The Ethics of Studying the Origins of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identification

The Oxford Handbook of Research Ethics ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190947750.013.46 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tim Murphy

Keyword(s):

Sexual Orientation ◽

Sex And Gender ◽

Gender Identification ◽

Sexual And Gender Minorities ◽

Body Type ◽

Gender Variant ◽

Gender Minorities ◽

Sexual Orientations ◽

And Gender ◽

Strong Claim

Research has a complicated and problematic history when it comes to the study of sexual and gender minorities (SGMs). Some past researchers exerted a great deal of effort, for example, to identify ways to treat people for homosexuality and to prevent the emergence of same-sex sexual interests. The same approach has prevailed with regard to the study of gender-variant people, namely those people who express a gender at odds with the gender socially expected of them as a matter of body type. Reconceptualizing the nature of sexual orientations and gender in more inclusive ways has led to significant changes in research involving sexual gender minorities, for both adults and minors. As a way of protecting SGMs from the effect of historical misunderstanding and possible misuse of research, some commentators have called for bans against the study of the origins of sexual orientation and gender identification and/or against the study of interventions that could modify sexual orientation or gender. It is unclear that absolute bans on these kinds of research are entirely defensible philosophically, but it is also important to frame research programs and priorities in line with the requirements of social justice. One can argue that research important to the welfare of sex and gender minorities has a strong claim to moral priority and support as a matter of status equality. This chapter will review and evaluate criticism of study of the origins of sexual and gender identification and make the case for framing research agendas in a way that serves status equality for SGMs.

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Buddhism and Sexual Orientation

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199362387.013.39 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Hsiao-Lan Hu

Keyword(s):

Sexual Orientation ◽

Sexual And Gender Minorities ◽

Middle Way ◽

Gender Minorities ◽

Sexual Orientations ◽

And Gender

Buddhism has the reputation of being tolerant of people with non-normative sexual orientations, and for the most part of its history Buddhism does not seek to control laypeople’s sexuality. This chapter first draws from the discourses of contemporary Buddhist teachers to show the ways in which core Buddhist teachings, such as co-arising, compassionate alleviation of suffering, and middle way, can lend themselves in support of sexual and gender minorities. Then it goes further back to classical resources and explores the ways in which the traditional portrayal of the multimorphic bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Chinese: Guanyin; Vietnamese: Quan Am; Korean: Kwan Um; Japanese: Kannon; Tibetan: Chenrezig) can inspire some rethinking on the issues of minoritized identities.

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Asking about Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Social Surveys in Japan: Findings from the Osaka City Residents’ Survey and Related Preparatory Studies

10.31235/osf.io/w9mjn ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Daiki Hiramori ◽

Saori Kamano

Keyword(s):

Sexual Orientation ◽

Gender Identity ◽

Population Based ◽

Sexual And Gender Minorities ◽

Step Method ◽

Social Surveys ◽

Sexual Orientation Identity ◽

Gender Minorities ◽

And Gender ◽

Definition Of

Most studies on the measurement of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in representative surveys are conducted in Western countries. Whether the findings from these studies are applicable to countries with legal, religious, and cultural contexts regarding sexual and gender minorities distinct from Western societies is yet to be explored. To fill this gap, this paper summarizes the findings from focus groups and a pilot survey conducted to develop SOGI questions in the Japanese context. For sexual orientation identity, a six-category question that includes definition of each category, and for transgender status, a three-step method, are suggested for general use. The paper also reports on percentage distributions of SOGI by assigned sex at birth and by age group based on the Osaka City Residents' Survey, one of the first population-based surveys in Japan with SOGI questions. Overall, our findings illustrate the significance of examining the measurement of SOGI beyond Western societies.

