Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Gay and/or lesbian families'

Research on the experiences of children raised in gay/lesbian parent families (GPLFs) has shown that the children often feel exposed and/or threatened by the societal heteronormativity they are faced with (Lubbe, 2007; Lubbe & Kruger, 2012). It has also been found that GPLFs often have to work hard and diligently to create a comfortable familiarity, or sense of belonging, within the society in which they live in (Breshears, 2011). Nevertheless, these findings do not disprove GPLFs assertions that they are happy and are functioning effectively in society. Many psychological and sociological family studies have either ignored the family s bonding with society or dealt with it only in general terms (Cigoli & Scabini, 2006), while there is also scant literature in this regard relating to modern-day society, especially to South African populations and GLPFs specifically. The aim of this study was to explore the protective factors that facilitate resilience in South African GPLFs living in a predominantly heteronormative society. On the assumption that GPLFs experience challenges relating to living in a heteronormative society, the objective was to understand how (and if) the families interactions with society influence each other reciprocally. This study was embedded in a qualitative research approach and was guided by an intrinsic case study design. Accordingly, the lives of ten families were explored, using unstructured interviews, electronic interviews, visuals and other supportive data. In order to construct a resilience framework that highlights the factors that promote resilience in GLPFs, thematic content analysis and a thematic infusion process were conducted against a background of bio-ecological systems theory. The results indicate that there are both risk and protective factors on the micro-, meso-, exo-, and macro-systemic levels. Subsequently, a resilience wheel was drafted using the protective factors as a framework against which resilience in South African GLPFs can be interpreted and understood. The following protective factors were identified as promoting resilience: ? Micro level. Participants reflected a strong sense of self-determination in their personal ok-ness and intentional out-ness. They built resilience through avoidance, disclosure and personal beliefs. Meso level. Participants reflected a strong sense of family coherence, which was seen in the relationship among the family members and the subsequent family identity. They built resilience through open and honest communication styles, as well as preparational, recreational and bonding rituals. ? Exo level. Participants reflected a strong sense of belonging which was seen in the complexity of their social identity. They built resilience through their relationships with health care services and the school, their occupational profile and the support of extended family members. ? Macro level. Participants reflected a strong awareness of society s limited exposure to GLPFs and therefore experienced a constant awareness of difference. However, they were also aware that they were being supported by the Constitution in developing resilience, because if it were not for their difference , GLPFs would not have had protective laws in place to guide their negotiations with society in a non-discriminatory manner. ? Chrono level. Participants reflected the hope that unbiased treatment would be available to them in the future, accordingly, building resilience on their belief in social justice. Such social justice would be reflected the transformation of a heteronormative-family discourse in society to one that accommodates diversity in family structure. In summary, this study sheds light on GLPFs by expanding knowledge on the issue of their resilience, taking into account the broader political and social issues. The knowledge generated by this study can further be applied to contexts in which studies are conducted on diverse and minority family forms in society.
Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2015.
Educational Psychology
PhD

Despite recent advancements in legislation and policies regarding gay and lesbian Americans, negative attitudes and perceptions toward this population still exist. Anecdotal information from social work classroom interactions suggests that biases against gays and lesbian families may exist among those being trained as helping professionals. This study examined social work student comfort with gay and lesbian families. The researcher used an exploratory-descriptive research design, with a sample of 85 Bachelors level social work students (BSW) and Masters level social work students (MSW) who completed the 52 item online questionnaire related to gay and lesbian parenting. The findings from the research suggest the presence of a statistically significant relationship between students' attitudes towards gays and lesbians and students' comfort level with same sex parents. The researcher discusses the significance of the study and the implications for social work practice and education.
B.S.W.
Bachelors
Health and Public Affairs
Social Work

The aim of this Ph.D. thesis is to contribute to a critical understanding of lesbian and gay parented families in relation to their travel motivations and destination choice. While these families have gained increased visibility particularly in Western societies, they are still largely neglected in tourism research. Thus, this thesis helps fill a three-fold gap in academic scholarship. Firstly, it adds to knowledge about gay and lesbian tourism, thereby challenging the heteronormativity that dominates tourism research. Secondly, it helps fill the lacuna about family travel as tourism studies mainly emphasise individual choices and largely neglect the perspectives of the family as a decision-making unit. Thirdly, it helps complete the gap in tourism research about families whose configurations do not fit the heteronormative model, namely, the ‘mother-father-children’ trinomial. In line with the interpretivist paradigm and phenomenological strategy adopted, qualitative interviews were utilised as the data collection method. Twenty-two interviews were held, involving sixteen mothers, thirteen fathers and six children. Findings reveal the multiple significances of holidays for these families. Family tourism is prompted by a search for escape, familiarity and novelty while forging and enhancing multiple levels of connections and reconnections. Holidays are also opportunities to construct and strengthen family identity, with the rituals and memories they create helping preserve the past and guarantee the future of the family unit. While holiday decisions prioritise children’s needs, they are jointly made between partners. Moreover, on family holidays, gay and lesbian parents minimise the role of sexuality, which is ‘left to the background’ of other identities; yet, sexuality impacts on destination avoidance. Sexuality-related shame can further cause lesbigay parents to shun social interaction on holiday and/or avoid gay-centred destinations due to a concern of exposing children to demonstrations of ‘gayness.’ This thesis offers several unique contributions to knowledge. It demonstrates same-sex parented families are, with regard to their holiday motivations and choices, more similar than different from the ‘traditional’ heteronormative family studied in the past. This contributes to extending the understanding of the family in tourism research. In addition, it reveals how gay and lesbian parents’ somewhat paradoxical relationship with their sexualities informs their families’ travel choices. In doing so, this thesis adds to knowledge about the influence of pride/shame in tourism studies. It also highlights these families’ desire to blend in and reinforce their ‘averageness’ rather than difference in relation to heteronormative families. This finding contributes to an understanding of the ‘assimilationist’ nature of same-sex parented families. Finally, further contribution to research on family tourism stems from the new and unique light this study sheds on the interplay between holidays, togetherness and family identity.

