Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'LGBTQIA+ Studies'

Addressing the Development of Selves in LGBTQIA+ Individuals: A Voice Dialogue Perspective by Melanie Battaglia Moir This qualitative thesis combines heuristic and alchemical hermeneutic methodologies along with elements of intuitive inquiry and participatory epistemology to address the internal development of selves in the consciousness of LGBTQIA+ individuals. These selves are created by interactions with family and society and by the unique, personal experiences of people on this spectrum who do not identify as heteronormative or exclusively heterosexual. From a depth psychological perspective, the author discusses implications for achieving healing and wholeness when making contact with these inner selves that carry the true nature of each human being but are repressed due to cultural programming, family modeling, and imprinting. Voice Dialogue is explored as an approach to identifying and understanding these selves in LGBTQIA+ individuals. Insights from the author’s own experience of being queer (an umbrella term for living life as a sexual or gender minority) are included.

Parents raising a self-identified sexual minority child face unique challenges, such as stress, shame, and guilt, when compared to parents with heterosexual children. While literature exists regarding parents’ experiences in raising a sexual minority child, little is known about the specific challenges faced by first generation Latino parents. To address this gap, the current study explored the experiences of first generation Latino parents (N = 9) raising a sexual minority child, from the parent’s perspective. In-depth interviews were conducted by telephone and audio-recorded. The qualitative findings suggest that Latino parents face stigma from their family and community. In addition, Latino parents rely on their sexual minority child as a means of information regarding the LGBTQ community. These findings may be useful to inform the way service professionals and social service programs are developed to meet the needs of first generation Latino parents and LGBTQ youth.

The purpose of this project was to develop a grant application for the True Palette Fund for a permanent supportive housing project for 20 homeless LGBTQQI youth in Sonoma County. This is an over-represented subgroup of the homeless youth population faced with limited support services, leaving them at risk for many negative outcomes.

Permanent supportive housing that is LGBTQQI culture specific provides the best chance for the target population to embark on a fulfilling life as contributing members of society. The grant writer is collaborating with the local agency, Social Advocates for Youth, to create a dedicated LGBTQQI program as part of the Dream Center subsidized housing.

The LGBTQQI enhanced services provided by staff and volunteers will include case management/life coaching, mentoring, independent living skills training, employment and mental health counseling, and community building activities

The categorization and stereotyping of fatherhood and motherhood have created a rigid binary social consciousness of gender-based expectations on parenting. These expectations, stemming from hetero/cisnormativity, leave little room for deviation. This dissertation challenges these expectations by examining the experiences of transgender parents as a means to expand the discourse around motherhood, fatherhood, and family.

The principal research question for this inquiry was, What do the narratives of transgender parents tell us about our understanding of motherhood, fatherhood, and family? To answer this question, this author recruited transgender individuals who also identify as a parent. The selection criteria included self-identification as either transgender or genderqueer and active involvement in parenting one or more children. Purposive sampling was utilized to identify the 5 participants for this study. Using narrative methodology, their stories were gathered and retold, gaining insight into their lived experiences as transgender parents.

Findings indicate that transgender parents challenge hetero/cisnormativity by redefining motherhood and fatherhood, creating a more fluid and inclusive definition of parent that is grounded in unconditional love and support and devoid of gender roles and stereotypes. Further findings demonstrate that transgender parents redefine family, including in their family circles individuals that offer support, unconditional love, and trust regardless of blood relation.

The purpose of this project was to create a psycho-educational peer support group for LGBTIQ Youth, identify potential funding sources, and write a grant to fund the proposed program. The proposed support is named PRIDE for its connection to the LGBTIQ community and the empowering language, and it targets self-identified LGBTIQ youth in Orange County, California. A thorough literature review included risk factors, barriers to service, and interventions. Potential funding sources were examined and Liberty Hill was chosen as the most appropriate funding source. The proposed program was detailed with implementation guidelines, staffing information, and a budget narrative. The actual submission and/or funding of this grant was not a requirement for the successful completion of the project.

