Document 50A: "Plank 23: Sexual Preference," from National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year, The Spirit of Houston: The First National Women's Conference (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1978), pp. 89-91.

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PLANK 23

SEXUAL PREFERENCE

Congress, State, and local legislatures should enact legislation to eliminate discrimination on the basis of sexual and affectional preference in areas including, but not limited to, employment, housing, public accommodations, credit, public facilities, government funding, and the military.

   State legislatures should reform their penal codes or repeal State laws that restrict private sexual behavior between consenting adults.

   State legislatures should enact legislation that would prohibit consideration of sexual or affectional orientation as a factor in any judicial determination of child custody or visitation rights. Rather, child custody cases should be evaluated solely on the merits of which party is the better parent, without regard to that person's sexual and affectional orientation.

Background:

"Homosexuals are entitled to the same civil rights as are other American citizens. There is no evidence that they harm others or society at large to any greater degree than do heterosexuals."

   Despite increasing public understanding that sexual preference is a private matter of choice protected by the Constitution, homosexuals face widespread discrimination in every area of their lives.

   As women, lesbians encounter double discrimination; their employment and earning opportunities are already limited because of their sex; their lifestyle challenges stereotypes of a woman's role: and their right to raise their children, if they have any, is threatened in the courts where judges may declare them "unfit" mothers. As Americans, they find their civil rights in jeopardy, and they are subject to potential harassment through selective enforcement of criminal laws.

   There are no reliable figures on the number of homosexuals and lesbians in the population, because only recently have large members felt that it was safe to stop concealing their sexual preference. However, according to a March 18, 1977 letter from Paul H. Gebhard of the Kinsey Institute for Sex Research to the National Gay Task Force, the Institute's studies indicate that one out of five American women has had some form of overt lesbian experience after puberty. Gebhard estimated that 13.95 percent of males and 4.25 percent of females, or a combined average of 9.13 percent of the total population, have had extensive homosexual experience. His conclusion: "…a significant percentage of the American population is predominantly homosexual in its sexual and affectional preference."

   Lesbians point out that they are often the focus of attempts to "keep women in their place." A woman who does not choose to play a traditional or male-centered secondary role may find herself labeled too strong, too aggressive, too masculine, and finally, a lesbian. The fear of the effects of that label may limit the non-lesbian woman in the expression of her individuality. Only when the word "lesbian" has lost its power to intimidate and oppress will women feel free to be strong and independent human beings.

   The changing view of lesbian and homosexual lifestyles has been influenced by positive statements issued by authorities on human behavior. In December 1973 the American Psychiatric Association ruled that homosexuality (in its generic sense) should no longer be listed as a "mental disorder," and said: "Homosexuals are entitled to the same civil rights as are other American citizens. There is no evidence that they harm others or society at large to any greater degree than do heterosexuals."

   This position was endorsed a year later by the American Psychological Association, which said: "Homosexuality per se implies no impairment in judgment, stability, or general social or vocational capabilities."

Employment The most overt kind of job discrimination encountered is the refusal of the employer to hire or retain a lesbian or homosexual employee. A number of large employers, including AT&T, IBM, CBS, McDonald's, Honeywell, Procter & Gamble, and others have publicly stated their opposition to discrimination on the basis of sexual preference. Many other organizations and companies have no such policies, and discrimination is still prevalent in employment. The U.S. Civil Rights Commission has acknowledged jurisdiction "under the equal administration of justice" and is including homosexuals in studies such as police brutality, but it thus far refuses to recognize discrimination against gay people as an appropriate subject for its investigations and recommendations in employment, housing and public accommodations. The same is true of many of the various agencies, commissions, and boards established around the country at the State and local levels to oversee extension of full civil rights to minorities that are discriminated against.

   Lesbians seeking Government employment that requires security clearance also encounter obstacles. They must be approved by either the State or Defense Departments, and in the past these departments have routinely denied clearance to known homosexuals or lesbians, using the rationale that they are vulnerable to blackmail. However, an openly gay

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person is no more vulnerable to blackmail than anyone else. In 1976 the Defense Department effectively revised its automatic practice of denying security clearance to open gays, and since that time there have been almost no denials of security clearance to avowed homosexuals or lesbians.