Gender presentation, appearing in a way that fits social expectations of one’s gender role, represents one of the most obvious ways in which one’s gender identity becomes salient to others. This quality is especially relevant to note given the continued controversy surrounding children’s gender role development when raised by non-heterosexual parents. The current study is an examination of how gender presentation develops in adopted children with lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parents across two time points (Wave 1: N = 106, Mage = 36.07 months; Wave 2: N = 90, Mage = 8.34). Children’s gender presentation was analyzed using a novel coding scheme, consisting of several variables meant to target the presence of gender typed clothing. These elements of appearance were compared with several measures of child outcomes. It was found that children generally adhere to presentation elements of their assigned gender and there were limited differences by parental sexual orientation in any of the gender presentation variables. Additionally, there was no association found between conformity in gender presentation and children’s self-perception or parent or child gender-typical attitudes. The results of this initial study may prove to be useful in ongoing research surrounding children’s gender typicality.

The concept of “family” has rapidly changed over the past few years. The prevalence of more and more children raised in same-gendered families has brought to mind the question of disclosure. This qualitative case study explored the disclosure practices of adolescents raised in same-gendered families in an attempt to understand how adolescents negotiate their unique family structure throughout their daily lives. The data in this study was analysed using thematic content analysis. It was found that both positive and negative experiences influence the adolescents raised in samegendered families decision to disclose and that disclosure of family structure usually takes place after careful negotiation based on the grounds of either a close relationship, common ground or a perceived urgency.
Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010.
Educational Psychology
unrestricted

This thesis considers how local authority social workers go about assessing the suitability of lesbians and gay men to foster or adopt children. It also asks how far a stated lesbian or gay sexuality is problematic within this process. A constructionist approach to social enquiry is used, data being generated by interviews with social workers, as well as a case study of a lesbian couple’s adoption application. Dorothy Smith’s ‘institutional ethnography’ is also employed to examine the ‘relations of ruling’ that structure such assessments. A continuum of assessment models is proposed in order to show the dominance of ‘on merit’ approaches which prioritise child care skills over sexuality issues. The thesis demonstrates the presence of arguments about the supposed ‘risks’ to children posed by lesbians or gay men. The notion of ‘discrimination’ in assessments is analysed, as are attempts by some social workers to challenge discrimination, and it is argued that small-scale anti-discriminatory measures are inadequate. Constructions of the categories ‘lesbian’ and ‘gay’ are discussed in relation to the ‘good carer of children’, and the thesis proposes the dominance of two versions: the ‘good lesbian’ and the ‘maternal gay man’. The thesisargues that the ‘on merit: prioritisation of child care skills’ model relies upon heteronormative ideas, and the case study looks at contested meanings given to the category ‘lesbian’ which are also gendered and raced. The thesis sees ‘lesbian’ and ‘gay’ as categories of knowledge, and social work assessment as a ‘making sense’ activity in which versions of these are produced. Such everyday practices are problematised in the thesis, and discourse, (black) feminist and queer theories are used to analyse how the assessment is a site for the production of knowledges about sexuality.

This thesis considers how local authority social workers go about assessing the suitability of lesbians and gay men to foster or adopt children. It also asks how far a stated lesbian or gay sexuality is problematic within this process. A constructionist approach to social enquiry is used, data being generated by interviews with social workers, as well as a case study of a lesbian couple’s adoption application. Dorothy Smith’s ‘institutional ethnography’ is also employed to examine the ‘relations of ruling’ that structure such assessments (Smith, 1987). A continuum of assessment models is proposed in order to show the dominance of ‘on merit’ approaches which prioritise child care skills over sexuality issues. The thesis demonstrates the presence of arguments about the supposed ‘risks’ to children posed by lesbians or gay men. The notion of ‘discrimination’ in assessments is analysed, as are attempts by some social workers to challenge discrimination, and it is argued that small-scale anti-discriminatory measures are inadequate. Constructions of the categories ‘lesbian’ and ‘gay’ are discussed in relation to the ‘good carer of children’, and the thesis proposes the dominance of two versions: the ‘good lesbian’ and the ‘maternal gay man’. The thesis argues that the ‘on merit: prioritisation of child care skills’ model relies upon iii heteronormative ideas, and the case study looks at contested meanings given to the category ‘lesbian’ which are also gendered and raced. The thesis sees ‘lesbian’ and ‘gay’ as categories of knowledge, and social work assessment as a ‘making sense’ activity in which versions of these are produced. Such everyday practices are problematised in the thesis, and discourse, (black) feminist and queer theories are used to analyse how the assessment is a site for the production of knowledges about sexuality.

I will focus on the resistance to white heteronormative depictions of the American family occurring within two contemporary films directed by gay black men—The Skinny, directed by Patrik-Ian Polk, and The Happy Sad, directed by Rodney Evans. These movies complicate understandings of black gay male relationships by humanizing the characters and providing clarity about the motivations behind the decisions these characters make. As opposed to simply associating their queerness and immorality, the directors of these films explore what brings people to the various social positions they occupy. In this way, these directors resist the tendency to pathologize either blackness or queerness (and blackness/queerness at the expense of one another). The films I use do not structure family through the heteronormative model of relationships. Of there is no sight or mention of actual biological family members. Despite these factors, the groups of people presented in these films display their love and affection for each other in ways that resist monolithic narratives about queer kinship. Additionally, I will argue that these narratives regarding black homosexuality are not attempting to fit inside the mold of the racialized patriarchal determinants of the family.