The study investigated the impact of ethnicity and gender on sexual orientation disclosure in the workplace. A total sample of 129 African American lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) workers between 20 and 61 years of age completed an online survey on PsychData. Respondents were given several measures to determine their ethnicity, gender conformity, and workplace sexual identity coping strategies. A 2x2 multivariate analysis of variance was used to examine the differences between the independent variables (gender conformity/nonconformity and ethnic identity) and dependent variables (passing, covering, implicitly out, and explicitly out). Based on the minority stress model, the research questions focused more on passing and covering coping strategies among LGB individuals who have dual minority identities (i.e., sexual orientation and African American ethnicity). No significant differences were found in terms of using passing and covering coping strategies among LGB individuals who identified with their African American ethnicity combined with gender-nonconforming behaviors. This may have been due to several factors such as a restricted sample size, change or shift in social stereotyping, or the contradicting feelings or concerns of LGB workers with regard to disclosing their sexual orientation. Although previous researchers posited that LGB individuals have a fear of being discriminated against and rejected in the workplace, there are few laws that prevent sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination, leaving the LGB individual to engage the continuum of coping strategies. Methodological implications and limitations of the study are discussed, and suggestions for future research are presented.

The purpose of this study is to provide context around the often-complex involvement that multiple minority identities can have on an individual. With the use of current identity development models around racial identity and sexual orientation, there have been no provisions around multiple identities or to the intersection of other identities building one main identity. As there is also a lack of literature around the topic of multiple identities and influences, this study’s main purpose is to add to the literature. The use of an intersectionality methodology was to provide a framework that would allow for discourse around marginalized identities to be examined simultaneously, in an effort to understand the complexities around this particular demographic. The sample consisted of women who identified as Black and lesbian between the ages of 18-51. A case study was conducted to gather information on how participants navigated their development process. The data analysis found several themes which were (1) sexual identification, (2) What it means to be and experiences related to (identity), (3) how the participants juggled (managed) intersecting identities of being Black and lesbian (4) acceptance of sexual identity (5) religion (6) discrimination. The findings provided an interesting outcome as there were many layers that were not considered such as how religion interacted with them and the development of their identity and was often a negative aspect in their lives to the discrimination that they felt not only in the LGBT community but also the Black community.

?Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest? (New International Version, Matthew 11:28). In South India, transgenders are treated as untouchables and part of the least in the society. This restriction that the society places on transgenders has built hurt and regret in their lives. The Bible tells us to treat everyone equal and Jesus asks us to love all unconditionally; at times, it is difficult to put that teaching into practice. This topic was originally chosen to investigate this community and find a biblical approach to them, but working with Seesha, a non-profit, the approach took a different direction. The following research and documentary will focus on the acts of Jesus, that is, educating and empowering. This is in hope to bring awareness to the rejection of the transgender community and possible ways to change the perspective of society by choosing to accept them. The aim of this project is to try to lessen the burden of life in transgenders (stigma), by educating the society of their physical anatomy, lifestyle and daily struggle for a better standard of living.

LGBTQ+ youth are at increased risk of experiencing stress, sadness, and dissatisfaction with life. A mixed-methods study was designed to examine the effects of mindfulness training on perceived stress and life satisfaction in LGBTQ+ youth. Quantitative pre- and post-test data were collected using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale-Adolescents and Goal Attainment Scaling. Qualitative data were collected via focus group at the conclusion of the mindfulness training. Results indicate that mindfulness training may be effective in reducing stress, increasing life satisfaction, and increasing coping skills in LGBTQ+ youth. School-based mental health service providers may find the group format of mindfulness training an effective use of time and resources.

