<p> The purpose of this research is to examine sexual identity and sexual fluidity from a multicultural social work perspective. Examination includes having an understanding of the components of sexual identity development, the stability of sexual identity overtime and the challenges of sexual fluidity and identity. This provides a more substantial evaluation of themes within sexuality.</p><p> This content analysis of existing literature on sexual identity and sexual fluidity reveals findings and gaps in the research. In addition, it identifies areas in which further research is needed. This allows for more competent social work practices to effectively address issues of sexual identity. Findings suggest that it is difficult to capture the basic process that each individual experiences because circumstances can be unique for everyone. Patterns based on categorization within sexuality suggest that sexuality should be understood on a continuum.</p>

<p> Three dances, <i>On This Day, Panties and Pathologies </i>, and <i>Naked Spotlight Silver</i> were choreographed and performed in fulfillment of the requirements to complete an M.F.A. degree in dance. The performances took place at the Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater located on the campus of California State University, Long Beach. <i> On This Day</i> premiered October 2012, <i>Panties and Pathologies </i> premiered March 2013, and Naked Spotlight Silver premiered October 2013. </p><p> This thesis examines how each project investigates choreographic approaches used in concert dance to communicate issues of gender and sexuality as well as participate in a discourse on identity politics. The three dance pieces attempted to confront themes of marriage equality, representation and the marketing of femininity, and queer identity representations in performance. Each piece was unique in its methodologies and served as an explorative approach to political communication and artistic development.</p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to write a grant to fund spirituality-focused support groups for Latino adults who are HIV positive and their family members or significant others. The groups will provide a safe place for participants to receive additional education and support to enhance their coping skills and promote healthy ways to manage stress. An extensive literature review was conducted regarding traditional Latino cultures, including their emphasis on spirituality and communal support. </p><p> The Elton John AIDS Foundation was chosen as an appropriate funder. The groups will be provided in both English and Spanish through The LGBT Center OC. The Center is located in Orange County, California, where there are large numbers of HIV positive Latinos and few resources specifically designed to meet their needs. The actual submission of the grant application was not a requirement of the thesis project.</p>

<p> The U.S. military has struggled with the implementation of diversity efforts throughout history and a key factor supporting this failure is the lack of information collected from its minority groups. An extensive examination of women and gays in the military illustrated a continued disadvantageous environment for both minority groups, which was created by the military's sexual based discrimination. More specifically, the history of sexual orientation discrimination of gays in the military coupled with the lack of research available indicated a need for additional exploration in this field of study. Seminal research efforts provide little insight to the gay service members' perspective within the military. Additionally, current research is excessively narrow, focusing on military readiness, cohesion, and overall military effectiveness. In an effort to close the gap in literature, this qualitative study explored the perspectives of 11 gay men and their experiences as gay service members, before and after the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT). The results of this phenomenological research indicated, as per social identity theory, participants struggled with being gay in the U.S. military. Based on the in-depth interviews, participants felt DADT was an unfair policy which silenced them as a minority group. The DADT policy created family issues and a hostile work environment where participants were subject to sexual orientation discrimination, leading to a sense of alienation, a reduction in job participation, and a decrease in overall job satisfaction. After the repeal, participants reported a slow and sometimes forced attempt at cultural change which resulted in continuing discrimination and ongoing family issues. Out of fear of military retaliation, only some of the participants chose to reveal their sexual orientation following the repeal. Some of the participants who chose to come out of the closet reported continued harassment from their peers and leadership. These gay servicemen suffered from minority stress related to their experiences and expressed concerns regarding their future treatment in the U.S. military. </p>

<p> This dissertation examines the way gender is created and articulated in selected stories from Peyo's <i>bandes dessin&eacute;es</i> [comics], <i> Les Schtroumpfs</i> [<i>The Smurfs</i>]. I pay special attention to his story, "La Schtroumpfette" ["The Smurfette"]. I use an interdisciplinary approach from theorists in the fields of gender and transgender studies: Judith Butler, Susan Stryker, Suzanne J. Kessler and Wendy McKenna, and Julia Serano; and comics studies: Scott McCloud, Thierry Groensteen, Will Eisner and Rodolphe T&ouml;pffer.</p><p> Judith Butler's theory of performativity informs my argument that certain panels from "La Schtroumpfette" function as performatives. They reiterate feminine types and give the illusion of a norm, which in turn hides the fact that their "truth" lies only on its reiteration through time and not on original gender types. Along with Butler's theory, I use Kessler and McKenna's study on gender attribution, Thierry Groensteen's theory that a comics' meaning can by analyzed through the structuration on its pages (<i>arthrologie </i>), and Scott McCloud's idea that the more abstract a comics character, the more a wider range of readers will be said to identify with such a character. </p><p> Using these theories, along with those of Serano, Eisner, T&ouml;pffer and others, I read Peyo's Smurf characters as androgynous before the publication of his story, "La Schtroumpfette." Then, I read "La Schtroumpfette" as a metaphor for transgender and transsexual identities. The first half of Peyo's comics story deals with the first Schtroumpfette, Gargamel's creation, and her problems in the Smurf village. Her primary problem sees her misidentified as a Smurf with long hair and a dress and not a feminine Smurf. I read this as evidence of a transgender identity whereby she expresses herself in the feminine but looks like a Smurf. The second half of his story deals with the second Schtroumpfette, the version of le Grand Schtroumpf [Papa Smurf], and the problems due to her feminine beauty. This beauty is attained through esthetic surgery, a detail that leads me to interpret her as transsexual.</p>