Il y a encore quelques années, être homosexuel, en couple et adopter un enfant relevait de l’utopie. Aujourd’hui, l’adoption par des couples homosexuels est devenue une réalité légale et une possibilité concrète dans plusieurs pays du monde.Pourtant, lorsqu’il faut placer les enfants dans des familles adoptives, l’orientation sexuelle des futurs parents demeure une question controversée qui divise l’opinion publique (Patterson, 2009). Souvent, le débat oppose « le droit de l’enfant », défendu par la Convention internationale des droits de l’enfant, et « le droit à l’enfant », réclamé par les homosexuels ou sympathisants (Herbrand 2006).Entre les débats socio-politiques, les controverses de nature idéologique et éthique, ces nouvelles familles, de plus en plus nombreuses, affirment haut et fort leur droit à « sortir de l’oubli » et s’engagent dans une bataille dont l’objectif est de normaliser leur contexte familial aux yeux de la société.Malgré l’expansion de l’adoption homoparentale, l’expérience de vie de ces nouvelles familles est à peine abordée dans la littérature scientifique actuelle. En effet, même si, ces quarante dernières années, de nombreuses recherches ont été consacrées à l’homoparentalité, très peu d’études se sont focalisées sur les familles ayant choisi l’adoption comme mode de filiation, surtout dans le contexte européen.L’objectif de la présente recherche était de combler ce vide dans la littérature, en analysant les expériences de la première génération de familles adoptives homoparentales résidant en Europe. Pour ce faire, nous avons donné la parole à 31 familles adoptives homoparentales, sur un total de 62 parents adoptifs (46 gays et 16 lesbiennes) et de 44 enfants adoptés (entre 3 et 18 ans) en Belgique, France et Espagne.Ces trois pays ont été choisis pour les éléments qu’ils partagent ou qui les opposent dans le contexte socio-politique des droits des minorités sexuelles et la procédure d’adoption. La Belgique et l’Espagne sont considérées aujourd’hui comme deux des pays les plus avant-gardistes et gay- friendly en Europe et dans le monde entier. De fait, ces deux pays ont été parmi les premiers à ouvrir l’adoption aux couples de même sexe(respectivement en 2006 et 2005). En revanche, la France n’a légiféré sur cette question qu’en 2013, après des débats longs et houleux qui ont suscité de nombreuses réactions.Etudier les familles homoparentales dans ces trois pays nous a permis d’avoir accès à des situations d’adoption différentes: en effet, tous les participants belges ont adopté des enfants en bas âge via une procédure d’adoption conjointe nationale, tandis que tous les participants français et la plupart des espagnols ont adopté des enfants à l’étranger et généralement plus âgés, via une procédure où seul l’un des deux partenaires adoptait légalement l’enfant.La théorie qui a orienté notre étude est celle du cycle de vie de la famille adoptive (Brodzinsky, Smith & Brodzinsky, 1998; Brodzinsky & Pinderhughes, 2002; Hajal & Rosenberg, 1991). S’inspirant du schéma « classique » du cycle de vie (Carter & McGoldrick, 1980) cette théorie identifie des phases clef à travers lesquelles la famille adoptive transite :la phase pré-adoption, durant laquelle le couple est souvent confronté à l’infertilité et décide d’entamer un parcours adoptif ;la procédure d’adoption, souvent vécue comme un moment de stress et d’incertitude; l’arrivée de l’enfant dans la famille, suivie du processus de « parentage » de l’enfant adopté, différent en fonction de l’âge de celui-ci (préscolaire, scolaire, ou adolescent). Selon cette conception, à chaque étape du cycle de vie, la famille adoptive est confrontée à de nouveaux défis et tâches développementales, qui sont à la fois similaires et différents de ceux vécus par des familles non-adoptives.Cette recherche avait pour but d’éclairer à la fois le vécu des homoparents adoptifs et des enfants adoptés au sein de ces nouvelles familles, en analysant leurs expériences en fonction de l’étape de leur cycle de vie.En ce qui concerne les parents, nous avons analysé trois moments clefs: le processus décisionnel, le parcours d'adoption et leurs expériences en tant qu’homoparents suite à l'arrivée de l'enfant dans la famille. Plus précisément, les questions suivantes ont guidé notre recherche :quel cheminement a été celui des homoparents avant de choisir l'adoption ?Quels sont les enjeux de la transition à l’homoparentalité adoptive ?Et quels sont les défis et les tâches parentales auxquels ils sont confrontés suite à l’adoption ?Concernant les enfants, nous avons analysé leur construction identitaire à différentes étapes de leur développement. Notre attention s’est portée sur les questions suivantes :quelle est l’expérience subjective de ces enfants ?Quelles sont les spécificités de leur construction identitaire à l’intersection de la situation adoptive et homoparentale ?Quelles sont leurs questions, leurs demandes tout au long de leur développement ?Ainsi, un intérêt particulier a été consacré à la thématique de la perte des parents de naissance et à l'exploration de dynamiques familiales au tour de cette issue. Plus précisément, nous avons analysé la communication familiale concernant la « double appartenance » des enfants (famille d’origine et famille adoptive) afin de répondre aux questions de recherche suivantes :comment ces familles gèrent- elles la perte des parents d’origine ?Quels sont les sentiments des homoparents et des enfants adoptés vis-à-vis des parents de naissance? Et comment cela impacte-t-il les dynamiques familiales ?Du point de vue méthodologique, nous avons conduit des entretiens semi-structurés et soumis les homoparents et leurs enfants à un test projectif graphique (La Double Lune, Greco 1999). L’entretien visait à approfondir les expériences des participants ;le test projectif, en permettant d’accéder à une dimension «plus inconsciente », a complété les informations obtenues. Cet instrument projectif s’est révélé particulièrement utile pour l’exploration des sentiments et des dynamiques relationnelles autour de la thématique de la perte de la famille d’origine.L’originalité de la présente recherche consiste dans le fait qu’elle est pionnière dans le contexte européen ainsi que dans le domaine psychologique. Notre étude a le mérite de fournir des réponses scientifiques à une question sociale de grande actualité, en recentrant les débats sur les principaux intéressés :les homoparents et leurs enfants. Leurs récits nous ouvrent la porte à un nouvel univers familial, dont les « points de repères » et les critères sont uniques et nouveaux. Les familles adoptives homoparentales sont des avant-gardistes de la société, des petits laboratoires de nouveaux mondes possibles. Ces familles anticipent et précèdent. Par leur exemple, elles accélèrent les changements de la société, elles poussent vers le futur.Les expériences des familles rapportées dans la présente thèse nous amèneront, page après page, à déconstruire nos propres préconceptions de la famille, du couple et de la filiation et à porter de « nouveaux regards » qui permettent de saisir l’incontestable richesse dont ces nouvelles géométries familiales sont dépositaires. Leurs témoignages nous permettront de concevoir une nouvelle manière de faire famille, mais aussi de « repenser » et « réinventer » le principe de l’adoption, sur base de leur expérience inédite.
Only a few years ago, being homosexual, in a relationship, and adopting a child was a utopia. Nowadays, same-sex adoption is a legal reality and a concrete possibility in many countries in the world. However, the right of gay and lesbian people to adopt a child remains a controversial issue that strongly divides public opinion. In the debate there are often those who defend “the right of the child” (according to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child) and those, these being sexual minorities and their sympathisers, who defend “the right to a child” (Herbrand 2006). Among socio-political debates, ideological and ethical controversies, these new families, who are becoming more and more numerous, claim, loud and clear, their right to "emerge from oblivion" and engage in a "battle" of which the objective is to normalise their family context in the eyes of society.Despite the progressive diffusion of same-sex adoption, the life experiences of these new families remain practically unexplored in scientific literature. In fact, even if in the last 40 years a great deal of research was dedicated to same-sex parenting, very few studies focused on families who chose adoption as a pathway to parenthood. Especially in the European context, there is a dearth of data on this topic. In order to fill this gap in literature, the present research aimed to analyse the experiences of the first generation of gay and lesbian adoptive families living in Europe. To this end, we gave the floor to 31 adoptive same-sex families, totalling 62 adoptive parents (46 gay men and 16 lesbians) and 44 adopted children (between 3 and 18 years old) living in Belgium, France and Spain.The choice for these three countries was motivated by the fact that they have a number of elements in common but also differ at some points as to the socio-political context of the rights of sexual minorities and the adoption process.Nowadays, Belgium and Spain are considered to be two of the most avant-garde and gay friendly countries both in Europe and worldwide. These two countries were among the first to open adoption to same-sex couples (respectively in 2006 and 2005). In turn, France legislated this aspect only in 2013, after long and controversial social debates. Studying same-sex families in these three countries enabled us to have access to varied adoption situations: in fact, all Belgian participants adopted infants through a joint national adoption procedure, while all the French and most of Spanish participants adopted generally older children abroad, through an international adoption procedure in which only one of the two partners legally adopted the child.Our study was oriented by the adoptive family cycle theory (Brodzinsky et al. 1998; Brodzinsky & Pinderhughes, 2002; Hajal & Rosenberg, 1991). Inspired by the classic theory of the family life cycle (Carter & McGoldrick, 1980), this theory identifies key phases through which the adoptive family transits: the pre-adoptive phase, during which the couple is often confronted with infertility and decides to start an adoption path; the adoption process, often experienced as a period of stress and uncertainty; the arrival of the child in the family, and the successive process of parenting the adopted child which changes according to the child’s age (infancy, preschool, school, or adolescence years). According to this theory, in each stage of the life cycle adoptive families encounter new challenges and developmental tasks, which are both similar and different from those experienced by non-adoptive families.This research aimed to study the experiences of both same-sex parents and the adopted children in these new families, by taking the stage of the family life cycle in which they were into account.On the side of the same-sex parents, we analysed three key moments: the decision-making process, the adoption procedure and their daily experiences as same-sex parents after the arrival of the child in the family.More precisely, the following questions guided our research: What is the personal journey of gay and lesbian people before choosing adoption? What are the main barriers encountered during the transition to same-sex adoptive parenthood? What are the main challenges and parental tasks they face after adoption? On the side of the adopted children, we were interested in exploring their identity construction process at different stages of their development. Our attention was focused on the following research questions: What is the personal experience of these children? What are the specificities of their identity construction at the intersection of their adoptive and family minority statuses? What are their questions and their developmental issues during their growing years?In addition, special attention was paid to the theme of the loss of birth parents and to the exploration of family dynamics surrounding this issue.We particularly studied the family communication concerning the double family connection of adopted children (family of origin and adoptive family), answering the following research questions: How do these families deal with the theme of the loss of the birth family? What are the feelings of same-sex parents and their adopted children towards the birth family? How does this element impact the family dynamics?From a methodological point of view, we conducted semi-structured interviews and applied a projective graphical test (the Double Moon Test, Greco, 1999) to both same-sex parents and their children. The purpose of the interviews was to explore the participants' experiences, while the projective test enriched the information obtained through the interviews, giving access to a more "unconscious" dimension. This projective instrument in particular, proved to be very useful for the exploration of feelings and relational dynamics connected with the theme of the loss of the birth family.The originality of this research is that it is pioneering in the European context as well as in the field of psychology. Our study has the merit of providing scientific answers to a very topical social question, by refocusing debates on the main stakeholders: gay and lesbian parents and their children. Their stories lead us into a new family universe whose distinguishing features and criteria are unique and new. Same-sex families are the avant-garde of society, small laboratories of possible new worlds. These families anticipate and precede. By their example, they accelerate changes in society, they push towards the future. The experiences of the families reported in this thesis will induce us, page after page, to deconstruct our own preconceptions of family, couples and filiation and bring about "a new perspective" that allows us to grasp the undeniable wealth for which these new family geometries are custodians. Their testimonies will allow us to imagine a new way of being a family, but also to "rethink" and "reinvent" the adoption clinic, based on their unique experience.
Doctorat en Sciences psychologiques et de l'éducation
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Sexual minority youth are coming out about their same-sex attractions earlier in recent years. Such youth and their families may experience a range of potential problems and concerns, suggesting that the child welfare system may need to do more to respond to the unique needs of this population. By employing a qualitative research design, this study, using face-to-face interviews with ten child welfare workers, examined child welfare agencies' ability to adequately render services to sexual minority youth and their families.

