In this two-manuscript dissertation, framed through queer and minority stress theories, I focus on heteronormative pressures and their impact on sexual identity fluidity and health of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth and young adults. Heteronormativity, or the expectation to meet heterosexual norms in relationships, may be stressful for lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth and be linked to poorer health. In particular, I focus on bisexual young people because bisexual people can enter into either same- or different-gender relationships; these young people could experience pressure from family members and religious communities to conform to heterosexual norms, resulting in sexual identity transitions that could explain health differences between sexual minority groups. In the first manuscript, I conducted life history narratives interviews with 14 racially and ethnically diverse youth and young adults between the ages of 18-24 on how LGB youth make sense of expectations to conform to heterosexual norms and how their experiences vary based on youths’ characteristics. In the second manuscript, I used structural equation modeling analysis of one of the largest community samples of LGB youth and young adults between the ages of 15-21 in the U.S. to examine youths' current and future relationship desires in a broader system of heteronormative expectations and how these expectations operate as mechanisms to influence the mental health of sexual minority youth. Qualitative results from the first manuscript show that for many youth and youth adults, gender and sexuality intersect to influence their experiences of heteronormativity: Gender and sexuality were conflated for gay men who stated that their gender nonconformity meant that family members already knew their sexuality before they came out as gay. Many bisexual women described their experiences being gender conforming in which they struggled to legitimize their sexuality to others because they were feminine. Though gay and lesbian identities were present in discussions of gender, an expression of gender that signaled and was named as bisexuality was fundamentally missing in the interviews. That is, participants did not describe a gender presentation that would indicate someone attracted to more than one gender. Participants consistently considered childbearing, but not marriage, to be highly desirable. Latino participants discussed heteronormativity through the racialized lens of machismo. However, religion was a greater source of pressure to conform to heterosexuality for Latino participants than were racial communities. My quantitative results from the second manuscript showed that gay men, lesbian women, and bisexual men are more likely to desire same-gender marriages later in life compared to bisexual women, who are more likely to desire different-gender marriages. Participants who desired different-gender marriage were more likely to identify as a different sexual identity over time. However, neither relationship desires nor sexual identity transitions related to depressive symptoms. The findings of this manuscript suggest that initial transition to a sexual minority identity may be the most vulnerable time for youth. After this initial transition, lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth may be inoculated to stress related to identity transitions, even in the context of heteronormativity. This research informs queer and minority stress theories: Gender, sexuality, and family norms intersect to structure how youth understand heteronormativity and predicts whether youth maintain their sexual identity, but such norms might not be stressors that influence health after youth first identify as LGB.

Master of Science / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Stephanie Rolley / More than 5% of the 65 and older population utilize nursing homes, congregate care, assisted living, and board-and-care homes, with about 4.2% of these individuals occupying nursing homes at any given time (Administration on Aging, 2008). The rate of nursing home use generally increases with age and studies have shown that by the year 2030, the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) adults over the age of 65 is expected to be nearly 3 million (SAGE, 2010). With this overall increase in potential resident populations, those aging adults who identify as LGBT are faced with additional unique challenges commonly not encountered by their heterosexual counterparts. The majority of LGBT elders fear they will experience discrimination in long-term care organizations, with more than half maintaining that staff or even other residents will abuse or neglect them (Knochel, et al., 2010). Unrevised long-term care organizational rules combined with prejudice and hostile treatment from staff members can create unwelcoming environments for LGBT elders who are generally unable to advocate for themselves. Challenges that aging LGBT adults face in long-term care settings will be reviewed and discussed in this report. In addition, this report will provide educational guidelines to assist long-term care organizations in developing an educational model targeted at addressing LGBT elders’ concerns. When staff within a long-term care community lack proper training on and understanding of LGBT concerns, it can negatively affect the quality of care provided to these members. As such, the educational guidelines will encourage an educational model incorporating cultural competency training among the long-term care staff and organizational leadership, and will utilize community development principles to ensure inclusiveness and increase social capital.

