Book Review: Homoplot: The Coming-Out Story and Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Identity

Review of Homoplot: The Coming-Out Story and Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Identity by Esther Saxe

Book Review: War and Terror: Feminist Perspectives

Review of War and Terror: Feminist Perspectives, edited by Karen Alexander and Mary E. Hawkeswort

Book Review: Women In Iraq: The Gender Impact of International Sanctions

Review of Women In Iraq: The Gender Impact of International Sanctions by Yasmin Husein Al-Jawaher

Book Review: Shout Out: Women of Color Respond to Violence

Review of Shout Out: Women of Color Respond to Violence, edited by Maria Ochoa and Barbara K. Ig

Book Review: The N Word: Who Can Say It. Who Shouldn’t. And Why

Review of The N Word: Who Can Say It. Who Shouldn’t. And Why by Jabari Asi

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Among Donor-Conceived Offspring in the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study from Adolescence to Adulthood

introduction concerns about parents with minoritized sexual identities often focus on the belief that their children will be confused about their gender and report a non-heterosexual orientation compared to children reared by heterosexual parents. yet, few longitudinal studies exist. methods gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, and sexual experiences were examined in 75 U.S. donor-conceived offspring (39 assigned females at birth (AFAB) and 36 assigned males at birth (AMAB)) of lesbian parents, when the offspring had reached adulthood (ages 30-33). Additionally, 72 of these offspring (38 AFAB and 34 AMAB) had also completed surveys in adolescence (age 17, data collected 2004-2009) and emerging adulthood (age 25, data collected 2012-2017), which enabled us to examine the developmental pathways of their sexuality. results All AMAB offspring and 94.7% of AFAB offspring who identified as cisgender during adolescence continued to do so during emerging adulthood and adulthood. over time, sexual orientation was more fluid than gender identity, and AFAB offspring were more fluid than AMAB offspring. specifically, considering those who reported the same (heterosexual/straight; lesbian, gay/homosexual; or bisexual+) sexual orientation from adolescence through emerging adulthood to adulthood, 63.9% were AFAB and 82.4% were AMAB. More than half of AFAB offspring and 80.6% of AMAB offspring identified as heterosexual in adulthood, and the vast majority had had sex with a non-transgender man (86.5%) and a non-transgender woman (93.6%), respectively, in the last 5 years.conclusions this is the only study that has followed the biological offspring of lesbian parents from birth to adulthood, prospectively and longitudinally. the results indicate that offspring of lesbian parents are less likely to identify as transgender than the general public, but more likely to identify as LGB or queer. policy Implications As gender and sexual identity development significantly impacts well-being, creating supportive environments for offspring of lesbian parents and increasing public awareness of the connections among developmental milestones, health, and thriving are vital

Studying the Longest ‘Legal’ U.S. Same-Sex Couples: A Case of Lessons Learned

We review methodological opportunities and lessons learned in conducting a longitudinal, prospective study of same-sex couples with civil unions, recruited from a population-based sample, who were compared with same-sex couples in their friendship circle who did not have civil unions, and heterosexual married siblings and their spouse. At Time 1 (2002), Vermont was the only US state to provide legal recognition similar to marriage to same-sex couples; couples came from other US states and other countries to obtain a civil union. At Time 2 (2005), only one US state had legalized same-sex marriage, and at Time 3 (2013) about half of US states had legalized same-sex marriage, some within weeks of the onset of the Time 3 study. Opportunities included sampling legalized same-sex relationships from a population; the use of heterosexual married couples and same-sex couples not in legalized relationships as comparison samples from within the same social network; comparisons between sexual minority and heterosexual women and men with and without children; improvements in statistical methods for non-independence of data and missing data; and the use of mixed methodologies. Lessons learned included obtaining funding, locating participants over time as technologies changed, and on-going shifts in marriage laws during the study