Young people who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) are disclosing their sexual identity--or coming out--at progressively younger ages, making it more important than ever for the general population to understand, tolerate, and accept diversity in sexual identity. This study was designed to fill the gap in the existing literature about how the coming out process affects LGB young people's families of origin. Three LGB young people participated in the study, along with a member of each of their families. The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with each of the participants, as well as a conjoint interview with each of the three families. The findings of this interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study illustrate the many ways in which a young person's coming out reverberates within the family system, offering a relational understanding of the coming out experience. The results of the study emphasize the process-oriented nature of coming out and the means by which that process is influenced by and influences family relationships and overall family dynamics. Centered on the various ways in which LGB young people prepare to disclose their sexual orientation to their families and how their family members adjust to the disclosure, the study offers a historically and culturally situated overview of the coming out experience in the family. Based on the results of the present study, the researcher offers suggestions for future studies on this subject and presents the implications of the study for LGB young people, their families, and family therapists.

La thèse porte sur l'évolution des normes parentales dans des situations où celles-ci sont discutées, mises en jeu et légitimées, en particulier concernant la pluriparentalité. D'une part, je me suis penchée sur le projet légal de "parenté sociale" qui vise à reconnaître la place et les droits d'un adulte qui s'occupe de l'enfant de son conjoint avec qui il n'a pas de lien biologique. D'autre part, j'ai analysé des situations familiales dites de "coparentalité" où gay(s) et lesbienne(s) s'associent pour avoir un enfant ensemble en l'élevant séparément.

