Gregory M. Herek (born 1954 in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

) is a researcher, author, and professor of psychology at the

University of California at Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

(UCD). He has conducted extensive research on prejudice against sexual minorities, and coined the term '' sexual prejudice'' as a replacement for ''

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

'' to describe this phenomenon. Herek argued that using the term homophobia incorrectly assumes that negative responses to lesbian, gay, and bisexual people are founded in pathological, irrational fear (a

phobia A phobia is an anxiety disorder defined by a persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are usually present for more than six months. Those affected go to great lengths to avo ...

), whereas psychological research indicates they are more accurately regarded as a form of

prejudice Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's per ...

. Herek is an openly and prominent gay psychologist. Herek is considered one of the most influential scholars of

sexual minorities A sexual minority is a group whose sexual identity, sexual orientation, orientation or practices differ from the majority of the surrounding society. Primarily used to refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual, or non-heterosexual individuals, it can als ...

Biography

Herek was born in 1954, the youngest of four children. He briefly attended the

University of Nebraska at Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (Omaha or UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was originally kno ...

, but dropped out to devote himself to political activism. He later received his B.A. degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, followed by a year of teaching at Yale. He then joined the faculty at the

City University of New York Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the C ...

. In 1989, he returned to UC Davis, first as a research psychologist and then, since 1999, as a tenured professor.

Career

Two principal foci of his original empirical research program are societal stigma based on sexual orientation and the social psychology of heterosexuals' attitudes towards lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals. He has published at least 108 papers and chapters in scholarly journals and books, most of them related to sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS, or attitudes and prejudice. He also has edited or coedited five books and two special issues of academic journals on these topics, and he has made more than 85 presentations at professional conferences and meetings. He has received numerous federal and state grants for his research with combined budgets totaling more than $5 million. Over the 25 years, he has reviewed manuscripts on topics related to sexual orientation for a large number of scientific and professional journals spanning a variety of disciplines, including psychology, sociology, political science, sexuality studies, gender studies, and public health. He currently serves on the editorial boards of nine professional journals and he is frequently invited to serve as an ad hoc peer reviewer for others. He is also the Executive Editor Emeritus of Contemporary Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Psychology, a book series dedicated to scientific and professional works on sexual orientation and related topics, which is published by the American Psychological Association. He reviewed book proposals and edited manuscripts that addressed research on a variety of topics related to sexuality and sexual orientation. As a member of a peer review panel for the National Institute of Mental Health from 1992 to 1995, and as an ad hoc reviewer for NIMH and the National Science Foundation on multiple occasions since then, he has reviewed proposals requesting federal funding for projects addressing an array of research questions related to sexuality. From 1995 to 2007, he served as chairperson of the Scientific Review Committee of the

American Psychological Foundation The American Psychological Foundation (abbreviated APF) is an American philanthropic organization dedicating to awarding research grants to psychologists in the early stages of their careers. It is affiliated with the American Psychological Associ ...

's Wayne F. Placek Award competition, which funded empirical research in the behavioral and social sciences related to sexual minorities and sexual orientation. He oversaw the review of more than 200 research proposals from a large number of academic disciplines. At UC Davis, he regularly teach an upper-division undergraduate course on sexual orientation and has also taught graduate seminars on this and related topics. Herek was an early advocate for scientific research on hate crimes based on sexual orientation, testifying in 1986 on behalf of the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

(APA) for the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee's hearings on anti-gay violence.. See also http://web1.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/moddp/dp120303.html He served as PhD advisor to graduate student

Karen Franklin Karen Franklin is an American forensic psychologist. For her doctoral dissertation, she conducted research on anti-gay violence.James Brooke, October 14, 1998, The New York TimesHomophobia Often Found In Schools, Data Show Accessed July 26, 2014 ...

who also studied the psychology of

violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or Power (social and p ...

. In 1993, he testified before the

House Armed Services Committee The U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee or HASC, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for funding and oversight of the Department of Defe ...

on behalf of the

American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 37,000 members are involve ...

, the National Association of Social Workers, the

American Counseling Association The American Counseling Association (ACA) is a membership organization representing licensed professional counselors (LPCs), counseling students, and other counseling professionals in the United States. It is the world's largest association exclus ...