This dissertation is an ethnography of trans identity and North American music and explores the ways musicking makes viable underrepresented forms of embodiment. The subjects of this ethnomusicological study—Jennifer Leitham, Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, Transcendence Gospel Choir, and Joe Stevens—are contemporary musicians who are trans identified. Contemplating the multiple facets of identity embodied by these individuals and groups, I consider relationships among their subjectivities, identities, bodies and behaviors, and interactions with others, and how those relationships are explored, affirmed, celebrated, judged, contested, and valued (or not) through their music and musical performances. An ethnomusicological approach allows the performances and narratives of these artists to show multiple levels and intersections of identity in relation to gender, sexuality, race, class, ethnicity, religion, age, and disability. The dissertation draws from interviews, performances, and onsite fieldwork in and around Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area between 2009 and 2016. Ethnographic data include interviews with artists and audience members as well as live performances, rehearsals, recordings, videos, and social networks. Jennifer Leitham challenges an association of gender and sexual identity in jazz while simultaneously finding it a difficult category of music to navigate when her trans identity is foregrounded. For some of the vocalists in the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles and the Transcendence Gospel Choir of San Francisco subjectivity, identity, and embodiment are connected to ideas about voices, bodies, and behaviors and these attributes are highly variable. For example, whether singers are attempting to extend their range, grapple with the effects of androgen hormones, or both, their voices, like all singers’ voices, are in process. Joe Stevens’s musical life presents us with particular ways in which trans subjects harness musical genre in order to perform trans identities. Genre, voice, embodiment, and transition all contribute to the ways in which masculinity and vulnerability frame Joe’s identity, and they are juxtaposed with his female gender assignment at birth. The project ultimately concludes that sharing musical performances of trans identity requires a thinking through of bodies and behaviors, where gender identity as multiplicitous, varied, and diverse, is always in relation, contention, or collusion with socio-political and cultural forces that control those bodies and behaviors. Musicking provides a strategic arena where trans subjectivities and identities flourish.

This thesis examines the seven song and/or choral settings of Sappho’s poetry by contemporary women composers Carol Barnett, Sheila Silver, Elizabeth Vercoe, Liza Lim, Augusta Read Thomas, Mary Ellen Childs, and Patricia Van Ness. Each composer has set Sappho’s poems in her own creative and artistic interpretation through diverse modern musical styles, giving the Greek poetess a modern, gendered female voice. This paper presents connections between the poetry chosen, its themes and interpretations, as well as the expressive musical devices employed. The various methodological approaches include historical and textual criticism, sociomusicology, and gender and sexual studies. The setting of Sappho’s poetry and the commonalities of the poetic themes set to music help us understand how modern women view Sappho’s image, hear, and give voice to the poetess of the ancient world.

Schools present unique opportunities to foster and improve belonging for all students. Meaningful inclusion requires visible and equal representation as well as safe environments (Cerezo and Bergfield, 2013; Sadowski, 2016). Students who may be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning (LGBTQ) deserve equal attention in educational models which seek to be inclusive and acknowledge diverse student populations in schools. Key studies from the United States indicate there is much to be done, suggesting LBGTQ students often do not feel safe or visible in schools (Kosciw, Greytak, Giga, Villenas & Danischewski, 2016). School-based resources, however, such as student-led clubs known as Gay-Straight Alliances, are helping to address the needs of LGBTQ students. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of a group of LGBTQ students who attend an international school in Asia and who are all regular members of a Gay-Straight Alliance. It aimed to gain a better understanding of their school experience in terms of support systems and structures through the unique lens of an international school. A qualitative research design was implemented through the use of semi-structured interviews with four participants, who voluntarily took part in the study. Seven themes emerged from the study, (1) formal support systems are perceived to be secondary to peer support, (2) less formal support services such as friends and peers carry a higher level of trust, (3) the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) is the primary, most visible, safe space, (4) outreach beyond the GSA is limited, (5) existing barriers prohibit inclusive practices for LGBTQ students, (6) LGBTQ educational programs would help raise awareness, and (7) There is a need to create and implement school policies, which are more inclusive and will better protect LGBTQ students at the school. Implications of this study entail specialized training for counselors, outreach beyond the confines of the GSA, inclusive policies and targeted LGBTQ educational programs.