The PhD thesis deals with the evolution of parental norms in changing situations in which these norms can be discussed and modified, specifically en terms of multiparenthood. On the one hand, I have studied a new form of legal status - “social parenthood” - debated in the Belgian Parliament to recognize non-biological parenthood. On the other hand, I have analyzed gay and lesbian “coparenting”, which can be defined as a parental project involving a lesbian woman/couple and a gay man/couple brought together to have a child and raise he or she separately. In each case, I examined the ways in which individuals live and deal with familial situations that involve same-sex couples and/or more than two parents raising a child.
Doctorat en sciences sociales, Orientation sociologie
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Benefitting from social changes in the last few decades, single Taiwanese women seem to have gained greater sexual autonomy and freer lifestyle choices. Single lesbians can now more easily pass as heterosexual; however, this is not an easy choice once they form a relationship. Despite increased freedoms, it is difficult for lesbian erotic relationships to be acknowledged in patriarchal families. I argue for an understanding of lesbian relationships that takes account of families of origin and lesbians’ negotiation of the wider social context of Taiwanese Confucian patriarchy. Drawing on a qualitative study of 15 lesbian couples, with data from couple interviews and individual interview for each (i.e. 45 interviews in total), this research explores how lesbians form their relationships and develop their notion of family. Participants were aged between 28 and 40 and most had attended higher education. At the time of the interviews, the length of relationships averaged at seven years and varied from six months to sixteen years. Most couples were living together while two were temporarily in long distance relationships. Individual interviews focused on personal sexual stories, how lesbians developed their sexual identities in various social settings and the ways they negotiated their sexuality with their families of origin. Couple interviews then focused on relationship histories, the ways they committed to and conducted their relationships. Four main areas of analysis emerged from accounts: how lesbians recognised same sex attraction, how that differed from identifying as lesbian and the ways they built up communities and group norms; negotiating sexuality in their families of origin and their relations with their partner’s families of origin; lesbian couples’ relationship practices and their varying experiences of commitment; lesbian couples’ domestic arrangements, including differing degrees of equality that they achieved and how gender role-playing influenced these decisions. By highlighting the specific issues in Taiwan, I argue that it is possible for lesbians to make their lives outside patriarchal families and this is understandable only in their situational contexts.

Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2005.
Thesis research directed by: Counseling and Personnel Services. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

Twenty-two African American lesbians were interviewed in order to identify and examine the intersection of individual and family processes that African American lesbian couples engage in as a family with members of their families of origin. A qualitative research design based on grounded theory methods was used. Data were interpreted using an integrative framework of postmodern feminism, Black feminism, and symbolic interactionism. Findings revealed three major themes: a) Black lesbian couples go through a coming out process as a couple and as individuals, at times, simultaneously; b) Black lesbian families establish and enforce boundaries to protect their intentional, co-created families, and this boundary definition shapes lesbian family identity, and c) resources accessible from informal social supports by African American lesbian families are different from the types of social support and resources available to Black lesbian individuals. These findings provide valuable insights into lesbian family processes that can assist family studies, feminist scholars, family therapists, and community practitioners in identifying future research directions and clinical practices appropriate for African American lesbian families.
Ph. D.

The goal of the current study was to understand the process of acculturation of LGBT immigrants to Canada. I used the grounded theory approach to obtain an in-depth interpretive understanding of the subjective experience and perceptions related to the acculturation process of LGBT immigrants. The emerged grounded theory revealed that the acculturation experience of LGBT immigrants is formed by two consistent parallel subprocesses: cultural identity development and sexual identity development. Data analysis demonstrated that queerphobia in the culture of origin was a central phenomenon of the grounded theory, and played the most dominant role in the development of cultural and sexual parts of the LGBT immigrants' identity. Furthermore, the culture of LGBT immigrants' country of origin, as well as Canadian culture, strongly influenced their sexual identity development before and after immigration, and vice versa – their sexual identity development influenced the way LGBT immigrants relate to their culture of origin and to the Canadian culture before and after immigration. Moreover, the emerged grounded theory suggested that in the case of LGBT immigrants, the acculturation process often begins long before the beginning of the actual immigration process, as LGBT immigrants often assume a Western orientation as a response to queerphobia in their culture of origin. In addition, this study identified the perceived challenges and advantages that LGBT immigrants experience during the acculturation process, as well as presented variables responsible for the variety of acculturation outcomes. Finally, the study provided clinical implications and recommendations for mental health practitioners regarding the design and implementation of micro and macro level interventions that address multiple challenges LGBT immigrants face in their acculturation process.
L'objectif de la présente étude était de comprendre le processus d'acculturation des immigrants LGBT au Canada. J'ai utilisé l'approche de théorisation ancrée pour obtenir une compréhension interpretative en profondeur de l'expérience subjective et des perceptions liées au processus d'acculturation des immigrants LGBT. La theorie ancrée générée a révélé que l'expérience de l'acculturation des immigrants LGBT est formée de deux sous-processus parallèles cohérents: le développement de l'identité culturelle et de développement de l'identité sexuelle. L'analyse des données a montré que la queerphobie dans la culture d'origine est un phénomène central de la théorie ancrée, et a joué un rôle des plus prépondérant dans le développement des parties : culturelle et sexuelle de l'identité des immigrants LGBT. En outre, la culture du pays d'origine des immigrants LGBT, ainsi que la culture canadienne, a fortement influencé le développement de leur identité sexuelle avant et après leur immigration, et vice versa - le développement de leur identité sexuelle a influencé la façon dont les immigrants LGBT se rapportent à leur culture d'origine et à la culture canadienne. D'autre part, la théorie ancrée générée a suggéré que, dans le cas des immigrants LGBT, le processus d'acculturation commence souvent bien avant le début du processus d'immigration en lui même, les immigrants LGBT mettent en avant leur orientation vers l'occident comme opposition à la « queerphobie » dans leur culture d'origine. De surcroît, cette étude a identifié les défis et les avantages perçus que les immigrants LGBT vivent durant le processus d'acculturation, ainsi que les facteurs présentés dans l'étude responsables de la variété des résultats d'acculturation. Enfin, l'étude a fourni des implications et des recommandations cliniques pour les professionnels de la santé mentale concernant la conception et la mise en œuvre des interventions au niveau micro et macro qui répondent à de multiples défis. Défis auquels les immigrants LGBT font face dans leur processus d'acculturation.

