Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Gay men belong to a stigmatized social group for whom many negative attitudes and stereotypes exist, including the stereotype that gay men are likely to be child molesters. We explored the implications of this stereotype for judgments made in a legal case involving child sexual abuse accusations against a male teacher. Jurors who held the most anti-gay attitudes and those who endorse the stereotype of gay men as child molesters made the most pro-prosecution judgments in cases involving gay, but not straight, defendants.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Using a list experiment embedded in a survey fielded during the fall of 2006, I examine both the willingness of Americans to express intolerance of gays and whether exposure to anti-gay elite discourse influences any social desirability effects.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Evidence shows that criminal justice majors and minority students hold more negative attitudes towards gays and lesbians. This study tests whether these effects also interact to shape students attitudes towards gays and lesbians. This study utilizes a sample of over 1,000 students from four univerisities in the midwest and south. The implications of these findings hold ramifications for criminal justice educators attempting to address anti-gay attitudes.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Effects of Ideology, Value, and Media on
Anti-Gay Attitudes

Abstract

A series of factors, including religious beliefs, liberal-conservative ideologies, political partisanship, critical thinking skills, and mass media, are examined in the present study in terms of whether they contribute to citizens’ attitudes toward homosexuals and women’s status. Christian fundamentalism, which is an ideology, and the lack of support for equality, which is a value, are the strongest predictors of anti-gay and anti-women stands. Two variables concerning mass media, surprisingly, appear to have little effect on such attitudes. Implications for equal rights activists are discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: A small fundamentalist church has received much attention for its demonstrations at the funerals of military personnel killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Their theme has been that the deaths are "God's punishment" for the US tolerating homosexuals. Several states have enacted statutes that prohibit such demonstrations and some groups have provided "motorcycle escorts" to cordon off the protests from the services or to drown out their voices. A Pennsylvana jury award of $11 million was issued recently to the father of a service member whose funeral was disrupted by the group. This will be appealed and may eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Many law professors have indicated that they believe legal actions against these demonstrators violate the First Amendment guarantee of free speech. Some others, however, argue that the demonstrations are not exercises of speech but simply disruptions of privacy. These commentators note that anti-abortion groups may be prevented from picketing the residence of a doctor who performs abortions.
The situation provides the opportunity for review of the extent and limits of First Amendment protection for unpopular or offensive speech. It allows for a contrast with the judicial approach to anti-abortion demonstrations and the degree .of consistency in the approaches This requires a definition of "consistency": and consideration of the role, if any, of public opinion of such activities. The general issue of free speech exercise for unpopular causes is also implicated.