The purpose of this study was to analyze the change in gay/lesbian friendships after the disclosure of their sexual identity. Six specific areas were examined: (1) what are the circumstances under which persons find out their close friends are gay/lesbian (hereafter referred to as the event), (2) do relationships change when close friends find out about the participants' sexual identity, (3) if the relationship changes, how does it change (hereafter referred to as the relational outcome), (4) which events are associated with which relational outcomes, (5) how satisfied are the gays/lesbians with their relational outcomes, and (6) what are the gays'/lesbians' perceived causes of the relational outcomes. The results of this study indicated that the majority of the participants disclosed their sexual identity to their close friends. And they did so in an attempt to be honest, to avoid hiding who they are, and to be able to talk about their sexual identity freely. Most of the participants reported being quite satisfied with the relationships which became more close or stayed the same. Most of the participants reported being somewhat unsatisfied with the relationships which became more distant or terminated. The way in which the friends found out about the participants' sexual identity was not related to whether or not the relationship became more close or more distant. The participants believed their relationships became more close because they were honest. However, the participants believed their relationships became more distant because their friends were homophobic. This research is significant because it may help counselors, therapists, and practitioners coach gay men and lesbians when their relationships deteriorate or are strained. This research may also enable gay men and lesbians to be aware of potential factors which might affect their relationships with their friends after disclosure occurs. In addition, this research may equip gay men and lesbians with information to enable them to make educated decisions on discussing their sexual identity with their friends. Furthermore, the results from this research might provide suggestions to individuals who have gay friends to help them make the coming-out process easier for their gay friends. / Graduation date: 1998

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 36-41).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-152). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

The relationships among self-labeled sexual orientation, sexual preferences, and sexual behaviors were examined in samples from Taiwan and the USA. Subsamples matched on gender, age, and marital status were created to reduce sexual orientation cell size discrepancies and demographic differences. Sexual orientation self-label, the Kinsey Scale of Sexual Orientation, and a modified version for preference were used to assess participants' sexual orientation, behavior, and preference, respectively. Additional measures included an adaptation of the Early Sexual Experiences Checklist, and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist for psychological distress. For both Taiwan and USA subsamples, heterosexual participants reported significantly greater congruence between sexual orientation identity and preference than did nonheterosexual participants. A high proportion of the Taiwan sample were celibate, precluding analyses of congruence between sexual orientation identity and sexual behavior. Congruence between sexual behavior and preference in the USA sample was negatively correlated with psychological distress. In a cross-cultural comparison between the Taiwan and USA women (n = 176), the two samples reported similar congruence between sexual orientation identity and preference. Exploratory analyses revealed that heterosexual participants' sexual orientation label was more “public, ” (more categories of people who knew the participants' sexual orientation), than was nonheterosexuals' in both Taiwan and the USA. In Taiwan, heterosexual and nonheterosexual participants reported similar proportions who were celibate. A gender difference within the USA subsample included that men reported significantly greater congruence than did women regarding sexual orientation identity and congruence between behavior and preference. Analyses comparing self-labeled sexual orientation groups on unwanted childhood sexual experiences and age of earliest voluntary sexual activity were not significant. This study's limitations included small numbers of bisexual (USA n = 27, Taiwan n = 17) or homosexual (USA n = 35, Taiwan n = 9) participants, prohibiting distinctions between them. Recommended future research includes examining the self-labeling process, Asian American student sexual behaviors, and incorporating frequency and intrusiveness when assessing unwanted childhood sexual experiences.

In two studies, this thesis depicts the relationship between minority group status in the United States, perceived discrimination, and coping with stress. Past literature on coping and its types – problem-focused versus emotion-focused – is inconsistent in terms of differences between minority status groups and majority groups. It remains unknown whether or why Black Americans and lesbian or gay Americans may demonstrate coping patterns that differ from White Americans and heterosexual Americans, respectively. What is altogether absent from the literature is the possible mediating factor of perceived discrimination experienced by these minority groups. That is, differences in internal, stable coping processes that manage stress may have been molded by one’s experience with discrimination. Study 1 examines the relationship between race (Black versus White) and coping, mediated by perceived discrimination. Study 2 examines the relationship between sexual orientation (lesbian or gay versus heterosexual) and coping, mediated by perceived discrimination. Both studies confirm the thesis that minority group members exhibit maladaptive, emotion-focused coping more than majority group members – but that this difference is explained by the minority group members’ perceived discrimination. Historical and political relevance, social implications, and possible limitations in design and interpretation are discussed. / text