In this thesis, I explore lesbian and gay awareness training from a critical perspective. Lesbian and gay awareness training represents one of the few contemporary interventions attempting to effect positive social change on behalf of lesbians and gay men, and my researcha ssessesw hether and how this social phenomenonw orks. My researchb rings together a diverse range of ideas from critical psychology, lesbian and gay psychology and feminist psychology, using a (predominantly qualitative) multi-method approach with an emphasis on the process of training in action. I draw on a range of data source S, namely: tape-recordings of 'live' training sessions; interviews with trainers and trainees; field notes; pre-and post- training homophobia scales; and post-training evaluation forms. These data are analysed using descriptive statistics (Chapter 3), thematic analysis (Chapters 3,4,5,8), (thematic) discourse analysis (Chapters 6 and 7), and conversation analysis (Chapter 9). In seven empirical chapters I analyse various aspects of training. In Chapter 3,1 demonstrate that training 'works' when evaluated using outcome measures, and I critique the liberal ideology embodied in homophobia scales. I focus on training exercises, in Chapter 4, and I show how training is couched within a broad liberal framework. I examine pitfalls in training and how to overcome them from the trainers' perspective, in Chapter 5. Chapter 6, presents a discursive analysis of how trainees talk about their behaviour and attitude 'change' following training, and Chapter 7 analyses ways that mundane heterosexism is manifest in training. Chapters 8 and 9 analyse questions from the floor and highlight how the 'real' event differs from training manual advice. In the final chapter, I discuss the contributions and implications of my research for social change and indicate some future developments for research on lesbian and gay awarenesstr aining, and for lesbian and gay psychology.

Poverty is a widely researched topic in economics. However, despite growing research on the economic lives of lesbians and gay men in the United States since the mid 1990s, very little is known about poverty in same-sex couple households. This study uses American Community Survey data from 2010 to 2014 to calculate poverty rates for households headed by different-sex versus same-sex couples. Comparing households with similar characteristics, the results show that those headed by same-sex couples are more likely to be in poverty than those headed by different-sex married couples. Despite that overall disadvantage, a decomposition of the poverty risk shows that same-sex couples are protected from poverty by their higher levels of education and labor force participation, and their lower probability of having a child in the home. Lastly, the role of gender - above and beyond sexual orientation - is clear in the greater vulnerability to poverty for lesbian couples.

This study examined the relationships between parents' and their gay and lesbian children from the parents' perspective. Forty-seven questionnaires containing thirty-two questions were distributed and completed. This study sought to identify barriers parents experienced and the levels of acceptance prior to and after their child's disclosure, in order to assist families during the coming out process.

This thesis presents the findings of a qualitative research study exploring lesbian and gay affirmative psychotherapy. The participants comprised two sets of people. The first are lesbian and gay male clients, the second are lesbian, gay male and heterosexual female therapists. These therapists are accredited Clinical and Counselling Psychologists, Registered Psychotherapists and Accredited Counsellors and identify as lesbian and gay affirmative -practitioners. The study explored accounts of lesbian and gay affirmative psychotherapy to see in which ways it is qualitatively different from other forms of therapy with a view to theorising the process of lesbian and gay affirmative psychotherapy. In-depth interviews were conducted and a grounded theory methodology was undertaken. This is discussed in terms of method and epistemology. The findings are represented in diagrammatic and text forms and I outline process models of lesbian and -gay affirmative therapy. While some of the findings have suggested that lesbian and gay affirmative therapeutic practice might be characterised by particular stances or practices, many of the findings can be incorporated'into a range of psychotherapeutic perspectives. Knowledge, training and contextual factors are discussed.

In this thesis, I explore the construction of lesbian and gay parenting in psychology (Part 1), in the media (Part 2), and in lesbian and gay parents' talk (Part 3). My research brings together a diverse range of influences and ideas from lesbian and gay psychology, feminist psychology, and constructionist and discursive research. I draw on varied data sources: the psychological and lesbian feminist literature on lesbian (and gay) parenting, television talk shows, documentaries and newspaper articles, and research interviews with lesbian and gay parents. These data are analysed within a feminist constructionist framework, using discourse analysis. The thesis is divided into three parts. In Part 1.1 present my analysis of the psychological and lesbian feminist literature on lesbian (and gay) parenting. In this part of the thesis, I treat the literature as data and explore what it reveals about the social construction of lesbian and gay parenting. First, I provide a historical overview of the literature on lesbians and parenting over the last one hundred years. Then, I focus in detail on how discourses of sameness and difference and discourses of science inform the construction of lesbian (and gay) parenting in the literature. In Part 2, I analyse media constructions of lesbian and gay parenting. First, I identify arguments against lesbian and gay parenting in talk shows and in newspaper articles. Second, I focus specifically on talk show debates and analyse how these debates are constructed and identify the key themes informing pro-lesbian/gay parenting discourse on talk shows. In Part 3, I focus in detail on lesbian and gay parents' talk about two issues that significantly inform psychological and media debates about their fitness to parent: homophobic bullying and male role models. I explore how lesbian and gay parents engage with anti-lesbian/gay claims about homophobic bullying and male role models, and the ways in which they construct bullying and role models in the process of discursively managing their identity as 'bad' parents. In the final chapter, I discuss the contributions and implications of my research, and indicate some future developments for research on lesbian and gay parenting and for lesbian and gay psychology.

Many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals report experiencing discrimination in their health care that leads to avoidance of regular appointments with providers. Lack of regular primary care can delay diagnoses of preventable conditions and increase patient risks for chronic disease complications. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to understand LGBT cultural competencies for nursing and other health care providers. The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews and Melnyk's levels of evidence framed this systematic literature review. Articles for inclusion were limited to those published in English between 2008 and 2018. Keywords used in the literature search included LGBT health disparity, LGBT cultural competency orientation, and nursing LGBT education. The search yielded 70 article results, which were further reduced to 12 articles by critically analyzing the applicability of the literature to the practice-related questions and removing duplicate articles. Five articles met the criteria for Levels III-IV (case-control or cohort), 6 met the criteria for Level II (randomized control trials), and 1 was Level 1 (systematic review). The analysis of evidence demonstrated the importance of providing education to nurses and other health care providers regarding LGBT cultural competency. Recommendations are offered for best practice strategies regarding the inclusion of LGBT cultural competencies in nursing orientation modules. Application of the findings may lead to positive social change if knowledgeable health care providers engage the LGBT population in primary care leading to improved health care outcomes.