The historic 2015 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges—which extended marriage equality to every state nationwide—coupled with an increase in the number of reported same-sex parent households in America (Gates, 2013) has resulted in greater social, political, and academic visibility for same-sex families in recent years (Breshears & Braithwaite, 2014). Despite this increased cultural visibility, because gay parent families (GPFs) fall outside the parameters of the traditional family model (i.e., a married heterosexual husband and wife couple raising biological children) (Baxter, 2014a), they necessarily rely more heavily on discourse to manage their nontraditional family identity (Galvin, 2006; 2014). To date, little is known about how married gay male parents discursively create and sustain family identity and how they position their families in relation to the dominant heteronormative discourses of traditional marriage, family, and fatherhood. Framed by Baxter’s (2011) relational dialectics theory—a heuristic communication theory useful for investigating the meaning-making process—this study explored the meaning(s) of marriage, family, and fatherhood in married gay fathers’ relational talk. I interviewed 13 married gay parent dyads twice to collect data from the couples across time as well as member check initial results during secondary interviews. Using contrapuntal analysis, I identified the following discourses at the three sites of meaning-making in the data: the discourses of marriage as symbolic and marriage as practical ; the discourses of traditional family structure and nontraditional family structure ; and the discourses of gay culture and gay fatherhood in addition to the discourses of heteronormative fatherhood and co-parenting. I argue that the couples’ talk reflected discursive struggles and, in one case, transformation, to generate relational meanings for their family identities.

Sustained gay activism in Charlotte, North Carolina, only emerged in response to the HIV AIDS epidemic. Community building among Charlotte’s closeted gays and lesbians began in the 1970s with the emergence of safe spaces, particularly gay bars. However, before the mid 1980s, activism was intermittent, largely inward facing, and suffered from over-reliance on a few leaders. As the reality of AIDS gripped the community after 1985, two imperatives created by the epidemic gave rise to sustained gay and lesbian activism. First, the critical need to provide care for people suffering from AIDS galvanized the gay community into action and led to the creation of the Metrolina AIDS Project (MAP). MAP became the first outward looking and visible gay organization in Charlotte, and, critically, it enjoyed a degree of civic legitimacy. However, this civic legitimacy did not extend to the second imperative, the more contentious terrain of AIDS education. In this arena Charlotte’s gay activists came into conflict with the Religious Right and the county government, which forced activists to become more politically organized. By the early 1990s, it became clear that further progress would require partnerships with straight allies, but because these allies were motivated largely by sympathy for AIDS there was limited progress on the broader gay rights agenda. The timing of gay activism and the necessity for straight alliances shows that Charlotte’s experience as a mid-size Southern city differed from larger metropolitan areas and progressive university/capital cities that have been the focus of previous historiography.

Very little is known about individuals who identify as LGBTQ from Asian and Pacific Island descent despite the fact that Asian Pacific Americans are the fastest growing racial group in the United States. Parallel to the lack of knowledge is the lack of services for this marginalized population. Therefore, the purpose of this project was to write a grant proposal for a supportive therapeutic program for this population. The literature review indicated that Asian Pacific LGBTQ individuals encounter unique experiences compared to White counterparts. The review also explained the links between challenges and their impact on LGBTQ individuals' well-being. The negative impact from heterosexism experiences is compounded by racial minority stressors. The actual submission of this grant was not a requirement for the successful completion of the project.

This study assists in gathering narratives of lesbian lived experiences in the culturally conservative context of the Shenandoah Valley during the political shift toward marriage equality in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Framed in relational-cultural theory (Jordan, 2010), individual narratives document 5 Shenandoah Valley lesbian couples’ conversations about marriage among partners located between February 13, 2014, when U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen declared Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, and October 6, 2014, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the appeals, thereby removing the delays to legal same-sex marriage in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Conducting this inquiry during this cultural transition, the study’s focus is centered on contextual factors contributing to personal responses to prospective legal marriage. A poststructuralist feminist inquiry, the thematic analysis provides a contextualized snapshot in a time when political change is leading culture and invites readers to reflect and challenge their own discursively defined views. The thematic analysis revealed 7 key concepts for deeper consideration: relative belonging, caution, equal protections, the respectable same-sex couple, revisiting the relationship, family of origin, and personal ideology about marriage.

