undergone, noting the similarities and differences in the experience for members of each group. Emphasizing the effect of undocuqueer organizers taking a critical role in the national immigrant rights movement, the chapter examines how these activists, especially the youth, have leveraged their intersectional identities to increase the visibility and interconnectedness of queer and immigrant struggles for liberation. Finally, the chapter provides an account of allyship by queer individuals and immigrant rights activists working to enact a politics of solidarity with undocuqueer community members.

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