To my knowledge, few studies have investigated the effects of ingroup prejudice. Study 1 assessed the relationship between experienced ingroup prejudice and wellbeing. Results indicated that experiencing racism from the LGBT community was related to poor wellbeing amongst Black men (N=99). Partial correlations indicated that while controlling for other sources of prejudice, racism from the ingroup (i.e., LGBT community) continued to relate to the wellbeing of gay Black men (GBM); however, the relationship between racism from the outgroup (i.e., Whites) and wellbeing was lost. Thus, ingroup and outgroup racism may affect GBM’s wellbeing differently. For Study 2, (N=264) I once again, evaluated the relationship between ingroup prejudice and wellbeing amongst gay Black men. Findings demonstrated that effects of prejudice on wellbeing of GBM were not dependent upon ingroup and outgroup prejudice. However, racism from the LGBT community was more impactful than any other condition. GBM reported lower self-esteem when racism stemmed from the LGBT community versus sexuality prejudice from the Black community. This may be due to GBM finding bias from the LGBT community as more unexpected compared to all other sources of bias. When bias stemmed from the LGBT community compared to all groups, GBM reported lower self-esteem and lower perceived control. Mediation analyses demonstrated that bias expectations mediated the relationship between the difference of racism from the LGBT community from all other groups and wellbeing. Moreover, GBM identified less with their ingroups when they read about ingroup prejudice.

Options and possibilities for lesbian parents have changed fundamentally since the turn of the millennium. A legal change in 2003 enabled a same-sex couple  to share legal parenthood of the same child. An additional legal change, in 2005, gave lesbian couples access to fertility treatment within public healthcare in Sweden. The present thesis focuses on families where two women share legal parenthood of their children. It aims to provide knowledge about lesbian parenting couples and their children, and to focus on the interplay between family members within lesbian families, and between family members and their surroundings. Furthermore, the thesis aims to visualize and analyse notions of heteronormativity and homonormativity in contemporary Sweden. The thesis draws on interviews with 118 parents in 61 families, and 12 children in 11 families. The participants’ stories, descriptions, reflections and discourses have been analysed using discursive psychology and thematic analysis. The thesis includes five empirical papers. Paper I focuses on encounters with healthcare professionals prior to and during pregnancy, at childbirth and during the early stages of parenthood. Paper II deals with the participants’ experiences of second-parent adoption processes. Paper III focuses on equality in parenting relations. Paper IV focuses on encounters with fertility clinics within public healthcare. Paper V highlights the children’s reflections and shows how the children talk about fathers and donors.
För lesbiska par har förutsättningarna för föräldraskap förändrats i grunden sedan millennieskiftet. År 2003 möjliggjorde en lagändring att ett barn kan ha två rättsliga föräldrar av samma kön. Ytterligare en lagändring öppnade år 2005 möjligheten för lesbiska par att få barn genom assisterad befruktning inom svensk sjukvård. I avhandlingen fokuseras familjer där två kvinnor delar det rättsliga föräldraskapet om sina gemensamma barn. Studien syftar till att bredda kunskaper om lesbiska familjeliv och fokuserar samspelet mellan familjemedlemmar såväl som samspelet mellan familjen och dess omgivning. Vidare syftar studien till att synliggöra och analysera uttryck för heteronormativitet och homonormativitet i dagens Sverige. Studien bygger på intervjuer med 118 föräldrar i 61 familjer och 12 barn i 11 familjer. Deltagarnas berättelser, beskrivningar, reflektioner och diskurser analyseras med diskursiv psykologi och tematisk analys. Avhandlingen består av fem empiriska artiklar och en kappa. I Artikel I analyseras föräldrarnas berättelser om att möta sjukvården i samband med graviditet och förlossning. Artikel II belyser deltagarnas berättelser om att genomgå en närståendeadoption. I Artikel III fokuseras hur föräldrarna pratar om jämställdhet i sina föräldraroller. Artikel IV analyserar intervjuer med föräldrar som vänt sig till svensk sjukvård för fertilitetsbehandling. I Artikel V, är det barnen som står i fokus. Studien bygger på intervjuer med tolv barn som var mellan 5 och 8 år gamla och växte upp i familjer med två mammor. I artikeln analyseras barnens beskrivningar av pappor och spermadonatorer.

This research provides an ethnographic and phenomenological study of how lesbian and gay educators in Western Australia employed adaptive rituals of conformity and nonconformity within their educational culture. This thesis depended on these educators telling their own story and it became a more complex study of their perception of and adaptation to homophobic distancing and repression. Through private interviews and collaboration with the co-participants in the research the study makes sense of the roles lesbian and gay educators enact in the educational culture in Western Australia around the time of Law Reform in 2002. The study is not an historical account but presents data from a specific historical context as a contribution to knowledge of how lesbian and gay educators view themselves and construct themselves in educational settings. The stories of everyday experience of Western Australian lesbian and gay educators present layers of gestured meanings, symbolic processes, cultural codes and contested sexuality and gender ideologies thereby reconstructing the reality of lesbian and gay educators. The research provides a range of embodied narratives and distinctive counter-narratives experienced by this group of educators in Western Australia. The study demonstrates that there are social practices in schooling that assist in the recognition and construction of their own gender identity even though the law in Western Australia at the time of writing, precluded the public promotion of lesbian and gay activities, and by association, silenced what many take to be their preferred mode of public behaviours. More importantly the study maps the extremely subtle processes involved in generating and expressing homophobia resulting in a sense of double invisibility, a constitutive silencing of personhood, which makes even the identification of rituals problematic. The very different stories reveal various interpretive strategies of belonging to the dominant homophobic culture, furthering our understanding of the contemporary identity formation issues of a hitherto invisible and silenced group of educators.

