Rockway Institute News Releases

Media Contact: Rick Moore  (415) 314-8952  rmoore.rockway@alliant.edu

June 16, 2008 -- Rockway - New School Presentation

Rockway Institute and New School's Wolfson Center partner to present "Gay Rights and the Politics of 2008" at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 18 in New York City. Moderated by Robert-Jay Green, PhD, Rockway executive director, the panel includes Shannon Minter, who successfully argued for marriage equality before the California Supreme Court, Judith Stacey, PhD, New York University expert on non-traditional families, and author and journalist Richard Goldstein. (more)

May 15, 2008 -- Experts Available on Marriage Equality

Rockway Institute, a national center for LGBT research and public policy, has a wide range of experts available on  marriage and relationships, especially the effects of legal status on same-sex relationships. (more) 

April 23, 2008 -- Gay and Lesbian Youth Want Long-Term Couple Relationships and Raising Children

In what is believed to be the first study of its kind, social scientists have found that many lesbian and gay youth have expectations of spending their adult life in a long-term relationship raising children. More than 90 percent of females and more than 80 percent of males expect to be partnered in a monogamous relationship after age 30. Two thirds of females and more than half of males expressed likelihood that they would raise children in the future. (more)

April 23, 2008 -- Rockway faculty published on lesbian/gay parenting via surrogacy or alternative insemination

Rockway senior research scholar Valory Mitchell, PhD and founding executive director Robert-Jay Green, PhD, have written a peer-reviewed journal article discussing the issues facing same-sex couples using alternative insemination or surrogacy. “Different Storks for Different Folks” discusses the issues facing the growing number of lesbian couples who are choosing alternative insemination of one partner; and a growing number of gay male couples who are choosing gestational surrogacy (fertilizing an egg contributed by one woman and arranging with a different woman to carry the fetus until birth). (more)

January 2, 2008 - Gay Seniors Rely on Close Friendship Networks When Ill

Older adults who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) have “a history of caregiving” that creates networks of people who support each other during their senior years, according to a questionnaire study of 199 LGB seniors. The study found that more than two-thirds of the participants had provided care to one or more people during the previous five years. (more)

December 3, 2007 -- Surgeon urges colleagues to reconsider their views about a medical procedure for transsexual patients

A prominent gynecologic cancer surgeon is urging her fellow physicians to reconsider their views about a medical procedure for transsexual patients making the transition from female to male. Dr. Kate O’Hanlan, MD, a surgeon in private practice in Portola Valley, California, provided evidence that total laparoscopic hysterectomy can be the best approach for many of these patients. (more)

November 26, 2007 -- Handedness Findings Point to Biological Cause for Sexual Orientation

A study of men in Ontario, Canada provides a new twist on the connection between sexual/relational orientation and right or left-handedness. Whereas earlier studies showed that gay men (and lesbians) were 39 percent more likely than heterosexuals to be left-handed, the new data “provides evidence that gay or bisexual men also have an elevated incidence of extreme right-handedness.”  (more) 

October 31, 2007 -- Study finds working “in the closet” hurts both employee and employer

A questionnaire study of more than 500 gay, lesbian and bisexual employees across the U.S. has found that “fears about disclosing a gay identity at work had an overwhelmingly negative relationship with their career and workplace experiences and with their psychological well-being.” (more)       

October 10, 2007 -- Rockway Director Speaks at Chicago Conference
to Honor Froma Walsh

Rockway Institute Executive Director and Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Alliant International University, Dr. Robert-Jay Green is one of nine invited speakers at a conference to honor the work of Froma Walsh, a leading mental health scholar on family resilience and on strengths-oriented, community-based family interventions. Green will speak Friday, October 12 at the University of Chicago on “Risk and Resilience in Lesbian and Gay Families.”  (more)

October 3, 2007 -- Anti-gay slurs may be damaging to heterosexual students too

A study of middle-school students in Central Illinois has found that being called anti-gay names significantly predicts higher levels of trauma for students regardless of sexual orientation. Such name-calling may lead to anxiety, depression, personal distress, and a lower sense of school belonging. (more)

September 20, 2007 -- Children of Lesbian Couples Are Doing Well

A study of families in the Netherlands indicates that children raised by lesbian couples “do not differ in well being or child adjustment compared with their counterparts in heterosexual-parent families.” The study was conducted by Henny Bos, Frank van Balen, and Dymphna van den Boom of the University of Amsterdam and published in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry (2007, Vol. 77, No. 1, 38-48). (more)

August 29, 2007 -- Rockway Institute Partners with GLAAD, WPATH
and Center on Halsted to Host Chicago Media Trainings 

Rockway Institute, a national center for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender research and public policy, and GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, will partner to present two media trainings in Chicago in early September. (more)

August 22, 2007 -- Director of Rockway Institute Receives APA Award in LGBT Psychology