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Sexual and Gender Minorities and Risk Behaviours among University Students in Italy

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182111724 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (21) ◽

pp. 11724

Author(s):

Marco Fonzo ◽

Silvia Cocchio ◽

Matteo Centomo ◽

Tatjana Baldovin ◽

Alessandra Buja ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sexual Orientation ◽

University Students ◽

Single Step ◽

Risk Behaviours ◽

Sexual And Gender Minorities ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Sexual Partnerships ◽

Gender Minorities ◽

And Gender ◽

Multiple Sexual Partnerships

Sexual and gender minorities (SGM) may experience stigma, discrimination and show higher prevalence of behavioural risk factors than heterosexual counterparts. In Italy, the information on SGM is scarce and outdated. The present cross-sectional study aims to provide a more up-to-date estimate of the SGM proportion in young adults and to assess differences in the adoption of risk behaviours compared to their heterosexual counterparts. The study involved university students aged 18–25. Information on socio-demographic and behavioural characteristics were collected. The effect of sexual orientation on risk behaviours was assessed with a multinomial single-step logistic regression analysis. A total of 9988 participants were included. Overall, 518 students (5.2%) self-identified as SGM. While lesbians showed significantly higher odds of only non-regular use of protective barriers (AOR: 11.16), bisexuals showed higher odds for frequent drinking (AOR: 2.67), smoking (AOR: 1.85), multiple sexual partnerships (AOR: 1.78) and non-regular use of protective barriers (AOR: 1.90) compared with heterosexual women. Gay men showed higher odds of multiple sexual partnerships compared with heterosexual males (AOR: 5.52). SGM accounted for 5.2% of the sample, slightly more than the proportion found in the general population, but substantially in line with similarly aged populations abroad. Our findings confirm that unhealthy risk behaviours are more frequent among LGBTQ+, in particular among bisexual women. Rather than targeting specific subpopulations, our study aims to show the need for health promotion interventions that aim at the empowerment of all students regardless of sexual orientation, being aware that SGMs can benefit to a relatively greater extent.

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Political Behavior of Sexual and Gender Minorities

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1252 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Royal G. Cravens

Keyword(s):

Sexual Orientation ◽

Gender Identity ◽

Political Behavior ◽

The Political ◽

Sexual And Gender Minorities ◽

Political Research ◽

Gender Minorities ◽

And Gender ◽

And Behavior ◽

Attitudes And Behavior

From the late 20th and into the early 21st centuries, scholars in the field of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) politics have produced a substantial body of literature that explores and explains the political attitudes and behavior of sexual and gender minorities. The interdisciplinary nature of the field is reflected in the broad range of approaches and theories that attempt to explain political phenomena among LGBTQ people. The majority of the literature reveals sexual minorities to be politically distinct from heterosexuals, in that sexual minorities are more ideologically liberal and, in the United States, more likely to support Democratic partisans. Largely because of heterosexism, sexual and gender minorities are also more likely to participate in political activities that directly implicate their sexual orientation or gender identity, such as volunteering with LGBTQ interest groups or attending “Pride” events, although sexual orientation and gender identity are significant predictors of a variety of attitudes and behavior. Recent research has demonstrated that LGBTQ people also participate in politics by running for office, mounting legal challenges to discriminatory laws or government actions, and collectively organizing locally, nationally, and internationally. Explanations for LGBTQ political distinctiveness have concentrated in three broad areas: selection, embeddedness, and conversion theories. While studies have provided supportive evidence for each hypothesis, the field has also increasingly turned to intersectional evaluations that admonish researchers to interrogate intragroup LGBTQ behavioral and attitudinal heterogeneity more fully. The infusion of intersectional theory into LGBTQ political research has revealed attitudinal and behavioral distinctions among sexual and gender minorities centered on axes of race and ethnicity, nationality, religion, age, and income, among others. The critical importance of disentangling the concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity, the recognition of cross-cutting structures of oppression such as homophobia, sexism, and racism, and the emergence of subfields of LGBTQ political behavior are indicative of a burgeoning field of study. Looking to the future of LGBTQ political research, the political successes of the LGBTQ movement and evolving conceptions of sexual and gender identity have necessitated a reevaluation of LGBTQ political behavior in the 21st century. The continued diffusion of same-sex marriage, the electoral capture of LGBTQ voters, and the destabilization of identity categories that has been demanded by queer theory all pose unique challenges to the future of LGBTQ politics and political mobilization around the globe.

