“Face Value’s Quality of Life Survey offers an historic opportunity to better understand not only how stigma creates hardships for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, but also how sexual and gender minorities successfully cope with and overcome the challenges posed by stigma.”
- Gregory M. Herek, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, UC Davis, and anti-gay stigma expert

Face Value’s unprecedented approach to social change research brings together the expertise of academics, the experience of professionals, and the knowledge of community activists to challenge conventional thinking and ask tough questions about the root causes of stigma – and determine the most effective ways to overcome it. Learn more about our projects:

Stigma: Exposing the Roots of Anti-LGBTQ Prejudice

The idea that exposure to LGBTQ people poses a threat to children taps into the deeper building blocks of anti-LGBTQ stigma. Face Value conducts unprecedented cross-disciplinary research to develop new, data-driven frames, messages, narratives and tactics that are demonstrated to shift public discourse that will help Americans resolve their emotional conflicts about sexuality, sexual orientation and gender, and improves the lived experience of LGBTQ people. Learn more >>

Contact: How Knowing Impacts Prejudice

We must better understand the relationship between a person knowing someone who is LGBTQ and that person’s attitudes and beliefs about LGBTQ people in general. Then we will use these findings to develop new narratives that are demonstrated to reduce stigma and improve people’s attitudes about LGBTQ people. Learn more >>

Quality of Life: Understanding the Lived Experience

Measuring the lived experience of LGBTQ people will help to shift the definition of progress from one quantified by public opinion support for pro-LGBTQ policies, to one defined by improvement in the real, daily, lived experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. Learn more >>

A New Narrative: Sharing the Story of LGBTQ Lived Equality

A new narrative needs to reflect the totality and multi-dimensionality of the LGBTQ community’s lived experience and history (who we are, where we come from, and how we relate to others). This means that LGBTQ people and our allies must learn to tell a new story.
 Learn more >>