Articles in Research
Sara’s News Roundup 4/16/12: The roots of antigay hostility
The roots of antigay hostility; coming out in a supportive family is good for LGB health; transition-related medical expenses are tax-deductible; and other recent LGBTQ news selected by Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.
Stories of discrimination from the Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey
We present a selection of comments from the 268 LGBT respondents to the Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey: Final Report on employment, housing, and public services/accommodations discrimination in Anchorage.
Colorado researchers seek LGBTQ participants for survey on health care providers
Researchers at Colorado State University investigating LGBTQ persons’ perceptions of their primary care providers. They’re reaching out to the broadest, most diverse group of LGBTQ study participants possible, which includes reaching out to community groups in understudied parts of the United States — like Alaska!
Please consider helping them out — full info below.
Participant Recruitment Notice:
Perceptions of GLBT Health Care
We are conducting an on-line study at Colorado State University to assess gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons’ perceptions of their primary care medical providers. The only requirements for participation in this study are that you are at least 18 years of age or older, self-identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, and currently have a primary care physician.
Participation in this research requires only that you complete a brief survey that asks questions about you and your perceptions of your primary care physician. We do not ask questions that require you to provide any personally identifying information, or to provide any information about the identity of your primary care physician. Your responses will be kept strictly confidential, and all data will be encrypted using the same standards that businesses use for handling credit card information.
If you are interested in participating in this research, please click on the link below for more information.
https://www.psychdata.com/s.asp?SID=143991
Principal Researcher: Dr. Jennifer J. Harman
Co-Investigators: Dr. Justin J. Lehmiller and Michael Ioerger
This project has been approved by the Colorado State University Institutional Review Board (Protocol #11-2944H).
Preliminary report of the Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey released
The preliminary report of a survey conducted earlier this year finds that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) residents of the Municipality of Anchorage experience significant levels of harassment, violence, and discrimination in employment, housing, education, public services, and child custody as a result of their sexual orientation or gender identity or presentation. Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey: Preliminary Report by Melissa S. Green was released today by the Anchorage-based nonprofit Identity on behalf of the Alaska LGBT Community Survey Task Force.
The Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey was conducted in the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska, from January through March 2011, with 268 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) respondents included in the final dataset. The preliminary report presents key findings from the survey on the incidence of violence, intimidation, and discrimination in employment, housing, education, child custody proceedings, and public services experienced by respondents in the Municipality of Anchorage because of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender presentation. Summary data is presented for the total study population of 268 respondents, as well as for the 50 respondents who had been resident in the Municipality of Anchorage for less than five years.
Results show that discrimination, harassment, and bias are experienced by lesbian, gay, and bisexual residents of the Municipality of Anchorage at levels comparable to those experienced by respondents to One in Ten, a statewide survey of lesbian, gay, and bisexual Alaskans conducted in 1985 (published in 1986), and that that discrimination, harassment, and bias are also commonly experienced by transgender residents of the Municipality of Anchorage. The 50 respondents who had lived in Anchorage less than five years reported experiencing discrimination/bias in Anchorage at only slightly lower rates than the survey population as a whole, despite of a much shorter span of time in Anchorage within which to accumulate experiences of discrimination.
More comprehensive information from the study, including methodology, complete demographic data on survey respondents, detailed analysis of the findings, and comments from survey respondents will be included in the final report (forthcoming in December 2011).
[Download the preliminary report from the
Alaska LGBT Community Survey Task Force website]
The Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey came about as a result of a perceived need for quantifiable data on the incidence of discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals in the Municipality of Anchorage. It represents the first effort since the late 1980s to compile rigorous data about the incidence of sexual orientation bias and discrimination in Anchorage — and the first effort ever to document Anchorage or Alaska-specific data about discrimination and bias on the basis of gender identity and expression.
The Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey is a collaborative project of the Alaska LGBT community and a coalition of Alaska organizations which serve the LGBT community, including Identity, Inc., the Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association (Four A’s), Alaskans Together for Equality (ATE), Equality Works, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Alaska. The survey questionnaire and overall research project were designed by members of the Alaska LGBT Community Survey Task Force in consultation with Dr. Brad A. Myrstol and Khristy Parker of the Justice Center at University of Alaska Anchorage. Shelby Carpenter, LGBT Public Policy Coordinator with the ACLU of Alaska during the first half of work on the survey, was project manager for survey distribution and data collection, assisted by Drew Phoenix. Dr. Myrstol conducted statistical analysis on the final dataset. The principal investigator for the study is Melissa S. Green, who prepared this report and is also writing the final report. Questions about the survey can be directed to her at alaskacommunity@gmail.com.
Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey: Preliminary Report by Melissa S. Green is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.identityinc.org/.
Press release
Here is the text of the media advisory released this morning by Identity.
For Immediate Release
Identity
Phyllis Rhodes, Executive Director
907-929-4528
Report shows discrimination against lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender Alaskans.
Anchorage, AK, Nov. 10, 2011 — The nonprofit group Identity released today preliminary results of a study conducted this year about discrimination in Anchorage’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. The Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey’s initial results indicate members of the LGBT community in Anchorage continue to experience significant levels of discrimination in areas of employment, housing, education, public services and child custody as a result of their sexual orientation or gender identity or presentation. They also experience high levels of verbal harassment and physical violence.
“Unfortunately, we know discrimination within the LGBT community continues to be a problem in Anchorage as it does in other communities across the country,” stated Phyllis Rhodes, Executive Director of Identity. “The survey will help us quantify the problems we face so we can work to eliminate discrimination in our community as a whole.”
In the area of employment, 44 percent of respondents reported being harassed by employers or other employees; nearly 21 percent believed they were turned down for a job when otherwise qualified; almost 18 percent were denied a promotion and close to 15 percent said they were fired by their employer based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
In housing, over 18 percent of respondents reported being harassed by a landlord or other tenants, and more than 10 percent said they were denied a housing lease, even though they were otherwise qualified, because they were LGBT.
The Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey also shows that roughly three out of four survey respondents experienced verbal abuse, and nearly 43 percent were subjected to threats of physical violence. Further, almost 13 percent experienced property damage because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Melissa S. Green was the principal investigator for the project and authored the preliminary report released today. Green was also part of two similar research efforts in the 1980s conducted by Identity to document sexual orientation bias and discrimination in Alaska. The new study added transgender Alaskans to the survey and was conducted between January and March of this year, and involved paper and online surveys collected from 268 respondents in Anchorage who identified themselves as being LGBT. The project was designed by members of the Alaska LGBT Community Survey Task Force in consultation with Dr. Brad A. Myrstol and Khristy Parker of the Justice Center at University of Alaska Anchorage. Dr. Myrstol also assisted with statistical analysis.
Identity is an Anchorage-based, nonprofit organization founded in 1977, and provides programs supporting equality for the LGBT community and its allies. The complete report from the Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey will be released in December 2011.
Identity
Phyllis Rhodes, Executive Director
907-929-4528
A copy of the complete preliminary report is available online at www.identityinc.org or alaskacommunity.org.
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Candlelight vigils for homeless youth in Fairbanks & Anchorage today & tomorrow — & why this matters to LGBTQ Alaskans
According to a 2007 study by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), between 20 and 40 percent of the estimated 1.6 million homeless youth in the United States identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) — highly disproportionate to their representation in the general population. And so: youth homelessness is an LGBT issue. Which we suggest is a good reason for members of the LGBT communities of Fairbanks and Anchorage to join in two candlelight vigils for homeless youth taking place today and tomorrow.
Are you LGBT? Have you lived, worked, spent time in Anchorage? We need your help.
“My review shows that there is clearly a lack of quantifiable evidence necessitating this ordinance.” That’s what Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan stated on August 17, 2009 when he vetoed Anchorage Ordinance 2009-64, the Anchorage equal rights ordinance, which had been passed the previous week by a vote of 7 to 4 by the Anchorage Assembly. If you are an LGBT person who lives, works, or spends time in Anchorage — or if you’ve lived/worked/spent time in Anchorage in the past — please complete the Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey.
Anchorage’s LGBT Discrimination Survey
The Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey, now in progress, is the first effort since the late 1980s to compile rigorous data about the incidence of sexual orientation bias and discrimination in Anchorage — and the first effort ever to document Anchorage or Alaska-specific data about discrimination and bias on the basis of gender identity. Originally published as an op-ed in the Anchorage Press on Thursday, January 27, 2011.
