Gay Rights and American Law

1. Introduction; The context of the study; The cases; Case outcome variation by court system and subject matter; Geographic variation; Temporal variation; 2: Case narratives; Child custody, visitation, adoption, and foster care (CVAF); Lesbian and gay family issues not involving CVAF; Cases adjudicating sexual orientation discrimination claims not related to lesbian and gay family issues; Gays in the military; Cases adjudicating the constitutionality of consensual sodomy and related; Solicitation statutes and their Enforcement against gay people; Cases adjudicating the free speech and free association rights of gay people; Miscellaneous cases essential to lesbian and gay rights; Same-sex sexual harassment; Defamation involving homosexuality; Miscellaneous cases not essential to lesbian and gay rights; Conclusion; 3: The lesbian and gay rights claims models; The statistical analysis; Findings; Applying the models; Answers to questions posed in chapter 2; Model performance; Conclusion; 4: Judicial federalism and the 'myth of parity'; Judicial federalism variables; Findings; Conclusion; 5: A test of stare decisis; The legal literature; The political science literature; Lesbian and gay rights claims and precedent; Test one; Test two; Caveats; Conclusion; 6: Conclusion; Location, location, location; The promise of the states; The value of diversity on the bench; Time is on our side, Yes it is!; The vital role of interest groups; The power of precedent; Democrats, republicans, and gay rights; The forces motivating judicial decision making; The quantitative study of rights and of law; Epilogue.