This study broadens the discourse of marriage equality by contributing lesbian-generated knowledge to the literature on the impact of the political shift toward marriage equality, and presents 5 distinct interview narratives. The project documents the tensions between assimilation and re-imagining marriage for lesbians performing heteronormativity as a facet of creating connection in a socially conservative culture. The impacts on the socially conservative culture includes the creation of new myths that reconfigure a separate gay culture in the paradigm of Foucault’s (1978a, 1978b) homosexual into an ambient community (Brown-Saracino, 2011) of the posthomosexual (Valverde, 2006) aligned with the emergent respectable same-sex couple (Valverde, 2006) and queer-blindness, an appropriation of the racism construct color-blindness aimed at queer sexualities rather than people of color. This project is significant to queer, feminist, and social justice scholars, activists and practitioners, lesbian couples considering marriage, and antigay activists whose collusion to subordinate this population has largely been an ideological fight against a disembodied other.

The present study explores the emotion culture of polyamorists from 11 qualitative interviews. Drawing on the theories of Arlie Russell Hochschild (1979), I utilize the concept of emotion work to depict the ways individuals adhere to, and break from, monogamous relationship norms. Polyamory is a diverse practice that entails the conscious maintenance of multiple romantic and sexual relationships, under the terms of honesty and mutual respect. I utilize the concept of edgework, originally conceived by Stephen Lyng (1990), to illuminate the voluntary risk-taking behaviors of polyamorists as they enact counter-hegemonic relationship practices. Findings reveal the way polyamorists use emotional edgework (from Lois 2001), the intentional stretching of emotional boundaries, as they transition from mainstream emotion culture towards a polyamorous one. Motivations for emotional edgework are varied among the sample, and reveal two chief reasons individuals engage in this kind of emotion work: 1) to have or retain a specific partner, and 2) to reach goals of growth and self-actualization. Although the practice of polyamory challenges the dominant relationship culture, the narratives continue to reflect the lingering influence of a neoliberal capitalist economic structure.

The Most Fantastic Lie explores the troubled realm of lesbian history through contemporary art practice, visual culture, and activist collectives, arguing the necessity of new strategies toward the construction of marginalized histories in the absence of traditional evidence-based documentation. I identify three overlapping strategies toward the reconstruction of lesbian and queer histories: the documentation and collection of existing material evidence by grassroots archivists and contemporary artists who base their practice in affective relationships to archival objects; the manipulation of found objects, in the tradition of Claude Levi-Strauss’s concept of bricolage, to serve as visual placeholders for absent histories; and the fabrication of material evidence by artists working in a mode referred to by Carrie Lambert-Beatty as parafiction: deceptions that have productive power in the creation of new senses of plausibility. These strategies, in addition to providing visual pleasure to those seeking lesbian and queer histories, each mount critiques of institutionalized notions of legitimate history. In shucking the burden of proof and elevating denigrated forms of evidence such as gossip, oral history, and fantasy, artists and collectives are able to construct lesbian histories while simultaneously demonstrating the unstable foundations of historical truths.

Within a framework of intersectionality, this thesis explores the multidimensional experiences women of color have in abusive same-sex relationships. It also explores the tremendous influence those experiences have on their lives. Although intimate partner violence (IPV) in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community has become increasingly visible within the past two decades, media and scholarship continue to focus on heterosexual incidents of domestic violence. Relying on the powerful narratives of four women of color who are IPV survivors, I examine social constructs such as familial violence, homophobia, racism, and poverty, that contribute to lesbian intimate partner violence. I also present reasons for and consequences of staying in an abusive relationship. The findings of this study indicate that intimate partner violence is a symptom of oppression for socially marginalized lesbians of color and not a source.