The present study is an exploratory analysis of associations among sexual orientation, childhood abuse, and characteristics of both early and current family environment in a sample of 80 inpatient trauma survivors. Participants were administered a background information questionnaire, Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule, the Family Environment Scale and other instruments not analyzed in the current study. Multi-type abuse was significantly associated with low expressiveness and independence and high control in the early family, but no associations emerged with current family characteristics. Results suggest that the intergenerational transmission of family organization and moral-religious orientation occurred in the entire sample, and the transmission of family conflict patterns occurred only in the L/G/B group. Overall, participants perceived improvements in their current family environments compared to their early family environments. Findings yield support for the sexual minority stress model and mixed support for the intergenerational transmission of family characteristics.

Abstract This is a study of law and language; in particular an investigation into the language of judgments. The focus is on judgments as texts authored by judges. The main thinkers chosen as the theoretical basis are not experts in law – Michel Foucault, Mikhail Bakhtin, Norman Fairclough and Hayden White, for example. The reason for this choice is to consider the language of law from insights outside of law. Topics such as rhetoric, narrative, critical discourse analysis, intertextuality, interpretive communities, the monologic voice, oppositional reading, and power relations are seldom found in mainstream legal literature. The position taken is that judgments are texts which are no more privileged (simply because they are legal texts) than any others that a society creates. However, judgments are viewed by some as being special societal texts, coated with a patina of mystique because they are dealing with inviolate legal principles. The patina is removed enough to suggest that judges use various linguistic processes to shape their judgments in ways no different from other authors, notwithstanding that they are writing about ‘the law’. Judges are rhetoricians who use rhetoric to shape the facts, choose the most expedient legal principle, and incorporate views of society expedient to their opinion. The thrust of this study is to locate rhetoric at work within a specific sphere. The corpus consists of forty-four cases over a seventy-five year period dealing with sexual orientation. This area of law was chosen for a number of reasons. It is self-contained and lends itself to detailed examination. The topic is emotive which means more rhetorical techniques are at play than in a fairly technical area of law. There have been significant changes in the way sexual orientation has been treated in law over the years. It is interesting to trace how rhetoric facilitated that change. Lastly, we see how a judicial hegemony deals with an apolitical, splintered minority. Any categorical conclusions are impossible in an exploration of this kind. The findings, however, indicate that judges are not as restricted as is generally considered and that their judgments are shaped by employing linguistic techniques available to writers of both fact and fiction. The intention is to provide a fresh way of reading judgments, where observations gleaned in one area can be applied to other areas of law.

Considerando o exercício da nossa prática, e a importância que a adolescência e a orientação sexual assumiram nos últimos anos, é que buscamos realizar o presente estudo. Nosso objetivo foi conhecer a percepção de alunos que haviam participado de um grupo de adolescentes com relação à dinâmica desses grupos e à orientação sexual, tendo como referencial teórico os aspectos conceituais da adolescência, sexualidade na adolescência, vulnerabilidade, orientação sexual, metodologia participativa e lúdica. Buscamos na abordagem qualitativa, uma alternativa metodológica para entender a realidade expressa através das percepções desses adolescentes. Do ponto de vista teórico e formal, optamos pela modalidade de Pesquisa Estratégica. Realizamos o estudo em uma escola municipal de Ribeirão Preto, tendo como atores sociais, alunos que participaram, de grupos de orientação nas 4ª séries. Com relação ao processo de trabalho de campo, para coleta de dados, utilizamos a técnica da entrevista semi-estruturada, tendo como técnica complementar a realização de grupos focais. O tratamento e análise dos dados foram feitos através da análise de conteúdo, elaborada por Bardin. A partir das falas dos atores sociais, pudemos identificar núcleos temáticos, relacionados ao lúdico, enquanto processo facilitador para a aquisição do conhecimento e reflexão; ao conteúdo abordado e a participação nos grupos, enquanto fator determinante para o seu futuro e um caminho para o diálogo intra familiar. / It is by considering our practice and the importance given to adolescence and sexual orientation in the last few years that we aim at accomplishing this study. Our purpose was to understand the perception of students who have already participated in a group of adolescents as to the dynamics of such groups and in relation to the sexual orientation. The conceptual aspects of adolescence, sexuality in adolescence, vulnerability, sexual orientation, participative and ludic methodology made up the theoretical framework of our study. In order to achieve our goal, we applied a qualitative approach, a methodological alternative to understand the reality expressed through the perceptions of these adolescents. From the theoretical and formal viewpoint, we chose the Strategic Research modality. We carried out the study in a municipal school in the City of Ribeirão Preto with social student-actors who, had participated in groups in the 4th graders. Concerning the field work process for data collection, we used semistructured interviews and the formation of focal groups as a complementary technique. The data analysis and treatment were carried out by means of the content analysis method, elaborated by Bardin. Based on the students\' discourse, we were able to identify thematic nuclei related to that which is ludic as a facilitating process in the acquisition of knowledge and reflection, to the approached content and the participation in the group as a determinant factor for their future and the possibility of intra-family dialogue.

