A review of Jonathan Rch's, "Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for Ameri," by Elodie Emig.
Contents:
- WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT BEG GAY?: PERSPECTIV OM YOUTH
- WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?
- TEN REASONS TO SUPPORT GAY MARRIAGE
- QUEER VS. GAY: HOW THE WORDS ARE DIFFERENT, AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
- GAY MARRIAGE: WHY IT IS GOOD FOR GAYS, GOOD FOR STRAIGHTS, AND GOOD FOR AMERI
- THE 5 BT THGS ABOUT BEG A GAY MAN
WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT BEG GAY?: PERSPECTIV OM YOUTH
Why are people gay? Are they gay by choice or is beg gay geic? Are they born gay? Learn about the and reasons for beg gay. * why is gay a good thing *
Published fal eded form as:PMCID: PMC3326393NIHMSID: NIHMS358675AbstractThis article explor gay and bisexual male adolcents’ posive perceptns of their sexual orientatn inty.
Addnal primary them and sub-them were intified wh each tegory that further illtrate how gay/bisexual youth were able to velop posive nceptualizatns of their sexual orientatn spe experiencg negative societal msag about beg gay/bisexual. Keywords: Bisexual, gay, male, riliency, sexual orientatn, youthAdolcence is a velopmental perd where young people are maturg physilly, emotnally and socially as they transn to adulthood (Erikson, 1980; Hill, 1983).
WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?
Knowg how to talk about inti of genr and sexualy is key to unrstandg LGBTQ+ experienc. Learn the distctns between "queer" and "gay." * why is gay a good thing *
When the fluenc are negative, psychologil distrs among adolcents may rult, pecially for those youth who intify as lbian, gay, or bisexual (Almeida, Johnson, Corliss, Molnar & Azrael, 2009; Hershberger & D’Augelli, 1995; Ueno, 2005). Th, this article tak a rilience-based approach to examg sexual orientatn inty among gay/bisexual male adolcents by sharg their perceptns regardg the posive aspects of beg gay/bisexual.
One study that addrsed this topic prented riliency strategi among lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) young people North Wt England and South Wal wh the ntext of hetero-normative environments (Surfield, Roen & McDermott, 2008). The thors assert that even though the young men were livg a hetero-normative Puerto Rin culture wh pervasive homophobia and cultural stigma, they veloped riliency strategi that helped them to overe potential obstacl. This was one of the few studi found to prent riliency strategi veloped by gay/bisexual adolcents to bat negative social and cultural ntug rearch is need on the velopmental challeng faced by LGB adolcents, pecially those who are also members of other opprsed groups such as youth of lor, a parallel le of scientific quiry is also need to explore the strengths and rilienci monstrated by LGB youth.
Such limatns do not allow for a more nuanced unrstandg of the current lived experienc of LGB youth’s inty exploratn procs, as has been seen more recent qualative studi of sexual orientatn inty (Ja, Harper, Fernanz, & the ATN, 2009)The purpose of the current study is to provi sights to the posive nceptualizatns that gay/bisexual male adolcents posss regardg their sexual orientatn inty utilizg qualative phenomenologil and nstctivist ameworks. Although we did quire about the full range of perceptns and experienc related to sexual orientatn inty the larger study om which the data were extracted, we chose to foc solely on the posive aspects of posssg a gay/bisexual sexual orientatn inty for the current vtigatn given the lack of empiril data foced specifilly on riliency-related factors among gay/bisexual male adolcents. We unrstand and acknowledge that gay/bisexual youth are also nonted wh challeng related to their sexual orientatn inty and enurage rears to exame prr lerature prented earlier for an exploratn of such factors.
TEN REASONS TO SUPPORT GAY MARRIAGE
Unrstand health ncerns for gay men and other men who have sex wh men, and learn how to promote good health. * why is gay a good thing *
Sce prr rearch also has monstrated that sexual orientatn inty velopment for female adolcents and adults is different than that of male adolcents and adults (Diamond, 2005; Diamond & Sav-Williams, 2000; Schneir, 2001), we also foc this vtigatn exclively on gay/bisexual male adolcents.