   In the armed services, however, those discovered to be gay are invariably discharged, frequently with a "less than honorable" label that can be a barrier to employment or promotion for the rest of the person's life.

The schools   The most insidious form of employment discrimination is that based on false assumptions. There is considerable resistance to hiring acknowledged lesbians or homosexuals for jobs such as teaching or counseling that involve close contact with young people on the grounds that they might influence their students' sexual behavior. But according to the American Psychiatric Association, "there is no evidence that homosexuals molest children to any greater extent than do heterosexuals," or that they are "dedicated to proselytizing persons of any age groups."

   Those in a position to know, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, have issued statements deploring discrimination against lesbian and homosexual teachers.

Housing   Single lesbians living alone are discriminated against along with other singles. Lesbians living together face even more difficult problems, especially if they wish to rent or purchase a house. In an area zoned for family use, two women (or two men) may not be considered a family.

Credit   A lesbian woman trying to obtain credit has two strikes against her: as a woman, her income is considered less secure than that of a man; as a lesbian, she may be considered less stable. A heterosexual married couple may co-sign loans, but a lesbian couple often may not, even if both partners are employed and have good individual credit ratings.

Child custody   Many lesbians and homosexuals either first realize or come to accept their sexual orientation after they are already married, and sometimes after they have had children. Lesbian mothers may lose their children when they divorce, though specialists in child development do not support the view of some judges that lesbians are "unfit" mothers.

   Dr. Benjamin Spock does not believe that parental visitation rights and child custody should be decided on the basis of a parent's sexual orientation. "I know of no evidence," he says, "that homosexual parents are more apt to raise homosexual children. Most homosexuals are the children of conventionally heterosexual parents."

   Dr. Judd Marmor of the University of Southern California, a nationally known psychiatrist, says he knows of "no evidence that predominantly heterosexual parents are more loving, supportive, or stable in their parental roles than homosexual women and men."

Lesbians and the law   Under the Constitution, it is not possible for any State or for Congress to make it illegal to be a lesbian or homosexual. However, in March 1976 the U.S. Supreme Court, in a widely criticized decision, affirmed the right of States to prohibit certain sexual acts between persons of the same sex.

   In its decision, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a Virginia statute, nearly 200 years old, prohibiting a variety of sexual acts, including some kinds of heterosexual activity. The issue in dispute, however, affected only homosexual relations between consenting adults in private.

   The Supreme Court decision did not say that States must retain or pass anti-sodomy laws, and in fact, some States repealed their sodomy laws after the decision. By May 1977, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon,

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South Dakota, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming had decriminalized sexual activities between consenting adults in private. Thirty-two States still have laws on the books that restrict private sexual behavior between consulting adults, laws that affect both heterosexuals and homosexuals but are selectively enforced against the latter.

   Laws protecting the civil rights of lesbians and homosexuals have been passed in about 40 cities and municipalities around the country. They range from small college towns like Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Youngstown, Ohio to major cities like Detroit, Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, and Boston. The newly elected mayor of New York, Edward Koch, issued an executive order banning discrimination against gays in city employment, including the police and fire departments.

   At the Federal Government level, several bills have been introduced, with 39 cosponsors, amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, and other areas on the basis of affectional or sexual preference. They are pending before the House Civil and Constitutional Rights Subcommittee, Representative Don Edwards, chair, but no hearings have been scheduled or projected.

Support for gay rights   Among the organizations that have supported civil rights for lesbians and homosexuals, in addition to the National Gay Task Force, are the American Bar Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Medical Association, American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, American Civil Liberties Union, Civil Service Commission, National Council of the Churches of Christ, National Federation of Priests Councils, American Jewish Committee (New York Chapter), Episcopal Church. Lutheran Church of America, National Association of Mental Health, National Organization for Women, National Women's Political Caucus, and Young Women's Christian Association.

   

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