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Articles 1 - 12 of 12
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
“In A Religious Celebration”? The Religious Defense Of Lgbt Rights In U.S. Federal Courts, Kelsy Burke, Emily Kazyak, Maia Behrendt
“In A Religious Celebration”? The Religious Defense Of Lgbt Rights In U.S. Federal Courts, Kelsy Burke, Emily Kazyak, Maia Behrendt
Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications
This article advances scholarship on the relationship between sexuality, religion, and the law within the United States by analyzing case summaries and court opinions of the federal appellate cases decided between 1990 and 2020 that involve a religion-based claim being used to advance or defend gay and lesbian rights. Contrary to dominant public narratives that position religion uniformly in opposition to progressive sexual values, these cases show how Americans’ religious beliefs and practices include diverse sexual identities. We find that the courts’ reactions to such cases, however, illustrate the tension within legal discourse and hesitancy for the courts to equate …
The False Dichotomy Of Sex And Religion In America, Kelsy Burke
The False Dichotomy Of Sex And Religion In America, Kelsy Burke
Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications
Religion and sexuality are polysemic categories. While conservative religion often fights against progressive sexual politics in contemporary America, this “usual story” is fractured and destabilized by people navigating the relationship between religion and sexuality as complex social creatures, not pundits or caricatures. Drawing from interdisciplinary scholarship, I examine salient issues of sexual politics—including abortion and reproductive rights, LGBT rights, and pornography—to show how religious actors have been on both sides of these debates. Because of this polysemic complexity, scholars of religion must not only tend to the dynamic interaction between religion and other categories, we must also recognize and study …
Changes In Religiosity Among Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Emerging Adults, Brandi Woodell, Philip Schwadel
Changes In Religiosity Among Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Emerging Adults, Brandi Woodell, Philip Schwadel
Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications
Highly religious Americans are relatively likely to oppose lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) rights and many churches are unwelcoming to sexual minorities, which may lead LGB Americans to retreat from religion. To assess this possibility, we investigate trajectories of religious change for sexual minorities and other emerging adults. We use two longitudinal data sources (National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and the National Study of Youth and Religion) to explore how sexuality predicts the likelihood of decreasing religiosity in emerging adulthood. Results show that three different operationalizations of sexual minority status—attraction, behavior, and identity—are each strongly and consistently …
Doing Family: The Reproduction Of Heterosexuality In Accounts Of Parenthood, Emily Kazyak, Nicholas K. Park
Doing Family: The Reproduction Of Heterosexuality In Accounts Of Parenthood, Emily Kazyak, Nicholas K. Park
Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications
The cultural and legal landscape in the United States has shifted towards increased recognition of LGBQ-parent families. This shift raises questions about the everyday experiences of LGBQ parents and whether the cultural and legal changes also manifest in diminished experiences of discrimination. Drawing on data from 74 interviews with LGBQ parents, we analyze their accounts of whether they are read as a parent by others in their daily interactions. Our findings reveal the ways in which heterosexuality is a key component of how membership to the category of ‘parent’ is produced in social interactions. Our findings also illustrate how assumptions …
Sexual Behaviours Of Adolescents In Creek Town, Cross River State, Nigeria, Kabiru K. Salami, Rowland E. Edet
Sexual Behaviours Of Adolescents In Creek Town, Cross River State, Nigeria, Kabiru K. Salami, Rowland E. Edet
Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications
Risky sexual behaviors of adolescents in Creek Town have not been fully profiled. This study investigated the sexual behaviors of adolescents and their various dimensions in Creek Town, in Cross River State, Nigeria. This cross-sectional survey design adopted multi-stage sampling procedure to administer a 112-items questionnaire to 422 adolescents, to elicit information on their sexual behaviors and practices. Four focus group discussion sessions were also conducted with in-school and out-of-school adolescents. The mean age of adolescents was 17 years. Majority (65.4%) of the adolescents were sexually active. The mean age at sexual debut was 15 years for both male and …
Law And Family Formation Among Lgbq-Parent Families, Emily Kazyak, Brandi Woodell, Kristin S. Scherrer, Emma Finken
Law And Family Formation Among Lgbq-Parent Families, Emily Kazyak, Brandi Woodell, Kristin S. Scherrer, Emma Finken
Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications
This article addresses how the law affects family formation among families with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) parents in the United States. Our discussion draws on a socio-legal approach to law that focuses not only on the law on the books (what we refer to as “legal barriers”) but also on issues like how the law is practiced, how people experience the law in everyday life, and how the law serves as an interpretive framework through which people understand themselves and their families (what we refer to as “social barriers”). In our review, we highlight how attorneys can play …
The Complexity Of Family Reactions To Identity Among Homeless And College Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, And Queer Young Adults, Rachel M. Schmitz, Kimberly A. Tyler
