Little research has examined the transition to parenthood among couples who adopt through the child welfare system. The current qualitative study of 84 individuals within 42 couples (17 lesbian, 13 gay, and 12 heterosexual), who were placed with a child via foster care three months earlier, examined perceived changes in their intimate relationship. Findings indicated that, like heterosexual bio...

This study analyzes the relation of sexual orientation and gender to sexual sensation seeking. Participants were 382 individuals (200 men, 182 women) between 17 and 29 years old who completed the Sexual Sensation Seeking Scale. Of the 382 participants, 52.46% self-reported heterosexual orientation, and 47.64% self-reported homosexual orientation. The results showed differences with Sexual Sensa...

In two studies, we examined the relationship between resistance to heteronormativity and political engagement among heterosexuals. In the first, we examined the relationship between awareness of heterosexual privilege, resistance to heteronormativity, and engagement in lesbian and gay rights activism among contemporary heterosexual college students. As expected, women scored higher than men on ...

Courts determine custody and visitation on the basis of the "best interests of the child." Current judicial rulings in some jurisdictions reflect a bias against awarding custody or granting visitation rights to homosexual parents, favoring the heterosexual parent or heterosexual relative of the child(ren). Should the sexual orientation of the parent play a part in the determination of custody o...

This paper examines heterosexual adults attitudes toward bisexual men and women using data from a 1999 national RDD survey (N = 1,335). Ratings on 101-point feeling thermometers were lower (less favorable) for bisexual men and bisexual women than for all other groups assessed--including religious, racial, ethnic, and political groups--except injecting drug users. More negative attitudes toward...

Is sexual orientation associated with structural differences in the brain? To address this question, 80 homosexual and heterosexual men and women (16 homosexual men and 15 homosexual women) underwent structural MRI. We used voxel-based morphometry to test for differences in grey matter concentration associated with gender and sexual orientation. Compared with heterosexual women, homosexual wome...

We know little about men's beliefs about human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and willingness to receive it. In January 2009, the authors recruited 296 heterosexual men and 312 gay and bisexual men from a national panel of U.S. households to complete an online survey about HPV and HPV vaccine. The authors analyzed data using logistic regression, controlling for age, education, number of lifetime ...

This interview study, the initial qualitative phase of a larger mixed methods HIV prevention study focused on Black heterosexual men, used intersectionality as a theoretical framework to explore: (1) How a sample of Black heterosexual men describe and experience the multiple intersections of race, gender, and SES; and (2) How these descriptions reflected interlocking systems of social inequalit...

Past research has demonstrated that women do not show a "category-specific" genital response to erotic stimuli. That is, on average, heterosexual and lesbian women are indistinguishable in terms of their physiological genital responses to heterosexual versus lesbian erotica. In two studies with heterosexual women (n = 28 for Study 1; n = 30 for Study 2) and lesbians (n = 24 for Study 1; n = 25 ...

The higher prevalence of health problems in homosexual compared to heterosexual populations is usually understood as a consequence of minority stress. We hypothesized that differential rates of health problems also could result from sexual orientation-related differences in coping styles. We explored this using data collected in a general population-based study (N = 9684) via face-to-face inter...