The goal of this dissertation is to examine minority stress in the lives of gay and lesbian individuals and couples. To do this I conducted three separate, but empirically and conceptually related studies using data from 68 self-identified gay men and lesbians. Of these, 38 participants were coupled (n = 19 couples). All three studies were informed by minority stress theory. In the first study I examined individual (N = 68) and partner (n = 38) correlates and associations with concern for safety because of sexual orientation and harassment because of sexual orientation. Comfort with homosexuality was the strongest negative predictor of concern for safety because of sexual orientation. Further, involvement with gay related activities was found to be the strongest positive predictor of harassment because of sexual orientation. In the next two studies I examined the daily influence of minority stress for same-sex couples (n = 19). In the second study I examined how daily public displays (PDA) of affection are associated with daily relationship satisfaction, daily concern for safety because of sexual orientation, and daily harassment because of sexual orientation. I found daily PDA to be positively associated with concurrent and lagged relationship satisfaction, positively associated with concurrent and lagged concern for safety, and concurrent, lagged, and prospective increases in harassment because of sexual orientation. In the third and final study I examined the moderating effect of daily relationship satisfaction on the relationships between daily concern for safety and harassment in predicting daily physical health and well-being. I find that daily concern for safety and harassment are not associated with daily physical health suggesting that the negative effects of minority stress on physical health are more cumulative and do not fluctuate from day-to-day. I also find that daily relationship satisfaction does moderate the relationship between daily concern for safety and harassment and their daily well-being in unexpected ways. Collectively, this dissertation illustrates the complex influence of minority stress in the lives of gay and lesbian individuals and couples in two ways: first, as it pertains to how personal characteristics and behaviors (e.g. involvement with gay related activities and engagement in PDA) are associated with minority stress overall and on a daily basis; second, by illustrating the daily influence of minority stress on daily physical health and well-being. In conclusion, in these studies I highlight the complexity of life and how minority stress, stress that is unique to gay men and lesbian individuals and couples, complicates otherwise beneficial behaviors. Further, I illustrate the long and short term ramifications minority stress has on gay men and lesbian individuals and couples.

This thesis presents research into the development and deployment of web sites and email facilities by members ofthe Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in Brighton, UK. It contributes to an understanding of localised and specific Internet use, asking in what ways Internet technologies are impacting community practices. The scope of the research is restricted to this localised study in order to facilitate an understanding of the relationships between actions and artefacts made in online spaces, and their counterparts in offline, localised space. An approach is taken that gives equal weighting to the analysis of social practices and structures in the offline LGBT community and to the nascent online practices. The thesis proposes four interconnected hypotheses relating to patterns of Internet usage and the relationship these bear to existing communication practices. Findings are presented from four studies. These approach the field of study from different vantage points, combining quantitative and qualitative data. The studies are linked through common considerations of three key aspects of LGBT community life: the notion of community; deployments of space; and identity politics. The research finds the LGBT community under study structured by complex interpersonal identifications and group hierarchies. Particular spaces in the city offer possibilities for actions that counter hegemonic norms. The Internet is conjectured as another possible site of resistance and an entry point to the community. Four studies present an overview of the community's Internet use, exploring the content of a selection of web sites, and the construction of a website by a social group. The majority of non-commercial, LGBT community websites in Brighton are found to be underused, and at risk of becoming unrepresentative of the extent of LGBT culture in the city. The level of Internet use by members of the LGBT community in Brighton is. however, high, with users seeking information and social contact via nationally based websites and through email.

This study examined the attitudes and perceptions of resident assistants towardgay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT) students. Attitudes and perceptions of floor environments, hall environments, and the campus community were looked at. The original intent of this study was to find a relationship between resident assistants' attitudes and perceptions toward GLBT individuals and its relationship to the environment created on the RA's floor. The sample of GLBT students was too small to make reference to it in this study.A significant difference was found between hall staffs' attitudes. The study suggests that their hall environment can influence RAs' attitudes and perceptions. Consistent with past research, male resident assistants (RAs) had more negative views toward gay men and lesbians than female RAs. Inconsistent responses were found to individual questions, which suggests a lack of education on GLBT issues. The majority of RAs believed there should not be more GLBT material integrated in the classroom, however they felt they didn't have adequate training on GLBT issues. RAs felt that GLBT students experience less harassment and discrimination in the residence halls then on campus and in society.
Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education

This study explores the private and public experiences of Black/White interracial lesbian and gay couples. Drawing from the theoretical frameworks of critical race theory and intersectional feminism, this research focuses on how the intersections of gender, race, and sexuality influence relationship experiences and family processes in both private and public spaces for interracial same-sex couples. This study is based on 19 in-depth interviews with individuals in Black/White lesbian and gay relationships. Participants' stories highlight intersectionality in terms of the ways interracial lesbian and gay couples navigate these interpersonal and public spaces. Participant experiences suggest that the dichotomy of private/public is often blurred, and these two spaces frequently overlap and intersect. Often what participants experience in public is then discussed and interpreted within private spaces. It is in the private space that participants work through complex issues in order to present themselves as a couple in public. Participants frequently used their public and interpersonal experiences with their partners to be reflexive of their own understandings of the social world, relationship processes, and love. Given the lack of research on same-sex, interracial families, this study makes an important contribution to sociological research on families, LGTBQ studies, and race studies.
Ph.D.
Doctorate
Sociology
Sciences
Sociology

This thesis explores the relationship between local government and social change strategies. More specifically, it examines the series of highly contested attempts during the 1980s to deploy local government in order to challenge the discrimination and prejudice facing lesbians and gay men. Whilst, much of the effort was directed at making council services more responsive to lesbian and gay needs, a key aspect of the project concerned the transformation of dominant sexual meanings. Four questions provide a theoretical and empirical framework for this research. First, why did some local authorities address lesbian and gay issues? Second, how successful were they in doing so? Third, what factors constrained or limited their attempts? And fourth, why were lesbian and gay municipal initiatives so controversial? The first section of this thesis examines the reconstitution of lesbian and gay issues on the local government agenda, and the subsequent trajectory of their development within particular authorities. The thesis then goes on to examine the impact of bureaucratic processes and right-wing opposition on lesbian and gay municipal discourses. I argue that despite significant opposition to lesbian and gay policies, in general the right did not mobilise. The ideological steer within local government bureaucracy was usually sufficient to 'weed out' or dilute more progressive proposals. However, on occasions where this broke down, opposing forces intervened, both to obstruct lesbian and gay initiatives and to use the policies' existence to advance their own political agenda. The final part of this thesis draws together several key issues: the general absence of a more radical sexual politics; the crisis of implementation; the nature of opponents' attitudes towards homosexuality and local government; and the decline of lesbian and gay municipal politics post-1987. In the conclusion, I return to the question of local government's radical potential by proposing an alternative, decentred approach to municipal sexual politics. Methodologically, this thesis is eclectic drawing on several disciplinary areas in conjunction with a range of theoretical perspectives, particularly neo-marxism, feminism and poststructuralism. Field research comprises of interviews, mass media and local government documentation combined with my own experiences as an actor within the municipal lesbian and gay project. This thesis is intended to make a contribution to a theoretical understanding of municipal politics, especially to the relationship between local government, sexuality, ideology and social change. it also offers a detailed account and analysis of lesbian and gay municipal developments, one of the most controversial initiatives of the 1980s.