Parents who experience their children's coming out encounter emotional reactions that could compromise their ability to function, particularly when challenged by the Catholic doctrine towards homosexuality. It is not well known how Latino parents experience their children's coming out and how they mediate their Catholic identity. The purpose of this research was to explore the experiences of these parents considering phenomenology as the method of inquiry. The theoretical lens was based on the parental acceptance-rejection theory. The research questions addressed how Latinos experienced the coming out of their children and how they mediated their identities as Catholics and as parents of a lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) child. The data for this study consisted of 12 interviews with parents using an open-ended, and a semistructured format. A total of 6 themes (disclosure of an LGB identity, conflicts, help towards conflict resolution, church support, acceptance, and identity consolidation) and 10 subthemes (suspicion of an LGB identity, unexpected disclosure, internal, family, cultural and church conflicts, God's love, unconditional love, parenting pride, and Catholic pride) emerged from the analysis. The results indicated that Latino parents underscored the positive qualities of their LGB children while other Latino parents criticize the Catholic doctrine towards homosexuality. In conclusion, the notion of an all-loving and all-accepting God prompted Latinos to consolidate their identities as Catholic and as parents of a LGB child. Implications for positive social change include the education of behavioral health professionals and the Catholic clergy to enhance their professional competencies to assist Latino parents seeking counseling services or seeking spiritual care within the Roman Catholic Church.

Despite the positive changes occurring regarding American attitudes toward members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, empirical evidence indicates that LGBT individuals do not believe inclusive environments exist, as 48% of the population remains closeted at work. A gap exists in the literature relating to the formulation of practical solutions that establish and sustain inclusive environments. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify the possible influence of cultural lag on the workplace engagement of LGBT employees. Ogburn's cultural lag theory served as the conceptual framework. The following research questions guided the study: (a) The impact that antidiscrimination, social, legal, and organizational changes have had on LGBT employees, (b) the effect of cultural lag on the career paths of LGBT employees, and (c) best practices for implementing strategies that create and maintain inclusive environments for the advancement of LGBT employees. Purposeful snowball sampling led to the selection of individuals who were open about their sexual orientation in the workplace. Twenty-seven participants came from various industries within the Northeastern, Midwestern, Northwestern, and Western regions of the United States. Data were obtained from open-ended interviews and were coded to find themes and subthemes. The results indicated that generalizations can occur across geographical locations or work environments and identified emergent themes for recommended best practices and strategies for organizations. Implications for positive social change include a greater understanding of, and support for establishing and maintaining inclusive environments for LGBT employees.

The original purpose of this quantitative study was to compare 5 self-reported sexual minority stress (SMS) factors experienced by lesbian and gay police officers to discover if lesbian or gay police officers experience more SMS, and which factor, if any, is the biggest stressor for either group as measured using subscales of the Daily Heterosexist Experiences Questionnaire (DHEQ). This study partially incorporated minority-stress theory as applied to sexual minorities. This study used subscales from the DHEQ in anonymous, online surveys. Because of the low response rate, the study changed to compare the group of lesbian and gay police officers' self-reports on levels of feelings of vigilance, harassment/discrimination, isolation, vicarious trauma, and victimization as compared to the established population values. The central research question asked if there was a significant difference between lesbian and gay police officers and the established population on self-reported factors of SMS, as measured by the DHEQ. Two-tailed t tests were used to analyze the data. The results showed that lesbian and gay officers reported significantly less SMS as determined by the 5 factors on the DHEQ. The results of this study could provide an impact on how administrators treat lesbian and gay officers and how LGBT policies are created and implemented for internal and external (e.g. LGBT communities) interactions. The results of this study could also provide insight for police psychologists and other mental health practitioners about SMS.

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.

Historically, African American lesbians (AALs) experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) have received little or no support from therapists due to stigmas concerning the same-sex relationships of AALs in particular, who have been racially marginalized. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences, attitudes, and perceptions of therapists who provide counseling for AALs who have experienced IPV. The findings of this study may help to better understand the challenges, perceptions, and attitudes of therapists regarding their experiences in working with AALs in domestic violent relationships because existing research was limited on mental health therapists' perceptions of working with AALs who are experiencing IPV in their relationships. Attribution theory provided a framework through which to explore and describe this topic. A phenomenological research design was used to explore the perceptions and lived experiences of 10 mental health professionals who have worked with AALs in IPV relationships. Data collection, using semistructured continued until data saturation was attained. Moustakas' phenomenological steps for data analysis were used to identify 4 themes in the data: challenges, IPV, resources available, and outcomes. Understanding the attitudes and experiences of therapists working with AALs in abusive relationships may result in positive social change through increasing knowledge of the issues involved. This may result in improved counseling and other services to AALs.

