In this dissertation, I examine the internal divisions in LGBT/Q communities. I illustrate how the notion of a single, unified community is not only fictive, but counter to the goals of liberation. Utilizing critical discourse analysis, I examine cultural artifacts of the contemporary gay rights movement to determine who has the power to shape domestic and international gay rights discourse. I analyze the role of gay citizenship through the same-sex marriage debates, the creation of the homonational soldier, and how gay rights is employed in international conflicts to strategically promote some countries as progressive, while denouncing others as backwards. I argue that the gay rights movement does not address the needs of all members of LGBT/Q communities, but rather, focuses on the wants of the elite and privileged. Despite recent advances, the gay rights movement has been stunted by a limited and marginalizing focus on normalization. Lastly, I present a queer perspective on gay rights and reimagine a movement that is more courageous and inclusive.

Denna uppsats behandlar Joseph Sheridan Le Fanus kortroman ”Carmilla”(1871-72). Berättelsen handlar om hur den unga kvinnan Laura lär känna den mystiska Carmilla, och de tycks forälska sig i varandra. Men Carmilla visar sig vara en vampyr, och hon dödas. Tolkningar av verket har gått isär kring huruvida berättelsen ska forstås som ”queer” och transgressiv, eller som patriarkal och konservativ. I min läsning av verket utgår jag från Tzvetan Todorovs undersokning av den fantastiska genren i boken The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre(1975). Den fantastiska genren karaktäriseras enligt Todorov av en hermeneutisk tvekan mellan olika förklaringar av en övernaturlig händelse. Jag undersöker hur ”Carmilla” passar in i denna genre, samt undersöker huruvida Lauras känslor inför Carmilla, där hon tvekar mellan skräck och kärlek, kan förstås som en form av fantastik. Slutsatsen är att en fantastisk läsning av ”Carmilla” kan belysa hur verket undflyr en tolkning som ser verkets ideologiska innehåll som fast och entydigt. Istället menar jag att tolkningsarbetet kan ses som ett begär efter kunskap, som speglas av hur Lauras eget begär gestaltas i berättelsen, samt hur själva läsakten kan ses som meningsskapande.

This thesis details the production process of a video documentary that describes the coming out processes of gay men who identify with the Bear subculture of the gay community and some of the conflicts and consequences that they face due to this action. The aim of this production was to portray with dignity and compassion the recorded feelings and personal histories of the subjects interviewed. Chapters are devoted to the development, pre-production, production and post-production phased of this documentary. A detailed script, transcripts, shot list, and other examples and illustrations are included to give a better understanding of the entire production. This thesis also includes other necessary documentation such as a detailed budget and copies of performance releas

An extensive review of the existing literature makes apparent that academics who study intimate partner violence focus primarily on physical violence in heterosexual relationships. Non-physical forms of abuse receive secondary attention, despite reported claims from survivors that non-physical forms of abuse are more common, more painful, and have longer lasting effects than physical forms of abuse. The dominant focus on intimate partner violence as a social problem enacted by males on their female partners results in a lack of sufficient literature or conversation pertaining to abuse that exists outside these parameters. Members of sexual minority groups are deliberately excluded from the mainstream movement to protect and support survivors of intimate partner violence. Influenced by these realizations, this research explores the dynamics of non-physical forms of intimate partner violence in lesbian relationships; particularly the ways survivors frame the abuse and their experiences with seeking help.

Trots att sexualbrott är ett omdiskuterat fenomen så talas det mycket lite om lesbiska sådana. För att skapa en djupare förståelse för lesbiskt sexuellt våld blir det viktigt att undersöka hur det samtyckta lesbiska sexet fungerar, samt vilka aspekter i dessa sexuella praktiker som möjliggör missförstånd och ignorans av samtycke från de olika parterna. Denna uppsats har som syfte att undersöka hur föreställningar om sexuell praktik, genus och sexualitet påverkar hur samtycke förstås och kommuniceras inom ramen för lesbiska sexuella praktiker. Detta genomförs med hjälp av fem kvalitativa intervjuer med personer med erfarenhet av lesbiska sexpraktiker, vilka sedan har analyserats med en queerfenomenologisk ingång. Utifrån analysen kan det konstateras att kommunikation kring samtycke ofta sker genom kroppslig inkänning, och i mindre utsträckning genom tal. Detta kan ibland leda till missförstånd, men blir en naturlig förlängning av att sexet inte har samma mall att följa som heteronormativt sex har. Förväntningar på den lesbiska relationen, viljan att upprätthålla en feministisk eller lesbisk identitet, samt vilka sexuella praktiker som utförs är exempel på faktorer som kan påverka hur ett sexuellt samtycke uppfattas eller kommuniceras. Detta kan i sin tur bidra till att lusten hamnar i andra rummet och att sexuella praktiker utförs utan alla parters fulla samtycke.