<p> Since its establishment as a mining camp, Denver was an integral part of life for many westerners, including homosexuals. Although Denver's early gay culture has received little scholarly attention, its history is unique and revealing, as its experience does not necessarily reflect those of other larger urban communities. This study examines how upper and middle-class white gay men navigated the boundaries of sexual morality to help define homosexual personhood for the public and form the basis of Denver's gay community between 1940 and 1975. Within the context of national discourse regarding "homosexuality," breadwinner liberalism, and the sexual revolution, the emergence and cohesion of Denver's gay community occurred during a transformation from homophile activism to the gay liberation movement. Subsequently, the history of gay Denver demonstrates the importance of politicization and sexuality in the construction and organization of gay scenes and the politics of moral respectability. Well before the materialization of a national "gay rights" movement and the gay liberation movement in the American twentieth century, Denver functioned as an example of how white gay men attempted to unify and create the basis of an early gay political movement.</p>

<p> The aim of this research is to explore whether and how gay and bisexual men experience street harassment&mdash;those public interactions committed by strangers that are targeted at individuals with specific (perceived) identities <i> because</i> of those identities. Street harassment is unwelcome and intimidating and makes people feed scared, uncomfortable, and humiliated, and research up to this point has mainly focused on the harassment of women by men. This study was conducted using only online methods, using a survey to interact with 331 gay and bisexual men from at least 42 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and 22 countries, in addition to follow-up interviews with 24 of those survey-takers. Ninety percent of the survey respondents reported sometimes, often, or always feeling unwelcome in public because of their sexual orientation, and 71.3 percent said they constantly assess their surroundings when navigating public spaces. This is not the case for everyone, though. Some men don't report these feelings because they may view victimization as inconsistent with their male identity, or they may just not experience it at all. The results also suggest important differences between the harassment of women vs. the harassment of gay/bisexual men. They also show interesting variety in experiences across identity categories&mdash;including age and race&mdash;in addition to differences depending on how men view their own masculinity and legibility of sexual orientation. Much more research is required to fully understand the experiences of particular groups, including transpeople, but that degree of focus was unfortunately beyond the scope of this study. </p>

Gendered “realness” and its social and political effects are at the heart of transgender issues. “Realness” operates both as a structure for trans intelligibility and its process of containment, for its representation and its erasure. Power works through the concept of gendered “realness” in ways that force trans people to evoke a core, stable gender identity in order to prove their social and legal legitimacy; at the same time, the slippery nature of “realness,” its cultural power, and its ability to escape the parameters of determinacy, allow it to be harnessed in social, legal and institutional contexts in ways that undermine trans identities. By looking at what I refer to as “the politics of the real” I analyze gendered “realness” as an operation of power which circulates throughout United States having particular concrete, material effects for trans people. Through an analysis of transgender representation in photography, popular film, feminist theory, and legal cases, I explore the paradoxical nature of “realness” and its function in both dominant culture and transgender communities. As a driving concept for transgender representation and as a strategy for resistance, “realness” needs to be analyzed and evaluated.

<p> My main research questions explore how contradictions of unity, organizing structures, gender, sexuality, citizenship, class, and ability are addressed within Filipino leftist organizations that utilize dialectical materialist theory. I also ask: How have US-based women of color feminist and queer of color theory impacted Filipino nationalist frameworks in the US? How do they also remain at odds with one another? I interviewed 21 NYC-based activists and organizers involved in anti-imperialist Filipino organizations the summer of 2012. I also used participant observation as an active member of study groups, educational workshops, and a town forum. </p><p> My central framework explores conflict as contradiction using Mao Tse-tung's "On Contradiction" and the Haitian concepts of balans and konesans. In doing so, I examine how hard-lined leadership has impeded dialogue. I also interrogate how sexism, transphobia, masculinist organizing structures, and neoliberalism impact women, trans, queer, disabled, working class, and undocumented organizers&mdash;particularly those with overlapping identities of marginalization. "The Movement's" familial dynamic, combined with the value of <i>utang na loob,</i> creates hierarchies that cause some members to feel both silenced and guilty. I name these feelings as indicators of invisible emotional labor "for the sake of the movement" that lead many members to eventually leave their organizations. Their departures raise questions of sustainability. Lastly, I ask how the Fil-Am Left can draw strength from its familial dynamic but still address hierarchical issues that mirror societal hierarchies of oppression.</p><p> Applying work by Patricia Hill Collins, Audre Lorde, and other women of color, along with feminist grounded theory and sociological movement theory, I highlight three strategies that New York City based Filipino organizations have taken within the past ten years. I argue that organizations have recognized problems with sustainability and are creating their own interventions as theory-producers. Organizers' relationships to the National Democratic movement in the Philippines shape both the creation of interventions and how they respond to new ideas. Drawing on Arlie Hoschchild's concept of "stalled revolution," individual behaviors lag behind organizations' formal ideological shifts. Thus, they are works in progress.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of individuals who self-identified as trans gender or gender variant on gender identity and mental health care. The study sought to uncover the effectiveness and preparedness of mental health professionals in addressing issues of gender identity, through participants' experiences.</p><p> Fifteen individuals who identified variously on the transgender spectrum participated in the study. Results suggest that mental health professionals are generally unprepared and inexperienced in addressing transgender issues. Participants pointed to trans gender support groups and LGBT organizations as the most helpful services. Implications show the need for mental health professionals to seek out education on the trans gender community, and to assist clients in exploring alternative identities that transcend the gender binary. Additional research that focuses on mental health disparities among the trans gender population is also an implication emerging from this study. </p>