Photography in the First Person offers an alternative account of postmodernism in American art during the 1970s and `80s by examining the work of five photographers. Robert Mapplethorpe. Peter Hujar, Nan Goldin and Sally Mann, who are united, not by circumstance, style or acquaintance, but rather by how each one of them used aspects of their personal lives as subject matter, whether it was their friends, lovers, families or children. Collectively their art explores many of the same themes as that of the Pictures Generation, but is structurally opposite to it. Where the Pictures artists appropriated images from popular culture in order to demonstrate how identities were not given or natural, but were discursively and institutionally constructed, the practitioners of what I call photography in the first person set their sights on the ostensibly neutral viewer predicated by these same discourses and institutions—a viewer who is invariably male, white and heterosexual. Through a series of four case studies, it is shown how each of the aforementioned artists used the medium of photography and the specific contours of their personal lives through strategies of excess and indeterminacy to establish a different ethical stance towards the work of art. from one of detachment to one that forces us to consider our own bodies, desires and identifications.

Though many father-son pairs struggle with relating, on average heterosexual father-homosexual son pairs are much less affectionate and symbiotic than their heterosexual counterparts (Floyd, Sargent, & Di Corcia, 2004). According to feminist investigators, conflictual relations between heterosexual fathers and homosexual sons are grounded in antihomosexual stigma and prejudice (Floyd et al., 2004) and gender atypical behaviors (Savin-Williams, 2001). From a depth psychological perspective, these dysfunctional relations are ascribed to shared cultural complexes (Singer & Kimbles, 2004a) of the archetypal masculine. In order to understand these processes, the current study explored the lived experience of cultural complexes of the archetypal masculine shared between heterosexual fathers and homosexual sons. The study applied a phenomenological method of analysis to data collected from interviews of an ethnically diverse convenience sample of 3 heterosexual fathers and 3 homosexual sons. The results yielded 12 major themes: performance anxiety, gendered fathers, atypicality, variant masculinity, heteronormative masculine reinforcements, homonegativity, group inclusion and exclusion, microaggressions, shame and embarrassment, suppression and restriction, withdrawal, and disconnection. These themes were further organized and discussed from both the feminist and depth psychological perspectives. The analysis revealed that when heterosexual fathers and homosexual sons cling to one end of the archetypal masculine spectrum, they fail to observe their disidentified selves projected in the other. This leads to an endless cycle of shared cultural complex interactions that corrupts heterosexual fathers and homosexual sons from relating to each other as well as to themselves. Keywords: Cultural complexes, archetypal masculinity, homosexuality, stigma

Culture and social norms influence sex roles and expression, according to previous studies. This leads to the research question of whether there a difference in sex-role characteristics and generational category among cisgender American adults from Generation X, Generation Y, and Generation Z. A gap in the research about sex-role evolution in generational and cultural shifts provided an open opportunity for this investigation to strengthen the literature. Data collection without making any changes or introducing any treatments was employed, via quantitative non-experimental means, using survey methodology. The population consisted of cisgender American adults from Generation X, Generation Y, and Generation Z. SurveyMonkey Audience was used to sample the population, through participant inclusion criteria outlined as being aged 18 to 50 years, a U.S. citizen, and identifying as cisgender, and able to read and understand English. The self-perceived sex-role characteristics of three generational groups (Generations X, Y, & Z) were analyzed, employing a quantitative non-experimental design to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference between group means. Results concluded that a statistically significant difference was found for the interaction of generation and self-identified sex for both masculinity and femininity. Continuing research in this area will ensure that extending the body of knowledge of evolutionary psychology will enable the social support systems to allow for more flexibility in relation to socially dictated norms. Additionally, governing bodies, mental health workers, and medical professionals would benefit from more thorough and sensitive gender identity training.