Work in general is under-theorised as a site of oppression in queer and intersectional studies, despite the power imbalances it manifests and its far-reaching effects on everyday lives. Anti-work theory is a useful conceptual tool for examining work critically. The purpose of this study is therefore to form a bridge between queer and anti-work politics and theory. Using a broad conception of work drawing on the Marxist and feminist concepts of social reproduction and emotional labour, this study explores anti-work politics situated in relation to the author (who is queer), in contrast to previous accounts which focus on a heteronormative division of labour. The text lays down a theoretical background bringing together elements of queer, anti-work and intersectional theory. With the lack of previous work on the topic, the study instead incorporates previous empirical research on queer work and delves into their problems, before returning to theoretical texts on the relation between queer and capitalism, and the politics of anti-work. This study is centred around the reports of nine queers in Berlin, Germany. It uses the ethnographic methods of semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis to gain intersectional insights into the links people make between queerness and the drive to work, resisting work, and the future.

Magíster en teoría e historia del arte / Esta tesis busca reconocer y verificar la existencia de un conjunto de prácticas de producción artística queer entre 1973 y 1996, centrada y entrecruzada por los discursos de la memoria marginal. Alejada de las constantes lecturas del deseo, como forma interpretativa de las prácticas homosexuales, se abordan los relatos y discursos desde los traumas producidos por los atropellos de los derechos humanos durante la dictadura cívico-militar y la llegada del VIH/Sida a Chile, periodo durante el cual se despliega un amplio contexto de represión social y sexual, emitido desde las políticas del miedo y el castigo. Estos lineamientos han sido escasamente ahondados al momento de ingresar a las prácticas de artistas y activistas como herramientas de lucha de las sexualidades no normativas. Este trabajo rastrea los reservorios materiales, discursivos y performativos que hilvanan una trama invisibilizada dentro de las prácticas artísticas vinculadas principalmente a los traumas vividos por homosexuales, lesbianas y travestis, para revelar cómo se vinculan a las prácticas artísticas homosexuales más cruciales del «lado B» de la historia del arte. Con estas premisas, se inicia una indagación desde la categoría proto-queer, propuesta por Justo Pastor Mellado, ya que servirá para delimitar un corte histórico de obras y prácticas artísticas encabezadas por la escena de disidencia sexual de los noventa en acciones de activismo artístico y social.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Art (Digital Art), September 2017 / The aim of the research report is to establish a link between the field/practice of queer theory and the field/practice of animation. I propose that the linking factor between these two bodies of theory and practice is fantasy. the purpose of exploring this link s to understand how formal elements of the animated medium can be used to articulate queer scenarios of desire: [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version] / XL2018

ABSTRACT This dissertation explores identity as its central theme. There are three components to the dissertation. The first is the academic essay which explores identity through the perspective of queer theory and proposes a three-dimensional conception of an “identity cloud”. The second component is the creative essay which consists of ten chapters towards a final novella entitled “troll”. The creative component’s central theme is the lead protagonist’s struggle in assimilating the identities of “gay” and “addict” after receiving a liver transplant. The third and final component is an essay detailing the manner in which the creative and academic created and informed one another.

In the early 20thcentury, homosexual acts were illegal in Sweden. During this time, “homosexuality” did not exist as a concept. Instead, the Swedish law referred to homosexual acts as “unnatural fornication”. In 1907 a man named Nils Santesson was arrested and sentenced for committing unnatural fornication with another man. The case was brought to the attention of the press, which for the first time began to use the term “homosexual” in headings and articles.    The purpose of this study has been to analyse how homosexuality was considered and defined in Sweden during the early 20thcentury, by studying the reporting of Nils Santesson’s court case and his self-image. The analysis is based on the categories: crime, illness and morality, and to achieve the purpose of the study, a qualitative text analysis has been implemented as a method. Also, the study was based on the theory of a masculinity hierarchy that subordinated homosexuals, and one version of queer theory.   The result shows that homosexuality was considered as an act rather than an integral part of someone’s character or identity. The society regarded homosexuality as obnoxious, indecent and unnatural, which was a direct consequence of the Swedish criminal law 18 § 10. Homosexuals were portrayed as sickening from three aspects: as a morbidly deviant phenomenon from heterosexuality, as contribution to mental illness and as carriers of sexually transmitted diseases. Morally, homosexuals were considered sexually licentious and constantly in search of seduction. Heterosexuality was upheld as a dominant system which placed homosexual men in a masculine subordination as homosexuality was regarded as a criminal act, immoral and were associated with disease.