Multistable Figures: Sexual Orientation Visibility and Its Effects on the Experiences of Sexual Minorities in the Courts

Abstract

... This inability to ignore information and its effect on subsequent experience has parallels in lesbians' and gay men's treatment in the courts. ... The California study combined a court user survey and a separate, court employee one. 1225 lesbian and gay users of the California courts completed the survey for a total response rate of fifty-eight percent. ... Both the California court user and UK studies specifically sought to get the experiences of gay men and lesbians who had contact with those judicial systems. ... For example, although the Rainbow Network membership is representative of DCA employees (except for sexual orientation), it is a self-selecting group of LGBT persons and their heterosexual colleagues. ... Fifty-six percent of California sexual minorities did not want to state their sexual orientation during their court contact, although most of these court users were openly gay or lesbian in other contexts. ... Despite their unwillingness to disclose this personal information, in the baseline California contact, a few lesbian and gay court users were directly asked about their sexual orientation. ... California lesbian and gay employees were over five times more likely to experience negative actions, discrimination, or hear comments based on sexual orientation than were heterosexual employees. ...