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.

Due to a lack of understanding lesbian and gay lived experiences in counseling, the counseling field is also lacking understanding of the lesbian and gay experiences in counseling that lead to premature termination. Without the knowledge of personal understanding of these experiences, it is difficult to also understand how to retain lesbian and gay clients, provide appropriate counselor training, and even explore cultural humility. The term cultural humility represents the implicit and explicit impact that culture has on the counselor and challenges assumptions made by the practitioner as well as assumptions about client culture (Fisher-Borne et al., 2015). The experiences of the lesbian and gay population are not well documented and are lacking in the research. Utilizing Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT) and the hermeneutic phenomenology of Van Manen (2016), this research study explored insight about lesbian and gay adult lived experiences who have terminated counseling prematurely. Hand coding was used to explore the narratives of 6 participants that generated 4 major themes and 11 subordinate themes. Themes included therapeutic alliance, interpersonal interference, ethical boundaries, cultural humility/cultural misunderstanding, and cultural invalidation. The results of this study gave a voice to the participants' challenges in counseling and offered awareness into what helped retain the participants and what might have implicated early termination. A better understanding of these experiences may equip counselors and counselors in training about the lesbian and gay adult population in counseling, how to retain them, and give clues to understanding ongoing cultural dissonance in counseling.

Thesis ( M.A. (Media Studies)) --University of Limpopo, 2015 / The visibility of gays and lesbians has predominantly improved in recent years, and the media have been a fundamental tool when measuring the homosexual communities’ social status. This study investigates whether current mainstream television accurately depicts and represents gays and lesbians, and whether gay and lesbian individuals are impacted by these television portrayals. Through in- depth interviews, focus groups and observations, the research findings reveal that gay and lesbian television depictions are not completely accurate and have varying effects on audiences. However, this evidence is significant to the entertainment industry when creating fair gay and lesbian character portrayals that could be positively receptive by the homosexual community.

Much research has examined pathological attributes of lesbians. This qualitative inquiry focused on strengths and non-pathological behaviors exhibited by lesbian youth in the face of homophobia and adversity. Focus group interviews were utilized to gather data from 22 adult lesbians who live in the New Orleans metropolitan area. The analysis shows that those lesbian youth who were better adept at coping and manifested a resilient self had viable social support systems, demonstrated healthy constitutional factors, perceived benefit from adversity, and had self-labeled and self-disclosed / acase@tulane.edu

This qualitative study used narrative analysis of interviews with 10 older lesbians (aged 55 and over) who have made a financial commitment to live in a continuous care retirement center (CCRC) specializing in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) care. The specific aims were to: 1. Describe what has impacted older lesbians' decisions to live in an LGBT-specific CCRC. 2. Describe factors that both positively and negatively impact older lesbians' perceptions of elder care. The study combined two qualitative strategies (across-case, thematic analysis and narrative analysis) and used a convenience sample. Themes identified in across-case analysis were interpreted in the context of patterns in the narrative analysis. Categories, topics and subtopics were organized temporally. This within and across case strategy facilitated the ability to view the whole as well as individual and identify salient themes and representative stories across cases. Stories of past negative experiences with family (resulting from the participants' sexual orientation) as well as past positive experiences within the gay community were widespread across cases. Presently, the participants are caring for older heterosexual family members and realizing that in their lesbian friendship circles they have experienced this type of care and support and not in their biological family relationships. Additionally, they are increasingly aware of their own aging and realizing that at some point they might not be able to support themselves and each other in ways that preserve their dignity and prevent discrimination, as they generally can now. The participants' past experiences (as well as expectations stemming from them) coupled with present experiences and realizations, have led to the decision to live in an LGBT CCRC. They have concluded that the only way to be assured of dignity and respect in elder care is to decide on the LGBT CCRC. Positive perceptions regarding the decision to live in this elder care option were straightforward and directly reflected the findings for Aim I. It is important to understand older lesbians' elder care decision making because continued lack of knowledge may potentially undermine optimal care delivery of elder lesbians across settings.