Researchers and theorists have generally included drag queens and transgender (trans*) populations together in their scholarship, and have paid little attention to how these populations may differ. Such sampling practices may lead to a variety of misleading assumptions about both drag and transgender populations. For one thing, researchers have pointed to higher rates of gender dysphoria and depression among trans* individuals, but the same may not be the case among drag queens. In order to add greater clarity to similarities and differences between these populations, a gender dysphoria questionnaire, depression inventory, and work involvement inventory were administered to a sample of gay and bisexual, cisgender male drag queens. Descriptive statistics from these measures represent the first step toward establishing rates of depression and gender dysphoria among drag queens. Mean comparisons of rates of depression and gender dysphoria between gay/bisexual male cisgender drag queens and male-to-female transgender persons indicate significant differences between these populations. When level of involvement in drag was considered, a small positive correlation was found with depression while a small negative correlation was found with gender dysphoria. Results indicate that drag queens are less depressed and experience considerably less gender dysphoria than transgender individuals. Furthermore, gender dysphoria may decrease as involvement in drag performance increases. This data may add clarity to research on gender diversity, support efforts to de-pathologize drag performance, and reduce stigma associated with drag in general. Implications for future research and for mental health treatment are discussed.

This project describes the development of a software application geared towards connecting LGBTQ older adults with each other with an aim to reduce social isolation. Older adults tend to lose their connections with others throughout the aging process. LGBTQ older adults experience more challenges in creating and maintaining social relationships compared to their heterosexual peers. When social connections are lost, social isolation threatens the physical, emotional, and psychological well-being of older adults. The software application was designed and revised using feedback from two expert panel focus groups of LGBTQ older adults, 50 years and older, residing in Los Angeles and Riverside Counties.

Using an ecological perspective, this dissertation examined experiences of homonegativity in different settings and its influence on internalized homonegativity. It also examined whether there were significant paths between internalized homonegativity and experiences of homonegativity and self-efficacy to practice safe sex. In addition, it examined paths between self-efficacy to practice safe sex and internalized homonegativity and unprotected anal intercourse at 3 month and last sexual encounters. Men who have sex with men (N = 136) completed an on-line survey designed to address these questions. A measure of experiences of homonegativity was adapted to include four specific settings: church, family, neighborhood, and friends. Participants reported experiences of homonegativity highest from church and the lowest from friends. Experiences of homonegativity from family, friends, and neighborhood were all significantly positively associated with internalized homonegativity. Results indicated significant paths between internalized homonegativity and experiences of homonegativity in different settings (i.e., friends, family, and neighborhood) and self-efficacy to practice safe sex. Significant paths between self-efficacy to practice safe sex and internalized homonegativity and unprotected anal intercourse at last sexual encounter and within the last three months were also found. Implications for future research and clinicians working with individuals who experience homonegativity are discussed.

This study explored how bisexual individuals used media and other frames of reference to understand their own sexuality. It also sought to understand how bisexual individuals felt about the representation in the media and if they had a preferred image in mind. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six individuals recruited from universities and LGBT-oriented groups and their answers were analyzed through social cognitive theory and sexual identity development models. The study found that, for the participants interviewed, media examples of bisexuality and bisexual individuals were not completely accepted and other representations were preferred. For this sample, an educational setting played an important role in acquiring the language used to describe their sexuality. Also, the participants mostly agreed that the media did not often portray bisexuality in ways that resonated with them.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals face significant mental and physical health disparities compared to their heterosexual peers. Such differential outcomes are often attributed to minority stress, chronic stress that is specific to one’s marginalized status and which is distinct from normal every day life stress. Current research, which attempts to assess the relationship between minority stress and health, is stifled by lack of a uniform measurement tool to operationalize the construct. The purpose of this study was to develop a comprehensive tool that encapsulates all of the major dimensions of minority stress, as defined by Meyer’s (2003) LGB minority stress model. The final LGBT Minority Stress Measure is a 25-item self-report scale, with seven subscales: identity concealment, everyday discrimination/ microaggressions, rejection anticipation, discrimination events, internalized stigma, victimization events, and community connectedness. Results from 640 participants, including 119 of which identified as gender non-conforming, supported the psychometric properties of the scale. Additionally, consistent with existing literature, greater minority stress was associated with increased psychological distress.

