Sexual Orientation

Tue, 12 May 1998 17:16:59 -0700
"Piepel, Gregory F"

I read the draft document on Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice
in the
on-line May issue of Amstat News. I have a problem with the following
statement

C. Shared Values
6. Avoidance of discrimination or harassment relative to: Race,
Ethnicity, Sex,
Sexual Orientation, Nationality, Age, Religion, or any Disability

Specifically, it is the "sexual orientation" phrase falling under the
Shared Values heading that bothers me. Even if the phrase is only
interpreted to cover hetero- and homo-sexual situations involving
consenting adults, there are problems. I personally believe that ACTING
ON a homosexual orientation is morally wrong according to God and
natural law. I also believe that everyone is a child of God and loved by
God, and thus it is wrong to discriminate against or harass homosexuals.
Unfortunately, in today's world, the phrase "sexual orientation" used
with respect to homosexuals presumes "acting on the orientation". I,
like many people, do not have, and cannot "share", the value that acting
on homosexual orientations is acceptable.

The simplest solution to address the above concerns would be to remove
the phrase "sexual orientation". A more difficult solution would be to
include a definition of "sexual orientation" and any other
"questionable" words or phrases in the document to avoid interpretations
a significant fraction of "statisticians" would be unwilling to agree
with. I noticed a few I expect some people will comment on, but won't
list them here as I've spent enough time on this already.

**The above beliefs are my own, not those of my employer.

Greg Piepel, Ph.D.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Fri, 22 May 1998 12:26:36 -0500
elder@datamininglab.com (John Elder)

A quick perusal of your proposed Ethical Guidelines gave me the
impression that it is a thoughtful and helpful document. Well done. I
object though, to the inclusion of "sexual orientation" in the
discrimination paragraph (C6). It is my, and many others', deeply-held
religious belief that such behavior is immoral and therefore, unethical.

To lump behavior-based "orientation" in with unchangeable
characteristics such as Race, only diminishes the otherwise laudable
"discrimination" clause.

------------ Data Mining & Pattern Discovery -------------
John F. Elder IV, PhD ELDER RESEARCH elder@datamininglab.com
_____________________________________________________

Dr. Gardenier's preliminary response is -

The origin of this item is a formal policy of nondiscrimintation adopted
by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and
recommended for parallel adoption by AAAS affiliates, including ASA. The
policy was adopted as a formal resolution of the ASA BOD. In my
understanding, the policy simply means that a statistician's sexual
orientation should not be used as a basis for decisions affecting
hiring, firing, promoting, work assignments, or other professional
matters. It says nothing about the personal behavior of the individual,
which is none of ASA's business. The Ethical Guidelines will continue to
reflect all formal resolutions of the ASA BOD on ethical issues as long
as those resolutions are in effect.

A candidate rewording of the item, still under Shared Values, is:
"Decisions regarding a statistician's hiring, firing, promoting, work
assignments, publications and presentations, candidacy for offices or
awards, and other professional matters should be based on the
professional statistical qualifications and contributions of the
individual. It is the policy of the American Statistical Association to
deplore harassment of or discrimination against statisticians on
professionally irrelevant bases such as: Race, Color, Ethnicity, Sex,
Sexual Orientation, National Origin, Age, Religion, or any Disability."

Note: drafts of the Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice and
suggested statements of ASA policy have no official status until and
unless they are formally adopted by the Board of Directors.

Of possibly related interest:

On May 28, 1998, President Clinton signed an Executive Order amending
Executive Order 11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal
Government, adding sexual orientation to the list of categories in which
discrimination is prohibited. Prior to the President's amendment,
Executive Order 11478, which applies to the federal civilian workforce
only, provided a uniform policy prohibiting discrimination on the bases
of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or age.

The President's Executive Order sets forth the Administration policy,
however, it does not create any new enforcement rights (e.g. proceeding
to EEOC) for those who believe they have been discriminated against
based on their sexual orientation. In order for such rights to be
available, new legislation must be passed by Congress. In his statement
concerning the Executive Order, the President calls on Congress to pass
civil rights legislation to provide the same employment discrimination
protection to gay and lesbian Americans as that provided to the other
covered classes.

• Re: Sexual Orientation Greg Piepel 16:25:08 9/03/98 (0)