Master of Arts / Department of Communication Studies / Sarah E. Riforgiate / Leadership is a phenomenon studied in all cultures (Murdock, 1967), yet representation in the diversity of influential leaders is often limited (Moon, 1996). In order to understand the full breadth of leadership scholarship, it is essential that research focuses on how leadership is both enacted and communicated in underrepresented groups. A group that is currently facing marginalization from dominant culture is the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community. With no national anti-discrimination law in place to protect the individuals belonging to this community (American Civil Liberties Union, 2016) it is vital to understand how leaders within this marginalized group are motivating others to fight to enact change. While influential organizations like The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) are fighting for social justice on a national level, it is important to understand how local organizations are engaging in communicative leadership to motivate others to enact change in their own community. This study seeks to understand how leadership is communicated within a local LGBT rights organization (given the pseudonym the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Campaign, or LGBTC) and to identify the ways LGBT leaders motivate others to enact social change. Using ethnographic methodology, the researcher observed four monthly board meetings held by this group (lasting approximately an hour and a half each) and conducted a focus-group interview where the participants confirmed observations and answered follow-up questions from the ethnographic observations. A qualitative thematic analysis revealed two common themes: the first theme, cohesive communication, was exemplified through organizational procedures that allowed for collective discussion and expression of individuality by emphasizing and depending on group members’ personal expertise. The second theme, proactive communication, emerged through group members’ communication to evoke tenacious defense strategies to counter the opposition and engage in outreach with external organizations. These leadership communication behaviors resulted in two critical implications on the theoretical and practical levels. In regards to the theoretical implications, LGBT leaders, who have been typically characterized as predominantly transformational, were found to enact leadership outside of that typology, actually engaging in relational styles through shared leadership, communicating in a way that relies on interaction and emotional expression. On a practical level, other marginalized groups could benefit from inclusivity, or the mode of collective leadership this particular LGBT Rights Group engaged in. By including multiple voices and having a variety of minority representation, the LGBTC was able to successfully motivate community change. Other marginalized groups experiencing social injustice may be able to motivate others to enact change by adopting this mode of collective communication through shared leadership.

According to public health research, bisexual men are at elevated risk for contracting STIs and HIV relative to other sexual minority groups (e.g., gay men, lesbian women) as well as heterosexual people; yet, no studies to date have examined contextual factors that may contribute to this sexual health trend. Using a minority stress theory framework, the present study tested the direct and indirect associations of anti-bisexual discrimination with risky sexual behaviors in a sample of 508 self-identified bisexual men (age range = 18 - 76), with internalized biphobia, bisexual identity concealment, and substance use mediating this relation. Bisexual identity centrality’s direct relations with internalized biphobia, bisexual identity concealment, and risky sexual behavior were also tested. A path analysis was used to analyze the data. Results indicated that anti-bisexual discrimination yielded significant direct positive associations with internalized biphobia, bisexual identity concealment, and risky sexual behavior. Internalized biphobia, but not bisexual identity concealment, yielded a significant direct association with substance use, which yielded a significant direct positive link with risky sexual behavior. Bisexual identity centrality yielded significant direct negative associations with both internalized biphobia and bisexual identity concealment, but it yielded a nonsignificant association with risky sexual behavior. Internalized biphobia also yielded a total indirect link with risky sexual behavior through the mediating role of substance use. Implications of these findings for clinical practice and future research with bisexual men are discussed.

Thesis advisor: Paul Poteat / Sexual minorities (e.g., lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals) are at higher risk for mental and physical health disparities than heterosexuals, and research has related some of these disparities to minority stressors such as institutional heterosexism, sexual prejudice, and discrimination. Yet, there is a dearth of research elucidating factors that predict the development of these health risks, and factors that protect and promote resiliency against them. Building on the minority stress model, the present study utilized relational cultural theory to situate sexual minority health disparities within a relational framework. Specifically, the study examined the mediating and moderating factors between the deleterious effects of distal stressors (i.e., heterosexist relational disconnections such as discrimination and victimization) and proximal stressors (i.e., self-disparaging relational images such as internalized homophobia, sexual orientation concealment) on mental and physical health for sexual minorities. Among 719 sexual minority adults, structural equation modeling analyses were used to test three models of: the relations between minority stressors and health; mediating effects of diminished agency, loneliness, and shame on the relations between minority stressors and health; and the moderated-mediation effects of growth-fostering relationships with peers, mentors, and community on the mediating pathways between minority stressors and health. Results indicated that heterosexist distal and proximal minority stressors predicted poor mental health (i.e., depression, anxiety, and suicidality) and physical health (i.e., cardiovascular disease risk, distressing physical symptoms). The relations between proximal minority stressors and health were mediated by diminished sense of agency, loneliness, and shame, and there were mixed results for the relations between distal stressors and health. Although the direct effects of growth-fostering relationships were significant in predicting lower levels of diminished agency, loneliness, and shame, these factors had mixed moderating effects. Findings have research, practice, and policy implications that underscore the possible mechanisms by which sexual minority stressors lead to poor health. Researchers and practitioners need to addresses and advocate against societal forces contributing to heterosexist relational disconnections and for sexual minority health policies and research. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology.

