M.A. / At about the same time as Gayspeak was developing across the Atlantic, 'coloured' and white South African gay men were also starting to use their own in-group form of communication. It became known as Gayle, a name which derives from the lexical item Gail, which means 'chat' in the language. This study will endeavour to classify the type of language variety of Gayle, as it clearly is not a separate language on its own. It will also examine why South African gay men have used, and continue to use Gayle in their everyday lives. Given what we said earlier about legitimising Gayle as an incontestable reality within serious linguistic study, and the dearth of serious research in this area, it is important that this topic take its rightful place in the field of sociolinguistics. As language is an integral part of culture, it is also important that a comprehensive lexicon of Gayle be compiled, in line with Joustra's Homo-erotisch Woordenboek, Courouve's Vocabu/aire de l'Homosexualite Masculine and Rodgers' Gay Talk: A (sometimes Outrageous) Dictionary of Gay Slang, as Gayle is an undeniable component in the history of South African culture. In the course of the empirical research component of this study, approximately 90% of respondents indicated an interest in, and need for, such a dictionary.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Arts of the University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Clinical Psychology. Johannesburg, January 1993. / Research has revealed that many gay men continue to participate in high-risk sexual practice them at risk of expoasure to the AIDS viirus. The locus of control construct and the Health Belief Model were employed by this study in an attempt to identify those psychosocial factors which might influence gay men to adopt or neglect health protective behaviour.[Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version]. / AC2017

Background: Research has shown that men who have sex with men (MSM) experience stigma, discrimination, negative and judgmental attitudes and homophobia when accessing health care services. This has resulted in limited uptake of existing HIV and AIDS services. Further, the experiences serve as barriers to seeking and accessing public primary health care services. Negative psychological outcomes and in unique cases, adverse mental health outcomes have resulted from these experiences. Aim: The study aimed to explore and describe the experiences of a sample of MSM when accessing public health care services in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM). Method: A purposive sample of twenty-one MSM aged 22 to 30+ years, mainly black who lived in NMBM participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews. The study used the exploratory-descriptive qualitative design and thematic analysis was used to summarize findings. Findings: Findings from the study showed that MSM experience internalized stigma, perceived stigma, experienced stigma and HIV related stigma, resulting in minority stress. Experiences with health care services included long waiting time, lack of supplies, being attended to by different health care providers, health care provider insensitivity, comfort with health care provider and a need for integrating health services for MSM with general health services. Effects of stigma expressed by the men were non-disclosure of sexual orientation, reluctance to use public health facilities, negative mental health outcome and conformity to society. Conclusion: The study suggests that MSM public health services need to be improved and barriers to health access among MSM need to be addressed. Lastly, there is a need to address the health, psychological and social effects of stigma suffered by MSM.

M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / The present study explores the personal narratives of eight gay South African men regarding testing for the human immune-deficiency virus (HIV) which causes AIDS. The narratives are described within a social constructionist perspective. Two tape-recorded conversations were held with each of the participants in this study, all .of whom had never tested HIV positive. The elicited narratives are related to the men's ideas about HIV, AIDS and gay..sexual identity, and are situated in the South African context. In addition, a reflexive approach is used, farina as the narratives are related to the reflections of the research participants, the researcher and the supervisor about the research process. The narratives suggest that the gay men in the study see decision making regarding HIV testing as involving personal choice and individual responsibility. The participants seem well informed of safe-sex precautions necessary to prevent the transmission of HIV. However, in accordance with the research literature, they appear to employ individual heuristics which allow for unsafe sexual practices, usually in the context of long-term relationships. Empirical research is required in order to determine whether or not these findings can be generalized to the general population of gay South African men. The need for safe-sex education to take account of such individual heuristics is emphasized. In addition, it is suggested that gay men may benefit from assertiveness training which empowers them to decline engaging in sexual behavior which puts them at risk of contracting HIV.

The World Health Organisation Commission for the Social Determinants of Health (CSDH, 2008) report calls upon the need to consider the social determinants of health, including migration in health planning. Unfortunately, the introduction of Pre Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in South Africa is being framed as a stand-alone intervention without incorporating the social determinants of health i.e. migration and structural drivers of HIV, despite numerous evidence of failure of one-dimensional HIV approaches. The study aimed to explore the attitudes and knowledge (s) of HIV prevention amongst young, internal migrant, Black self-identifying gay men and its implications for PrEP. This study used an interpretive qualitative approach by conducting 12 in-depth interviews with both men who have sex with men (MSM) who self-identify as gay individuals and experts working in the field of HIV. Social determinants of health like migration and homophobic attitudes both within the health care system and beyond could impact the uptake of PrEP and continuity access for PrEP among MSM who self-identity as gay within the context of circular migration. Likewise, the study highlights structural drivers of HIV that if left unaddressed could also have a bearing on PrEP as an HIV intervention vis-à-vis PrEP uptake and continuity to PrEP access within a context of circular migration. Using Weiss (1979) interactive model, the study points out the need for all actors involved in policy making to take into account evidence, such as empirical data, best practices, insights from various stakeholders as a basis upon which South Africa’s PrEP policy/programme can be based on. / 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 Arts (Development Studies), November 2017 / GR2018