The Complexity Of Family Reactions To Identity Among Homeless And College Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, And Queer Young Adults, Rachel M. Schmitz, Kimberly A. Tyler
Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications
Familial responses to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) young people’s identities range on a spectrum from rejection to acceptance, and these reactions strongly impact family relationships and young adult well-being. Less is known, however, about how family members’ reactions may differ based on young people’s contexts of socioeconomic status. Through a qualitative, life course analysis of in-depth interview data from 46 LGBTQ college students and LGBTQ homeless young adults, our study highlights the diverse, contextual nuances of young people’s “linked lives” within their families. We find that the context of socioeconomic status influenced how a young person managed …
Logics Of Freedom: Debating Religious Freedom Laws And Gay And Lesbian Rights, Emily Kazyak, Kelsy Burke, Mathew Stange
Logics Of Freedom: Debating Religious Freedom Laws And Gay And Lesbian Rights, Emily Kazyak, Kelsy Burke, Mathew Stange
Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications
In the wake of marriage equality for same-sex couples, many states have introduced and passed laws that provide religious exemptions for certain services and benefits for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) persons. The authors use data from a general population survey of Nebraskans as a mixed-methods case study to examine public opinion of religious freedom laws. Drawing on data from both closed-ended (n = 1,117) and openended (n = 838) questions, the authors show that opposition to religious freedom laws is quite high, as 64 percent of respondents report that they oppose laws that would allow business owners …
Lgbtq+ Young Adults On The Street And On Campus: Identity As A Product Of Social Context, Rachel M. Schmitz, Kimberly A. Tyler
Lgbtq+ Young Adults On The Street And On Campus: Identity As A Product Of Social Context, Rachel M. Schmitz, Kimberly A. Tyler
Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ+) young adults face unique identity-related experiences based on their immersion in distinctive social contexts. The predominant framework of performing separate analyses on samples of LGBTQ+ young people by their primary social status obfuscates more holistic understandings of the role of social context. Using 46 in-depth interviews with LGBTQ+ college students and LGBTQ+ homeless young adults, we ask: How are LGBTQ+ young adults’ capacities for “doing” their gender and sexual identities shaped by their distinctive social contexts? In developing their identities, both groups of LGBTQ+ young adults navigated their social …
Getting "Bi" In The Family: Bisexual People's Disclosure Experiences, Kristin S. Scherrer, Emily Kazyak, Rachel M. Schmitz
Getting "Bi" In The Family: Bisexual People's Disclosure Experiences, Kristin S. Scherrer, Emily Kazyak, Rachel M. Schmitz
Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications
There are many similarities in gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals’ coming out experiences, but bisexual people face unique challenges. Despite this, an explicit focus on bisexual people is missing from family research. Using family systems and cultural sociological perspectives, the authors analyzed how social and cultural factors shape disclosure processes for bisexuals as they come out to multiple family members. After analyzing qualitative data from a diverse group of 45 individuals, they found that bisexual people navigate monosexist and heterosexist expectations in their family relationships. Cultural constructions of bisexuality shape the ways that bisexual people disclose their identities, including how …
Sexual Encounters And Manhood Acts: Evangelicals, Latter-Day Saints, And Religious Masculinities, Kelsy Burke, Amy Moff Hudec
Sexual Encounters And Manhood Acts: Evangelicals, Latter-Day Saints, And Religious Masculinities, Kelsy Burke, Amy Moff Hudec
Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications
The experiences of men in traditional religions are complex, at times inconsistent, and not necessarily the direct result of religious teachings. This article draws from two qualitative case studies to examine the ways in which evangelical and Latter-Day Saint men understand masculinity and their spiritual beliefs in the context of sexual activity. The authors present two masculine practices—acceptance of sexual rejection and sexual indifference— that allow religious men in this study to simultaneously challenge and uphold the system of hegemonic masculinity that their traditions promote. These findings point to the moments when creative, interpretative work helps religious men to reconcile …
Attitudes Toward Motherhood Among Sexual Minority Women In The United States, Emily Kazyak, Nicholas Park, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil
Attitudes Toward Motherhood Among Sexual Minority Women In The United States, Emily Kazyak, Nicholas Park, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil
Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications
In this article, we use data from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers—a national, population-based telephone survey—to examine how sexual minority women construct and value motherhood. We analyze the small (N = 43) random sample of self-identified sexual minority women using “survey-driven narrative construction,” which entails converting the structured answers and open-ended responses for each respondent into narratives and identifying themes. We focused on both sexual minority women’s desires and intentions to parent and on the importance they place on motherhood. We found that there is considerable variation in this population. Many sexual minority women distinguish between having and raising …