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Experience of and factors associated with violence against sexual and gender minorities in nine African countries: a cross-sectional study

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-021-10314-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Alex Müller ◽

◽

Kristen Daskilewicz ◽

Mc Lean Kabwe ◽

Anna Mmolai-Chalmers ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sexual Orientation ◽

Gender Identity ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sexual And Gender Minorities ◽

African Countries ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Gender Minorities ◽

And Gender ◽

Living With Hiv

Abstract Objective The objective of this research was to assess physical and sexual violence experienced by sexual and gender minorities in nine African countries, and to examine factors associated with violence. Methods We conducted an exploratory multi-country cross-sectional study among self-identifying sexual and gender minorities, using a survey tool available in paper and online. Participants were sampled through venue-based and web-based convenience sampling. We analysed data using descriptive statistics and logistic regression, with Stata15. Findings Of 3798 participants, 23% were gender minorities, 20% were living with HIV, and 18% had been coerced into marriage. Fifty-six per cent of all participants had experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, and 29% in the past year. Gender minorities had experienced significantly higher levels of violence compared to cisgender (sexual minority) participants. The variable most strongly associated with having experienced violence was being coerced into marriage (AOR, 3.02), followed by people living nearby knowing about one’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity (AOR, 1.90) and living with HIV (AOR, 1.47). Conclusion Sexual and gender minorities in Eastern and Southern Africa experience high levels of violence. Sexual orientation and gender identity need to be recognised as risk factors for violence in national and regional law and policy frameworks. States should follow the African Commission Resolution 275 and provide protection against violence based on real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.

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Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Rights Lost in Translation?

lambda nordica ◽

10.34041/ln.v23.553 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 23 (3-4) ◽

pp. 122-145

Author(s):

Malte Breiding Hansen

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Sexual Orientation ◽

Gender Identity ◽

Member State ◽

Culturally Diverse ◽

Sexual And Gender Minorities ◽

International Human Rights ◽

Gender Minorities ◽

International Human ◽

And Gender

Since 2003, the United Nations international human rights framework has moved notably toward increased international human rights recognition for sexual and gender minorities. Most recently, 2016 saw the adoption of an Independent Expert on violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Motivated by the nevertheless continued refusal by predominantly African and Middle Eastern countries to recognize any such human rights application, as well as postcolonial critiques of counterproductive moral imperialism and homonationalist strategies by proponent member States, this article asks how dynamics of member State disputes in the UN debates on SOGI-based rights may point to restraints and possibilities for achieving global human rights recognition for culturally diverse sexual and gender minorities. The article demonstrates how interand intradiscursive rules of formation in UN member State debates predicated on either universal or culturally relative readings of international human rights law reproduce normative polarization and obstruct national implementation of human rights protection for sexual and gender minorities. The article therefore finds universality truth claims to restrain transformative change, as well as represent a possibility for achieving human rights recognition through “perverse,” reiterations of the parameters of the universal, wielded from an open-ended multiplicity of sexual and gender minority expressions and articulations. A radical politics of top-down and bottom-up cultural translation is suggested as a possible strategy for human rights recognition for culturally diverse sexual and gender minorities.

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Sexuality and Gender Identity in Transitional Societies: Peacebuilding and Counterhegemonic Politics

International Journal of Transitional Justice ◽

10.1093/ijtj/ijz022 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 435-457

Author(s):

Fidelma Ashe

Keyword(s):

Sexual Orientation ◽

Gender Identity ◽

International Law ◽

Sexual And Gender Minorities ◽

Transitional Societies ◽

Peace Agreements ◽

Gender Minorities ◽

Sexuality And Gender ◽

And Gender ◽

Local Levels

Abstract∞ This article contributes to a developing field of scholarship that has been concerned with exploring the impacts of conflict and its transformation on sexual and gender minorities. Drawing on extant analysis, the article explores the marginalization of issues pertaining to sexuality and gender in international law and peace agreements. It then moves on to an assessment of the effects of the integration of sexual orientation and gender identity equality provisions into a limited number of peace agreements. The article contends that attempts to implement and extend sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) equality provisions in peace agreements in meaningful ways typically become cast as justifiable, residual or reprehensible by agonistic groups at local levels during transition. It claims that this fracturing of standpoints on SOGI equality can strengthen counterhegemonic articulations of sexual and gender minorities’ identities that provoke radical versions of peacebuilding.