Following the heuristic research method of inquiry and using in‐depth interviews as the vehicle of investigation with five gay South African men; ‐who have either attained a high standing in gay society or have achieved a high level of functioning ‐ the real life experiences of these men were investigated. The premise was that their experiences would be similar in terms of rejection and non‐acceptance in a prevailing homophonic South African society. The core investigation was to plot the spiritual development they underwent in order to attain the high level functioning evident in their social standing and position. The theoretical backdrop, against which the research was investigated and the findings described, was Viktor Frankl’s theory of Logotherapy, with specific emphasis on his descriptions of the avenues to meaning in human existence. Historical perspectives on gay history and legal breakthroughs were provided to further illuminate the real life experiences of gay men. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

M.A. (Counselling Psychology) / This study is an examination of the context of the gay male individual with HIV illness. A psychosocial model is used to investigate the effects of HIV disease on the individual, his partner and the relationship. The model includes a discussion of variables which are related to adjustment to the disease." These include the special characteristics of HIV disease such as the stigma and the progressive nature of the disease. Furthermore the personality characteristics of the individual and the characteristics of his situation are examined. These factors together contribute to making HIV positive diagnosis a crisis for the individual in his context. A case study approach was used to research the subjective experiences of an HIV infected gay man and his partner. In depth interviews were conducted in order to obtain qualitative data on the individuals within the context of their relationship. The data obtained from the interviews supports the literature in many respects. Of special importance is the impact of an HIV positive diagnosis on intimacy in the relationship. Also important are the changes which occur in the sexual relationship as a result of fear of transmission of the HIV virus. Other important changes include adapting to the uncertainty of living with HIV disease and coping with the emotional reactions, which follow HIV diagnosis. The study highlights the importance of emotional support within the primary relationship as well as the role of friends and family in adjusting to HIV disease. The study also demonstrates the importance of effective communication in dealing with the various stresses associated with HIV disease. Lastly therapeutic interventions have been suggested for counselling the gay infected person and his partner in order to help them to cope with the crisis of HIV disease.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Art in Dramatic Arts / My dissertation presents a textual analysis of John Greyson and Jack Lewis's South African film, Proteus (2003), which is based on archival records and plots the never-before-told narrative of an intimacy between two inmates on 16th century Robben Island. Locating this same-sex intimacy in the 1700s Cape Colony has far-reaching implications when considered in relation to the increasingly pervasive twenty-first century discourse which proposes that homosexuality is necessarily 'unAfrican'. The film's social and political commentary is, therefore, significant for how we might think about sexuality, among other subjectivities, in post-apartheid South Africa. By analysing the film's formal and thematic attributes, I demonstrate that the directors' protean approach to filmmaking has queering effects for the linear notion of time and the cohesive conceptualisation of identity that the colonial archive tends to reinforce. I suggest that commonsense notions of time, space, language and identity that structure the archive have allowed for multiple fissures to develop along the trajectory from past to present. As I show, the aforementioned process has almost effaced from official records narratives, such as the one told in Proteus, that would trouble totalising ideas about the intimate orientations of certain individuals. Therefore, I argue that while the record of this same-sex intimacy does appear in the archive, it has been subsumed by other, more dominant, narratives. The film's work, which I replicate in my reading of it, has been to queer this archive by foregrounding what has historically been repressed. In my first chapter, I argue that by enacting what Halberstam (2005) terms a mode of 'queer temporality', Proteus carves out spaces in the archive for alternative renditions of history to come into visibility in ways that demand fluidity and heterogeneity. I propose that the strategic filmic mechanisms employed in Proteus necessarily engender nuanced spectatorial procedures, which call on the spectator to engage reflexively with the film. I continue to argue for the spectator's need to be particularly reflexive throughout the dissertation. My second chapter deals with the filmmakers' strategic use of language in order to present a commentary on the material effects that the acts of 'naming' and 'categorising' have on living bodies. The final chapter explores a critical perspective which has not previously been brought to bear on the film. I examine how Greyson and Lewis construct positions for their main characters from which they may assert their subjectivity - what Mirzoeff (2011) describes as 'the right to look'.