QUEER VS. GAY: HOW THE WORDS ARE DIFFERENT, AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
* why is gay a good thing *
METHODSParticipantsParticipants for the prent study were 63 male youth who self-intified as gay or bisexual and were between ag of 15 and 22 at the time of recment. In orr to take part the study, participants met the followg eligibily creria: 1) be blogilly male; 2) be between the ag of 14 and 22; 3) self-intify as Ain Amerin, Hispanic/Lato, or Whe non-Hispanic/European Amerin; 4) self-intify as gay, bisexual, or qutng; 5) have no knowledge of beg HIV posive; 6) live the Chigo or Miami metropolan area; and 7) read and unrstand English. The youth reprented the qualative subsample of adolcents who participated a larger mixed-methods rearch study foced on multiple inty velopment and sexual risk/protectn among gay/bisexual male adolcents, which was nducted wh the Adolcent Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventns.
GAY MARRIAGE: WHY IT IS GOOD FOR GAYS, GOOD FOR STRAIGHTS, AND GOOD FOR AMERI
The bate over same-sex marriage – or “gay marriage” – has been ntent natnal and state polics for nearly twenty years. After voters many stat shed to ban same-sex unns, the ti turned. In recent years, sixteen stat and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage and another three stat have approved civil unns or domtic partnerships that clu full spoal rights for lbian, gay and bisexual upl. * why is gay a good thing *
The ame was stratified by age (14–17, 18–20, and 21–22), level of gay/bisexual sexual orientatn inty (low and high), and race/ethnicy (Ain Amerin, European Amerin, and Lato) orr to produce a sample that reprents velopmental and inty-related variatns. InstmentsAn terview gui was created through a group procs over the urse of three months by a group of rearchers and practners who work wh gay/bisexual male adolcents. RESULTSThe data related to youths’ nceptualizatns of beg gay/bisexual revealed two major nceptual tegori—1) posive personal nceptualizatns of beg gay/bisexual and 2) riliency the face of gay-related opprsn.
THE 5 BT THGS ABOUT BEG A GAY MAN
(Michael, 22 year old, Whe gay male)Siar to the example on sexual flexibily, this participant utilized a strategy of ristg stereotyp specifilly associated wh genr. (Sean, 21 year old, Eastern European gay male)Another participant who mented on nnectedns wh femal argued that the reason for this closens is the fact that straight men typilly beiend women for sexual purpos, while gay men do not. Addnally, he argued that both gay men and straight women are able to share their experienc wh male sexual/datg partners and receive advice om one youth exprsed a sense of nnectn to the gay muny.
Um, 's, 's very easy to, to, when you do fd somebody that is, that is very siar to yourself, 's very easy to fd a nnectn wh them bee they've endured a lot of the same hardships that you have and, and you, and 's easy to talk, I feel like 's very easy to talk to somebody else who is gay, bee they've experienced a lot of the same thgs that I have g and velopg their inty. (Patrick, 20 year old, Whe gay male)Riliency the Face of Gay-Related OpprsnAlthough many of the youth foced on posive nceptualizatns of beg gay/bisexual, some intified ways which they had monstrated riliency the face of opprsn. (Ben, 20 year old, Whe gay male)Here the participant acknowledg pervasive negative societal views of gay/bisexual people, but he has been able to fd self-acceptance and enjoyment beg gay.
The followg youth talks about the fun he has wh his iends who are not gay/bisexual and emphasiz that a cril aspect of his relatnship wh them is that they do not “judge” him or hold negative views of gay/bisexual people. Emotnal self-re was discsed the ntext of acknowledgg and beg aware of the negative emotnal impact of heterosexist societal msag on them as gay/bisexual young men, and then buildg ristance strategi to such pervasive negativy. One young man discsed the potential negative nsequenc of beg openly gay around “homophobic people” and the need to be rponsible when makg cisns about sexual orientatn disclosure.