Abstract Mixed findings in the research on mental health issues in the lesbian community have resulted in conflicting conclusions as to whether the prevalence rate of generalized anxiety disorders and depression in the lesbian population differs from that of non-lesbians. The variability of findings may be due to factors such as discrimination, coming-out, and self-esteem. Using the minority stress model a framework, the purpose of this quantitative survey study was to examine whether perceptions of discrimination, coming-out, and self-esteem levels predict lesbians? anxiety and depression. Participants anonymously completed online measures of the Outness Inventory, the Schedule of Sexually Discriminatory Events, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory-II, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The snowball sample consisted of 105 self-identified lesbian women from the United States. Hierarchical regression was used to test the hypotheses. According to study results, frequency and stressfulness of sexual discrimination, coming-out, and self-esteem levels predicted depression and anxiety, with low self-esteem as the only significant predictor of depression and anxiety. The findings were only partially consistent with the minority stress model because perceived discrimination did not predict depression or anxiety. This study facilitates positive social change by pointing out and focusing on the need for mental health interventions specific to the stresses that lesbians face pertaining to low self-esteem, as that predicts their anxiety and depression.

This thesis examines the development of the gay rights movement in Louisiana. It begins by exploring both the homophile era and the liberation era in Louisiana, and how members of the LGBTQ community during these periods created safe spaces for themselves. I focus on two groups, the Louisiana Electorate of Gays and Lesbians (LEGAL) and the Louisiana Gay Political Action Caucus (LAGPAC), throughout the remainder of the work and how members of these organizations shaped the LGBTQ community by fighting for legislative protections and civil rights. I examine how gay rights activists negotiated the terms and parameters of identities like "gay" and "lesbian" in the context of political action, and how these identities remain relevant for the community today. Throughout the work, I argue that members of organizations like LAGPAC and LEGAL were more reactive than proactive when advocating for legislative protections for Louisiana’s LGBTQ community. To reach this conclusion, I use primary source collections of both LEGAL and LAGPAC, as well as various local periodicals to show how members of these organizations and members of the press disseminated information regarding the fight for gay civil rights to the LGBTQ community and the general public.

This study explored the lexical semantics of common same-sex sexuality labels (i.e., homosexual, gay, gay man, lesbian, and no label) by presenting 395 participants with a short story about a fictitious person. The goal was to determine what effects these labels (as well as their social status) would have on participants’ willingness to interact socially with and participants’ support for their civil rights. Age, gender, religious affiliation, and contact with sexual minorities were assessed for each participant, and participants were also asked to rate the likely gender of the fictitious person. Results revealed that neither social status nor sexuality label had an influence on participants’ support for civil rights; however, participants were more willing to interact with the fictitious person when they were of higher status. Additionally, willingness to interact was also influenced by label: male participants were more willing to interact with the fictitious person who identified as a gay man or as a lesbian than the fictitious person who identified as homosexual or as gay, but labels did not have a significant influence on female participants’ willingness to interact. Contact with sexual minorities and not affiliating with a particular religion were associated with more willingness to interact with the fictitious person and higher support for their civil rights. Discussion suggests that same-sex sexuality labels may have various meaning components associated with them that influence individuals’ opinions of LGB individuals. The gendered terms gay man and lesbian had more positive valence associated with them (when compared to homosexual and gay) as demonstrated by male participants’ reactions. The term homosexual was found to be the most gender neutral option and gay appeared to be more associated with the male gender.

The Ugly Duckling, a musical fable produced, directed and designed by Jennifer Richardson, layered a contemporary journey of emerging realization of sexual identity over a traditional fairy tale journey of self-discovery, utilizing the unique story-telling of the theatre art form without changing the underlying narrative of the fable. The staging created a visual story that was easily trackable. The director achieved this by focusing on relationships, by highlighting the ugly duckling’s difference through behavior and design elements, and by clarifying obstacles through action. If one can gauge effectiveness by audience response, the medium of the fairy tale seemed to be an effective one for reaching a spectrum of audience members - young to old, and from different socio-economic backgrounds. And finally, the process provided a transformative experience for the cast by encouraging meaningful and personal discussions about a range of “ugly duckling” issues, and by exploring the sense of personal strength that comes with being in one’s truth while playing action as a character on stage.