Psychological research on resilience has not adequately included minority populations, specifically lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) people. Additionally, LGBTQ research has been limited by its problem-focused paradigm which does not adequately account for the strengths that are found within this population. However, resilience may have a unique function within LGBTQ people. For instance, how might individuals thrive despite or as a result of enduring sexuality-related stressors and discrimination? This thesis engages with these issues/questions across four quantitative and qualitative studies. The aim is to examine how resilience functions within a LGBTQ and specifically lesbian context. The findings show that a heterosexual sample and LGBTQ sample had statistically similar levels of resilience (as measured by the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale), although the LGBTQ sample endured cumulatively more lifetime trauma. However, higher levels of trauma in the LGBTQ group were not associated with lower levels of life satisfaction, positive adjustment, or well-being. Subsequent qualitative analyses examined the influences on and processes of resilience in experiential accounts from lesbian women. The high resilience participants reported traumatic experiences during their lives, whereas low resilience participants did not, although all women reported homophobic experiences. Many of the findings yielded by this analysis echoed resilience research among other groups. If the findings apply beyond these participants, generic strategies for promoting resilience may be applicable to lesbian women. A further qualitative analysis explored the multidimensionality of resilience. The results highlighted that resilience is not the sole responsibility of the individual; rather, the family unit, the workplace and larger societal sphere play an influential role. A qualitative longitudinal case study with a participant was then conducted that paid close attention to factors associated with the dynamic nature of state-like resilience. The emphasis was on understanding what processes led to an increase in resilience over time. The main themes developed through this analysis included the strengthening of family relationships, the positive initiation of action towards personal growth, the development of internal affirmation of self, prioritization of mindfulness, and the discovery of meaning through self-reflection. A final quantitative survey-based study applied variables that were identified as important in the qualitative analyses (mindfulness, cognitive flexibility, personal and collective self-esteem and lesbian identity). The aim was to discover if these variables correlate with one another on a large-scale sample to better understand the process by which resilience fluctuates over time within a marginalized group. Findings indicate that self-esteem was the most significant predictor of resilience in a lesbian sample, followed by mindful non-reactivity, and psychological flexibility. The lesbian-specific measures were not as strongly related to resilience which reiterates the potential for the application of generic resilience-promoting interventions. A detailed intervention is then presented in the final discussion chapter which includes individual, group, family and societal segments. Overall, the contribution of this thesis lies in the development of novel research that highlights the strengths found in lesbian women. This in turn can help advocate for the equality of LGBTQ people as well as expand the current understanding of psychological resilience.

Narrative analysis of the impact of heterosexism on K-12 lesbian teachers. For full abstract, visit the American Folklore Society Annual Meeting Program Book.

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Her show, “A Round Peg in a Square Hole: Lesbian Teachers Fitting In,” is the culmination of her dissertation research in which she studied the impact of heterosexism on eleven K-12 lesbian teachers in public and private life. In this performance ethnography, she tells stories that reveal the cultural intermingling of family, community, and work to shape their identities as lesbians and teachers, divulging ways they succumb to and resist heteronormative society.

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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.

The purpose of this thesis was to examine the characteristics of long-term lesbian relationships (operationally defined as five or more years) and to compare these characteristics with prior findings on short-term or term non-specific lesbian relationships. Several studies that have been done made assumptions about the nature of lesbian relationships based on data gathered from women in brief relationships (Caldwell and Peplau 1984; Elise 1986; Gordon 1980; Krestan and Bepko 1980). This study was designed to examine whether or not lesbians in long-term relationships might have different interpersonal relational dynamics, just as married heterosexual couples have been shown to have relationships differing from heterosexual cohabitating couples. A questionnaire was developed by taking questions directly from prior studies on lesbian relationships in order to allow for direct comparisons. The specific areas investigated were power and equality, merger, feminist impact, structural supports and sexuality. The study used a non-random sample. The fifty-three couples who participated were gathered from announcements made at local and national lesbian events. The data were analyzed through tabular and correlational procedures. Many of the findings in this study were similar to those of earlier research. The respondents were just as likely as those in prior studies to be feminists, to value both autonomy and relatedness, to be sexually satisfied, and to have similar attitudes about women's issues. Feminism, and its focus on independence and non-monogamy, does not seem to have affected these women's abilities to maintain a long-term relationship. But the differences are also important to note. Prior studies had indicated that having equality with their partner was essential for lesbians within their relationships, and couples in this study were much more likely than those in prior studies to say that they had an equal balance of power. They were also more committed. They were more willing to move for their partner, buy a home or car with their partner, and much more likely to believe that they would still be together five years later. They were more likely to have made large joint financial commitments together and to have pooled finances. This information is important for lesbians who value long-term commitments, for therapists who may be assisting lesbian clientele with their relational dynamics, and for researchers examining lesbian relationships.

Lesbian-identified women are choosing to become parents in increasing numbers. This 'lesbian baby boom' has implications for midwives and their practice. The purpose of this study was to gain insight and understanding of planned pregnancy from a lesbian perspective, in order to facilitate the provision of appropriate care for lesbian mothers and their families.The methodology used for the study was radical hermeneutics informed by lesbian feminism and queer poststructuralism. Purposive sampling identified ten lesbian-identified mothers and conversational interviews with the participants yielded rich data about the phenomenon of inquiry. Thematic analysis of the data was foregrounded by a discussion of the socio-political context.A number of findings emerged from the study. Careful pre-conceptual planning reflected a highly responsible approach to parenting. The women's partners felt uncertain about their parenting role and experienced a lack of acknowledgement by the wider community. Despite legal access to assisted fertility, the participants usually sought an involved father for their child. Lesbian mothers expressed a preference for a lesbian midwife and all experienced homophobic attitudes from healthcare professionals. Queer families included mothers and their partners, fathers and their partners, children, families-of-origin, and close friends.Recommendations from the study include the provision of safe and supportive workplaces for lesbian-identified midwives, the use of inclusive language such as partner and parent, acknowledgement of the woman's partner as a co-parent, midwifery resources featuring same-sex parents and midwifery education covering diverse family forms.

The contemporary field �lesbian health� was shaped by a range of social and political changes in the last third of the twentieth century, as well as by discourses originating in the historical regulation of lesbianism. In discourse, lesbians have been produced as invisible, passive victims of heterosexist and potentially homophobic health-care providers. This project sought to understand how lesbians produce and manage their own health, and their interactions with doctors and other health-care providers. The research questions asked how discourses about lesbianism and the construction of the lesbian health field influence the ways in which lesbians construct and manage their own health, and how lesbians position themselves as they negotiate clinical spaces. Using semi-structured interviews, 19 women, aged between 22 and 64 years, who identified as lesbian, gay, same-sex-attracted and queer were interviewed. Interview data were analysed using discourse and content analysis. When they engaged with the health-care system, some participants produced their lesbianism as a social matter of no relevance to health; while for others their lesbianism was central to their health. An analysis of power relations revealed the complexity of ways the participants used agency to speak or remain silent about their sexual orientation. This was motivated by complex embodied understandings about the potential for emotional, physical or ontological harm involved in coming out in clinical spaces. Some chose to remain silent all, or some of the time, others to assertively identify themselves as lesbian. This depended on a range of contemporaneous factors including safety concerns, past experience and personal judgement. Whether to come out or not in the medical encounter was not necessarily a conscious decision, but was shaped by the individual�s embodied �sense for the game�. While the health-care system had frequently provided less than optimum care, these women were not passive, but used agency to decide whether or not their sexual orientation was relevant to the medical encounter.