Robert-Jay Green, PhD, from San Francisco, has been recognized for his distinguished professional contributions by the Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues - Division 44 of the American Psychological Association (APA). The award was presented Sunday, August 19, 2007 during the annual APA meeting. (more)

August 8, 2007 -- Victimization of NYC Gay Youth Linked to Post-Traumatic Stress

Nine percent of young people in a New York City study of lesbian and gay youth meet the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The research found that for nearly one in ten of the young participants, experiences growing up lesbian or gay are linked to the same condition that affects many adults who are the victims of violent crime or are in an accident or natural disaster. (more)

July 18, 2007 -- Rockway Institute and GLAAD to Host San Francisco Media Training

Psychologists specializing in lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) topics and attending the American Psychological Association (APA) meeting in San Francisco August 17 to 20 will attend a media training organized by the Rockway Institute and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). (more) 

June 20, 2007 -- Rockway Institute to Participate in Ex-Gay Survivors’ Conference

Rockway Institute, a national center for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) research and public policy, will participate in the Ex-Gay Survivors’ Conference, co-sponsored by Soulforce, beyondexgay.com, and the LGBT Resource Center at the University of California, Irvine on June 29 to July 1, 2007. (more)

June 7, 2007 -- Rockway Institute Convenes Leading Scientific Experts to Expose Fraudulent Antigay Research Claims

For years, wealthy antigay right-wing organizations have inundated the media and the government with misleading and flawed research doubting the fitness of lesbian, gay, transgender, and bisexual people to marry and raise families. Today, a press conference in New York announced the establishment of the Rockway Institute, a new national think tank of prominent academics, scientists, and physicians assembled to authoritatively counter the right-wing’s distorted claims. Providing impeccable research and expert testimony to journalists, legislators, and courts, Rockway stands as the central “go-to” resource for questions about LGBT issues. (more)

May 25, 2007 -- Rockway Fellows Named to APA Task Force

Two fellows of the Rockway Institute have been named to a new American Psychological Association (APA) task force that will review the current scientific research on therapeutic response to sexual orientation, including the research on so-called "conversion" therapies intended to change sexual orientation. An update of the APA 1997 policy statement on the topic is expected to result from the review. (more) 

May 15, 2007 -- New Institute Responds to Right-Wing Anti-Gay Groups

“Antigay Groups and the Road to LGBT Equality” will be the topic of a presentation at the San Diego LGBT Community Center, 3909 Center Street in Hillcrest from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 29, 2007. (more)

April 30, 2007 -- Green Presents to Council on Contemporary Families Meeting

Rockway Institute Executive Director Robert-Jay Green, PhD, will participate in a symposium in Chicago at the Council on Contemporary Families Tenth Anniversary Conference.  As part of this panel presentation titled “Programs to Promote Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood” to be held Friday, May 4th, Dr. Green will discuss “Interventions for Enhancing Couple Relationships and Father Involvement: Different Strokes for Lesbian, Gay and Heterosexual Folks.” (more)

April 10, 2007 -- Rockway Institute Fellow Testifies to California Legislature

Dr. Kate O’Hanlan, a cancer surgeon in private practice in the Bay Area, California and a fellow of the Rockway Institute National Advisory Board, testified today before the Judiciary Committee of the California Assembly in support of gender-neutral civil marriage. (more)

March 30, 2007 -- Rockway Institute Forms Alliance with Organization of 650 Mental Health Professionals Who Have LGBT Family Members

The Rockway Institute, a think-tank that promotes scientific and professional expertise to counter anti-gay prejudice and improve public policies affecting LGBT people, will work with AFFIRM, a network of psychologists with LGBT family members that educates mental health professionals about LGBT issues. (more)

March 30, 2007 -- San Diego Event to Introduce Rockway Institute

An event to introduce the Rockway Institute to the San Diego LGBT community is scheduled for Thursday, April 12. The reception - to be hosted by the Honorable Arthur J. Collingsworth and by San Diego State University Professors Oliva Espin and Esther Rothblum - will be held at the University Club Atop Symphony Towers, 750 B Street. (more)

March 1, 2007 -- Rockway Institute to Fight the False Science of Anti-Gay Groups 

A new research think tank -- the Rockway Institute -- has joined efforts to stop the right-wing’s blatantly antigay distortion of research. Funded in part by the Gill Foundation, the Rockway Institute’s primary goal is to assemble a group of prominent social scientists, mental health professionals, and physicians to participate in media interviews and to provide expert testimony about LGBT issues to federal and state legislatures and the courts. (more)

January 17, 2007 -- Rockway Institute Awarded $50,000 grant for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Scientific Accuracy in the Media Project

The Gill Foundation has awarded a $50,000 grant to Alliant International University’s Rockway Institute in support of its Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Scientific Accuracy in the Media Project. (more)