The purpose of this dissertation was to create a psychometrically sound measure of asexual prejudice through microaggressions that can be used to document and identify the unique experiences of asexual people (i.e., those reporting a lack of sexual attraction towards others). Asexual prejudice encompasses anti-asexual beliefs and attitudes that stem from sexual normativity which promotes sexuality as the norm while positioning asexuality as deviant (Carrigan 2011; Chasin, 2011; Flore, 2014; Gupta, 2013). Applying Sue’s (2010) description of microaggressions, asexual microaggressions are conscious and/or unconscious daily occurrences of insults and invalidation that stem from implicit bias against asexual people and asexuality. Development of the scale included creating items with content that was derived from close readings of the literature on asexuality and related measures of discrimination, prejudice or bias as well as expert review for clarity and verifying applicability of content. A total of 738 participants participated on-line and half were randomly assigned to Phase 1 for the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) while the other half was assigned to Phase 2 for the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Results of the EFA indicate a 16 item four-factor structure for the AMS that capture expectations of sexuality, denial of legitimacy, harmful visibility, and assumptions of causality as descriptors of the types of microaggressions that occur. The CFA revealed support for the AMS total score with good internal consistency and strong validity as reflected in strong positive relationships with stigma consciousness, collective self-esteem, and another measure of discrimination and bias. Combined, the AMS is a valid and reliable measure of asexual prejudice. Contextualization of these results as well as implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

Este estudo busca analisar a questão de como o dispositivo trabalho é atravessado pelo dispositivo sexualidade nos casos de discriminação por orientação sexual, e os reflexos desta dinâmica na constituição dos sujeitos. Assim, os objetivos deste trabalho são investigar como se apresenta a discriminação por orientação sexual no trabalho e seus reflexos nos processos de subjetivação dos sujeitos que passam por tal situação, bem como analisar quais são os caminhos possíveis percorridos pelas pessoas que sofrem tal tipo de discriminação, na busca de visibilidade, respeito e proteção legal. Para tanto foram entrevistados quatro sujeitos que passaram por discriminação nos ambientes de trabalho devido à orientação sexual que manifestam e procederam a denúncias junto a uma ONG pela livre expressão sexual, também foi entrevistada uma fiscal do trabalho da SRTE, órgão estatal que também recebe este tipo de denúncias. O que vemos é o trabalho tomado ainda como sustentáculo social, conformado em um jogo de poderes que se vale da sexualidade, bem como do familismo, para sua manutenção, (re)instituindo a heterossexualidade como norma às custas de outras formas de expressão sexual. Dessa forma, a discriminação por orientação sexual se mostra como uma realidade, tendo profundo impacto nos processos de subjetivação e nas possibilidades de sobrevivência dos sujeitos, uma vez que a demissão é o desfecho e a dificuldade de retorno ao mercado de trabalho são as conseqüências mais comuns. Frente a isso, acompanhamos a construção de uma rede social e jurídica de combate a esta forma de preconceito e pela não-discriminação por orientação sexual. / This paper searches to study how the work is influenced by the sexuality on the cases of discrimination linked to sexual orientation in the Brazilian context. The focus is mainly the discussion about the implications in the production of subjectivity, as well as the creation of social and juridical instruments and affirmative actions that intend to guarantee liberty of sexual expression. In order to attain this objective, we used a genealogical approach to define the possibility conditions to the emergence of sexual orientation discrimination as a social question. The work is still the basis of construction social and defines the sexuality mainly as heterosexuality, using the familism to support it. Sexual discrimination in the work put in danger its victims because takes their life support off. However there is a creation of juridical and social instruments and actions that aim reaches a sexual expression with dignity.