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Sexual Orientation and the Incidence of COVID-19: Evidence from Understanding Society in the UK Longitudinal Household Study

Healthcare ◽

10.3390/healthcare9080937 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 937

Author(s):

Cara L. Booker ◽

Catherine Meads

Keyword(s):

Sexual Orientation ◽

Regression Models ◽

Medical Condition ◽

Small Sample Size ◽

Small Sample ◽

Sexual And Gender Minorities ◽

Orientation Data ◽

Gender Minorities ◽

And Gender ◽

The Uk

COVID-19 infection rates and severity are worse in marginalised groups, although, for sexual and gender minorities, there are no data on infections, hospitalisations or deaths, but there may be worse rates. This study uses information from Understanding Society: The UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) to derive COVID-19 symptoms and positive tests by sexual orientation. Data came from all seven UKHLS COVID-19 survey waves in 2020 and 2021, and sexual orientation in main UKHLS waves 3 and 9. Numbers ranged from 17,800 to 12,000. Covariates in the regression models were gender, age, highest educational qualification, ethnicity, diagnosed medical condition, and key worker status. Compared to heterosexual individuals, more sexual minorities experienced symptoms, and bisexual individuals reported a greater number of symptoms. Gays and lesbians were no more or less likely to have been tested, but a larger proportion of bisexual individuals were tested. Regression models showed that differences mostly disappeared when other characteristics were considered. A small sample size means that principal questions remain, so health inequalities have been largely unnoticed and therefore not addressed. Suitable action should be taken to minimise their future risks. Why sexual and gender minorities have been omitted needs to be explored, and action needs to be taken to ensure this does not happen again.

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COVID-19 and the Gendered Use of Emojis on Twitter: Infodemiology Study

Journal of Medical Internet Research ◽

10.2196/21646 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (11) ◽

pp. e21646

Author(s):

Ahmed Al-Rawi ◽

Maliha Siddiqi ◽

Rosemary Morgan ◽

Nimisha Vandan ◽

Julia Smith ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Support ◽

Data Sets ◽

Sex And Gender ◽

Sexual And Gender Minorities ◽

Women And Gender ◽

Frontline Workers ◽

Gender Minorities ◽

And Gender ◽

Financial Issues ◽

Source Of Information

Background The online discussion around the COVID-19 pandemic is multifaceted, and it is important to examine the different ways by which online users express themselves. Since emojis are used as effective vehicles to convey ideas and sentiments, they can offer important insight into the public’s gendered discourses about the pandemic. Objective This study aims at exploring how people of different genders (eg, men, women, and sex and gender minorities) are discussed in relation to COVID-19 through the study of Twitter emojis. Methods We collected over 50 million tweets referencing the hashtags #Covid-19 and #Covid19 for a period of more than 2 months in early 2020. Using a mixed method, we extracted three data sets containing tweets that reference men, women, and sexual and gender minorities, and we then analyzed emoji use along each gender category. We identified five major themes in our analysis including morbidity fears, health concerns, employment and financial issues, praise for frontline workers, and unique gendered emoji use. The top 600 emojis were manually classified based on their sentiment, indicating how positive, negative, or neutral each emoji is and studying their use frequencies. Results The findings indicate that the majority of emojis are overwhelmingly positive in nature along the different genders, but sexual and gender minorities, and to a lesser extent women, are discussed more negatively than men. There were also many differences alongside discourses of men, women, and gender minorities when certain topics were discussed, such as death, financial and employment matters, gratitude, and health care, and several unique gendered emojis were used to express specific issues like community support. Conclusions Emoji research can shed light on the gendered impacts of COVID-19, offering researchers an important source of information on health crises as they happen in real time.

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