Thesis advisor: Stephanie Berzin / A growing body of evidence shows that sexual minority youth disproportionately suffer from poor mental health and substance abuse outcomes in comparison to their heterosexual peers. Parental support has been found to be a strong protective factor for these youth. There is a lack of research, however, that examines the role of non-parental adult support, such as natural mentors (e.g., teachers, grandparents, and coaches). Guided by minority stress and resiliency theories, the current study aims to deepen our understanding of whether natural mentors act as a resilience resource for sexual minority youth. The current study uses the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) restricted-use dataset. This is a large, nationally representative sample of both heterosexual (n=12,667) and sexual minority youth (n=1,413), ages 18 to 26. Variable-centered (i.e., multiple regression analysis with moderation) and person-centered (latent class analysis) statistical techniques were utilized to explore the effect of the presence and characteristics of natural mentoring relationships on a range of mental health and substance abuse outcomes. Results show that natural mentors have a similar relationship with health outcomes, regardless of sexual orientation. Perceived closeness is a critical characteristic of the mentoring relationship, exhibiting significant associations with depression, suicide ideation, self-esteem, life satisfaction, and binge drinking. Furthermore, those who have lifelong, close relationships with non-parental adult family members receive the most benefit. It is noteworthy that sexual minority youth are significantly less likely to have a permanent family mentor. Rather, they are more likely to have mentors from high school with whom they lack closeness as they transition into adulthood. Several suggestions for individual and school-based interventions to assist sexual minority youth in developing and maintaining long-term relationships with non-parental adult family members are discussed. The current study emphasizes the importance of supporting and advocating for greater policy change that will directly address minority stressors that sexual minority youth face. Findings from the current study make a significant contribution to the social work field by extending our knowledge regarding resiliency among sexual minority youth and offering concrete avenues for intervention. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

In the art of drag, icons of masculinity and femininity are juxtaposed on one body, challenging heteronormativity. The goal of this project was to create a game that provided a safe space for players to negotiate their own identities of gender and sexuality through the framework provided by the game rules and affordances. The research behind this project challenges the criticisms of drag as purely gender representation, identifying drag as a signifier of the presence of the LGBTQ community. By iterating the design throughout the development process, I was able to create opportunities for players to reflect upon gender presentation and be in solidarity with one another. Conversations resulting from the play experience revealed the ability of games to provide a context for players to navigate complex understandings.

This thesis explores the relationship between sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) and career progression (CP) by applying a performative, post-structuralist, and queer theory influenced approach to career theory. It analyses how, that is to say in what ways and by what means, homosexual and transgender difference is produced through the processes associated with CP. It is based on 36 interviews with individuals of diverse ages and occupations who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT) and are based in the south-west of England. Hitherto career theory has based its understanding of CP on individual differences and/or category based explanations. The contribution of this thesis comes from using an anti-categorical understanding of difference to show how SOGI and CP are interacting disciplinary regimes. SOGI not only affects CP through assumptions about capability and suitability, but difference is constituted through CP – as the associated acts and interactions shape the way we think of ourselves, our possibilities, our becoming. Responsibility for achieving SOGI and CP is devolved to the individual, who is then often forced to prioritise one or the other. The findings show some shared patterns (which are argued to be based on situational, performative, embodied experiences not identity categories), such as minimising or compensating for difference, femininity as a locus for limiting discourse and self-employment as a mode of exclusion. Trajectories, choices and aspirations are affected, though not necessarily disadvantageously, leading to the conceptualisation of careers as queered by homosexual and transgender difference. This research contributes by arguing that rather than consider CP in terms of category based ceilings, CP and the production of difference can be understood as multiplicitous, emergent, and co-productive processes. This thesis forms a timely contribution to understanding LGBT experience during a period of intense change in social recognition, which includes discourses of normalisation, by suggesting that we still need to recognise the often subtle internal and external reiterations of heteronormative discourse that produce difference.

This study examined the relation between stigma and reporting of intimate partner violence (IPV) in a sample of men who have sex with men (MSM). It was hypothesized that enacted stigma would result in lower reporting of IPV and that the type of IPV would moderate the relationship between enacted stigma and reporting. Using an online survey, we measured IPV (physical, psychological, and sexual violence) and stigma (perceived, enacted, and internalized). Participants (N = 46) were asked if they had ever experienced any of those forms of violence, as well as if they had ever reported the violence through an online survey. They were then asked how likely they would be to report the violence if it happened again in the future. Responses were analyzed using logistical regression with moderation to determine if a) enacted stigma was associated with lower reporting of intimate partner violence and if b) type of violence moderated stigma and reporting, such that physical violence would have the strongest relation between stigma and reporting of IPV. Results showed that enacted stigma was associated with more IPV reporting across all types of violence: physical (coefficient: 1.539, p<.0005), sexual (coefficient: .999, p<.05), and psychological (coefficient: 1.203, p<.005). Results of testing the moderating role of violence type on the relationship between enacted stigma and IPV were non-significant for all types of violence. In conclusion, the more enacted stigma that was experienced, the more reporting occurred. In addition, type of violence did not moderate the relation between enacted stigma and reporting of intimate partner violence.

No description available.