, the American Nursing Association, and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. Herek summarized the results of an extensive review of the relevant published research from the social and behavioral sciences that the research data show that there is nothing about lesbians and gay men that makes them inherently unfit for military service, and there is nothing about heterosexuals that makes them inherently unable to work and live with gay people in close quarters. He concluded that heterosexual personnel can overcome their prejudices and adapt to living and working in close quarters with lesbians and gay men and that lesbians and gay men are not inherently less capable of military service than are heterosexual women and men. "The assumption that heterosexuals cannot overcome their prejudices toward gay people is a mistaken one," said Herek. In the 1990s, he conducted the first federally funded scientific study to compare gay and lesbian hate crime victims with gay men and lesbians who were victimized in crimes of comparable severity that were not related to their sexual orientation. He found that hate crime survivors had significantly higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, compared to the other crime victims. In recognition of this work, Herek was invited to participate in President Clinton's 1997 White House Conference on Hate Crimes, the only behavioral science researcher to be included among the invitees. Herek's research on antigay employment discrimination was cited in 2007 congressional testimony on the

Employment Non-Discrimination Act The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is legislation proposed in the United States Congress that would prohibit discrimination in hiring and employment on the basis of sexual orientation or, depending on the version of the bill, gender ...

(ENDA). His policy paper reviewing social science research relevant to the debate surrounding legal recognition of same-sex couples was cited by the Chief Justice of the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases challenging the ...

in her 2006 written opinion in '' Lewis v. Harris'' (ruling on the constitutionality of New Jersey’s marriage law). In 1993, he testified on behalf of the APA, the

, and four other national professional associations for the House Armed Services Committee's hearings on gays and the US military. He also assisted the APA in preparing amicus briefs in precedent-setting gay rights cases, such as ''

Romer v. Evans ''Romer v. Evans'', 517 U.S. 620 (1996), is a landmark United States Supreme Court case dealing with sexual orientation and state laws.. It was the first Supreme Court case to address gay rights since ''Bowers v. Hardwick'' (1986),. when the C ...

'' and ''

Lawrence v. Texas ''Lawrence v. Texas'', 539 U.S. 558 (2003), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that most sanctions of criminal punishment for consensual, adult non- procreative sexual activity (commonly referred to as so ...

'', and state court cases challenging current marriage laws. He testified in ''

Perry v. Schwarzenegger Perry, also known as pear cider, is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally the perry pear. It has been common for centuries in England, particularly in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. It is also mad ...

'' trial. Herek has also conducted research documenting the prevalence of stigma directed at people with

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

in the United States, which has been widely cited by public health expertse.g. and legal advocates. Herek is a Fellow of the APA and the

Association for Psychological Science The Association for Psychological Science (APS), previously the American Psychological Society, is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to promote, protect, and advance the interests of scientifically oriented psychology in ...

(APS). He was the recipient of the 2006 Kurt Lewin Memorial Award for "outstanding contributions to the development and integration of psychological research and social action," presented by the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (APA Division 9). In 1996, he received the APA Early Career Award for Contribution to Psychology in the Public Interest. His other honors include the 1999 and 1989 awards for Distinguished Scientific Contributions from APA Division 44, and the 1992 Outstanding Achievement Award from the APA Committee on Lesbian and Gay Concerns.

Selected works

* ''Out in Force'' (1992) * '' Hate Crimes'' (1992) * ''Stigma and Sexual Orientation'' (1998) * ''Basic and Applied Social Psychology'' (consulting editor) * ''The Journal of Sex Research'' (consulting editor) * ''

Journal of Homosexuality The ''Journal of Homosexuality'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering research into sexual practices and gender roles in their cultural, historical, interpersonal, and modern social contexts. History The founding editor-in-chief was Char ...

'' (consulting editor) * ''Psychology of Men & Masculinity'' (consulting editor)

References

External links

Professor Herek's faculty website bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herek, Gregory M. 1954 births American sexologists Living people American social psychologists Sexual orientation and science Writers from Omaha, Nebraska Psychology writers on LGBT topics LGBT scientists from the United States LGBT people from Nebraska Gay academics Gay scientists University of California, Davis faculty University of California, Davis alumni Fellows of the American Psychological Association