Getting It Straight:What the Research Shows About Homosexuality is a compilation of research findings concerning several foundational issues with respect to homosexuality. For decades, the public has not been "getting it straight" from the news media, entertainment media, and academia. Instead, a number of myths have been widely promoted and have taken root in the public mind--myths such as:

·  ten percent of the population is homosexual,

·  people are born homosexual, and

·  homosexuality is harmless

Getting It Straight debunks these myths--primarily by using direct quotations from scholarly articles and publications. Following are some examples:

Chapter 1: What Causes Homosexuality?

·  "Critical review shows the evidence favoring a biologic theory to be lacking. . . . The inadequacies of present psychosocial explanations do not justify turning to biology by default--especially when, at present, the biologic alternatives seem to have no greater explanatory value. In fact, the current trend may be to underrate the explanatory power of extant psychosocial models."

(William Byne and Bruce Parsons, "Human Sexual Orientation: The Biologic Theories Reappraised," Archives of General Psychiatry, 50 (March 1993): 228, 236.)

Chapter 2: How Many Homosexuals Are There?

·  "The most widely accepted study of sexual practices in the United States is the National Health and Social Life Survey (NHSLS). The NHSLS found that 2.8% of the male, and 1.4% of the female, population identify themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. See Laumann et al., The Social Organization of Sex: Sexual Practices in the United States (1994)."

(Lawrence v. Texas, Docket No. 02-102 (U.S. Supreme Court), brief of amici curiae Human Rights Campaign et al., 16 January 2003, p. 16 (footnote 42).)

Chapter 3: Are Homosexuals a Disadvantaged Minority?

·  "In contrast to studies of antidiscrimination laws for women and ethnic minorities, we have produced no evidence that employment protections for sexual orientation directly increase average earnings for members of same-sex households."

(Marieka M. Klawitter and Victor Flatt, "The Effects of State and Local Antidiscrimination Policies on Earnings for Gays and Lesbians," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 17 (4): 676 (1998).)

Chapter 4: Is Homosexuality a Health Risk?

·  "In a major Canadian centre, life expectancy at age twenty for gay and bisexual men is eight to twenty years less than for all men."

(Robert S. Hogg et al., "Modeling the Impact of HIV Disease on Mortality in Gay and Bisexual Men," International Journal of Epidemiology 26 (1997): 657.)

Chapter 5: Do Homosexual Parents Pose Risks to Children?

·  "Overall, the study has shown that children of married couples are more likely to do well at school, in academic and social terms, than children of cohabiting heterosexual and homosexual couples."

(Sotirios Sarantakos, "Children in three contexts: Family, education and social development," Children Australia, Vol. 21, No. 3, (1996): 29.)

Chapter 6: Is There a Link between Homosexuality and Child Sexual Abuse?

·  A study of 229 convicted child molesters in Archives of Sexual Behavior found that "eighty-six percent of offenders against males described themselves as homosexual or bisexual."

(W. D. Erickson, "Behavior Patterns of Child Molesters," Archives of Sexual Behavior 17 (1988): 83.)

Getting It Straight is about facts, science, and scholarship. If the public (including the media and public officials) can come to a more accurate understanding of what the research shows about homosexuality, it will not necessarily dictate a particular response or resolve the debates about the issue. But it will, we hope, provide a more rational basis for future decisions.

Getting It Straight is primarily a reference work. Keep it close by and refer to it whenever you want to know what the research really shows about homosexuality.