No abstract

In Norway, a gender-neutral Marriage Law that secured equal marriage and parenting rights for lesbian, gay and heterosexual couples took effect in January 2009. The aim of the current study was to explore Norwegian beliefs about equal marriage and parenting rights for lesbian, gay and heterosexual couples and the welfare of children with lesbian and gay parents. A sample of 1,246 Norwegians participated in the study by filling out a questionnaire. The majority reported that they were supportive of equal marriage rights for lesbian, gay and heterosexual couples, whilst there was less support for granting gay and lesbian couples equal right to become parents. The negative attitudes towards equal parenting rights for lesbian, gay and heterosexual couples were explained mainly by concerns about the welfare of children growing up with gay and lesbian parents.

Being called names such as "gay," "faggot," "lezzie" may be experienced as both harmful or harmless by adolescents, depending on the situation in which the name-calling occurs. The aim of this study was to explore how being called gay-related names by agents with whom the relationship is differentiated by friendship, acquaintance status and perceived likeability is associated with depressive symptoms, and to explore associations between gay-related name-calling, bullying and depressive symptoms. The participants were 921 ninth grade pupils (450 boys) with an age range from 14 to 15 years from 15 schools. The study reveals that the participants' depressive symptoms were more associated with being called gay-related names by someone who did not like them or someone they did not know, than with being called gay-related names by a friend. Being called gay-related names was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, even when controlling for bullying. Boys who were bullied and called gay-related names had even higher levels of depressive symptoms, as indicated by an interaction effect found between being called gay-related names and bullying. Because of the potential harmfulness of gay-related name-calling, anti-bullying programmes should address this topic as a part of their regular anti-bullying strategy.

Words such as "gay," "faggot," and "lezzie" are used as insults in several industrialized countries. Among boys, gay-related name-calling seems to be associated with the endorsement of masculine norms. The purpose of this study was to examine how male adolescents' endorsement of masculine norms predict gay-related name-calling directed at five targets (friends, strangers, a person they disliked, someone thought to be gay, and someone not thought to be gay), and how male and female adolescents differ in their use of gay-related name-calling. A convenience sample of ninth grade pupils («Male = 450; "Female = 466; age range = 14-15 years) from Norway completed an anonymous questionnaire. The study revealed that males used gay-related name-calling more frequently than female adolescents toward all targets. Males also used gay-related name-calling more frequently toward people they liked versus disliked, OR = 1.77, 95% Cl [1.36, 2.31], and more frequently toward individuals not believed to be homosexual than toward individuals believed to be homosexual, OR = 1.76, 95% Cl [1.29, 2.39]. Five logistic regression analyses showed that endorsement of four aspects of male role norms was associated with gay-related name-calling (95% Cl for ORs ranging between 0.63-2.09). However, whether these beliefs were associated with an increased likelihood of gay-related name-calling depended on the content of these norms and who the specific target was. Even though gay-related name-calling seemed to be used more prosocially than antisocially in the current sample, the name-calling may still inhibit behaviors seen as deviating from masculine norms.

Studies have shown that words such as “gay,” “faggot,” etc. are commonly used in name-calling among boys, and that there appear to be numerous reasons why boys are called these names. Norwegian ninth grade pupils (n = 921) were recruited in order to find out whether they had ever called boys or girls gay-related names and, in such case, why. The present study shows that more adolescents reported that they have called a boy gay-related names as a response to the violation of gender norms than for any other reason. The adolescents were also more likely to have called boys gay-related names than to have called girls such names, regardless of the reason for the name-calling.