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The current study examined and attempted to converge two existing models of identity, as well as provide quantitative data that support longstanding assumptions and hypotheses regarding gay and bisexual Latino men. Using contemporary models of ethnic identity and sexual orientation identity development as a conceptual framework, the study examined the convergence of these identities, the influence of cultural factors, and how this influences mental health, specifically depression. Participants were 276 self-identified gay or bisexual, Latino men, between the ages of 18-26 yrs old. Ninety three percent of the study’s sample (n = 257) self-identified as gay, where the other 7% (n = 19) self-identified as bisexual. Thirteen Latino ethnicities were represented in the sample, including, but not limited to, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Guatemalan, Cuban, and Ecuadorian. Participants completed a demographic form, the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identity Scale (Mohr & Fassinger, 2000), the Outness Inventory (Mohr & Fassinger, 2000), the Ethnic Identity Scale (Umana-Taylor, 2003), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (Beck, Steer, & Brown 1996) and a questionnaire on Managing Multiple Identities modeled after Chen’s (2005). The results of this study indicated that gay and bisexual men do struggle with integrating the two identities, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Cultural factors such as importance of family, religion, and homophobia, appear to contribute to endorsing symptoms of depression. Results indicated that many participants of the sample also struggled with managing the conflict they experienced through the convergence of the two identities, reporting Avoidance and Not Knowing as coping strategies for managing this conflict. This study provides evidence that supports some of the longstanding assumptions and hypotheses and assists in shedding new light on identity development conceptualization, identity convergence, and identity management between two identities as it relates to self-identified gay and bisexual Latino men. Additionally, through examining the convergence of ethnic identity and sexual orientation identity, this study was able to expand on the identity development literature. / text

Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Elaine M. Johannes / The life-span theoretical framework contends that development occurs throughout the entire life-span and that experiences at one stage of life influence later development (Baltes, 1987). With this in mind, the present studies explore the developmental experiences of gender and sexual minority (GSM) individuals as they make the transition to adulthood. The first study found that overall, there were no major differences in GSM emerging adults’ perceptions of this developmental stage when measured using the Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA). The second study situated group identification as a process of identity development and found that identifying with the GSM community was a protective factor for GSM emerging adults. Higher attributions to prejudice were associated with increases in well-being when explained through group identification even though the direct effect was negative. The final study found that, similarly to their heterosexual and cisgender peers, GSM individuals’ self-esteem develops in quadratic fashion over the transition to adulthood and that perceptions of familial understanding in adolescence was significantly associated with both the initial level and the rate of change of self-esteem for this population. Implications for further research are discussed.

Queerness as a quality has a permanent fluidity. Videogames as a medium are continually evolving and advancing. Thus, queer games have a vast potential as an art form and research subject. While there is already a wealth of knowledge surrounding queer games my contribution takes the form of both research paper and creative endeavor. I created a game by interpreting the queer elements present in games research. My game reflects the trends and qualities present in contemporary queer games, such as critiques on empathy and alternative game-making programs. This paper details what research inspired elements of my game as well as how those elements compare to other queer games.

The intent of this thesis is to explore writing during the start of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. States. This time period encompasses the early 1980s to mid-1990s before Protease Inhibitors were FDA approved which was the medical breakthrough drug that helped turn an HIV diagnosis from a death sentence to a chronic condition. This thesis will be an examination of three themes: “Gay White Cis Male Experience of HIV/AIDS”,” Marginalized Identity Experience of HIV/AIDS” and an exploration of two plays written during the height of the AIDS epidemic that were later turned into HBO productions: The Normal Heart and Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes when AIDS was more widely featured in the media. The introductory and concluding paragraphs include details on how my life has been impacted by the those that lived, wrote, fought, and died, during the height of the epidemic.

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Deviants of Great Potential analyzes the 1924 Leopold-Loeb case as a cultural narrative with important effects on the marginalization of same-sex sexuality in men throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. After Chicago teenagers Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were arrested for the United States' first nationally recognized "thrill killing," the apparently motiveless murder of fourteen-year-old Robert Franks, the Leopold-Loeb case became an instant cause celebre. The popular fixation on the case continued in the decades after 1924, as journalists and behavioral scientists treated it as a precedent for understanding a certain type of crime and criminal. Meanwhile---especially after World War II---a slew of novelists, playwrights, and filmmakers offered their own interpretations.;Through the intertwining representations of the case in fiction and nonfiction, the Leopold-Loeb case became a cautionary tale about the dangers of "abnormal" sexuality in men. Narratives of the case portrayed Leopold and Loeb's sexual relationship as the sine qua non of Robert Franks's murder, and the case thereby came to represent same-sex sexuality as a threat to moral order and public safety, and to serve as a counterexample of the traits "normal" men should or should not exhibit.

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