<p> The number of older adults has been steadily increasing into the millions, and&dot; among this population are many older adults who identify as LGBTQ. The sub group of LGBTQ among the older adult population is underserved in the spectrum of physical and mental health. LGBTQ older adults live in the shadows of society due to stigma and discrimination of their sexual orientation or gender identity, inhibiting appropriate mental health care. The following chapters provide statistical mental health information, specifically depression among LGBTQ older adults. The literature review depicts the risk factors of depression in older adults and specific risk factors ofLGBTQ older adults. The grant proposal will allow LGBTQ older adults to seek mental health services for major depressive disorder, in a gay friendly environment. The program entitled, The Other Side of the Rainbow, will be facilitated at The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health.</p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to create a psycho-educational peer support group for LGBTIQ Youth, identify potential funding sources, and write a grant to fund the proposed program. The proposed support is named PRIDE for its connection to the LGBTIQ community and the empowering language, and it targets self-identified LGBTIQ youth in Orange County, California. A thorough literature review included risk factors, barriers to service, and interventions. Potential funding sources were examined and Liberty Hill was chosen as the most appropriate funding source. The proposed program was detailed with implementation guidelines, staffing information, and a budget narrative. The actual submission and/or funding of this grant was not a requirement for the successful completion of the project.</p>

<p> The purpose &dot;or this proposal was to write a grant to develop a stipend program for master's level social work (MSW) intern students to address the unique needs of Spanishspeaking Latino lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population with special attention to older individuals. This one year stipend program was also designed to address the stigma and discrimination of delivery service to Latino LGBT community. The grant will provide real world practice, educate, train, and enhance the social work interns' clinical skills to become culturally competent professionals. The five MSW students will be placed at the host agency, BIENEST AR, located in Los Angeles, California. The Hispanics in Philanthropy was identified after conducting extensive research as a funding source of this stipend program for LGBT population. The actual submission and/or funding of this grant were not a requirement for the successful completion of the project.</p>

<p> Many pair-bond relationships begin as a result of romantic attraction and sexual desire. Romantic attraction comprises feelings of love, affection, intimacy, and a desire to spend time with another person; sexual desire involves sexual attraction, arousal, and behavior (Diamond, 2003). This dissertation explored how individuals reconcile their experience of predominant sexual desire toward members of one gender (e.g. women) and predominant romantic attraction toward members of another gender (e.g. men). </p><p> To study this experience, a small, qualitative study was performed. Participants were recruited via flyers to answer interview questions regarding their romantic and sexual attractions and the impact of those feelings on their relationships with others and their own mental health. The experiences of four participants were then analyzed via phenomenological analysis. Two of the participants identified as male, and two as female. All participants were graduate students. Three of the participants described complicated attractions, reporting that they were romantically and sexually attracted to members of one gender, while also being romantically or sexually attracted to members of another gender. </p><p> Participants discussed several aspects of this experience, including: being unsure how to identify their sexual orientations (two participants noted that they do not identify as bisexual because they feel the term implies a sense of equality between romantic and sexual attraction); the extent to which they have discussed attractions with other people (three participants reported that they do not discuss their attractions with their families); the impact their attractions have had on relationships (two participants reported they feel their attractions have impacted their dating lives); and the struggles and benefits participants report related to their variant attractions. </p><p> While each of the participants' sexual and romantic preferences was different from the others', all report that acceptance by friends and family improved psychological well-being. Counter to this sense of well-being, however, are limitations in modern language regarding personal identities. All of the participants noted that they chose a label that is closest to what they perceive their collective attractions to be, and that they experience personal confusion about how to label themselves, which translates to confusion when discussing their identities with others.</p>

<p> The purpose of this investigation was to examine romantic lesbian dating scripts, understand the meanings shared among them, and compare them to heterosexual dating scripts. Twelve in-depth interviews constructed around three research questions were conducted with lesbian women between the ages of 18 and 43. Results indicated that lesbian women used both hypothetical and interpersonal dating scripts, which were affected by butch and femme identities, as well as high levels of privacy and self-awareness that characterize lesbian women. Specific actions such as initiation between potential partners, preparation for dates, and payment methods were frequently discussed. Results also indicated that social media has revolutionized lesbian dating, allowing for more preferred dating scripts to be used. With the lack of gender to dictate roles, communication is key for lesbians to both negotiate and assign acceptable dating behavior. </p>

<p> Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) urban districts are a unique aspect of many cities in the United States. Geographically, these spaces are dynamic, although largely ignored by geographers. Within the limited literature concerning this topic in the field of geography and other social science disciplines, a clear gap emerges concerning the definition of the key characteristics of LGBT districts and the application of those characteristics to any given city in the United States. Four characteristics emerge from existing literature as the most commonly studied regarding such districts, including a historical connection, a business concentration, a residential component, and a visual LGBT landscape. </p><p> The following thesis examines these four common characteristics and how they come together to define an LGBT district. This study analyzes these characteristics within the spatial context of St. Louis, Missouri, to examine if the city has a LGBT district. Each characteristic was examined using various methodological approaches including: interviews, surveys, field observation, and archival research. After data analysis for each characteristic, findings indicate the four characteristics are not wholly present in any one single area of the City of St. Louis. Lack of business diversity, minimal visual cues, insufficient historical connection, and no evidence of any residential concentration come together to provide data supporting the conclusion that St. Louis, Missouri is only home to an LGBT entertainment district, rather than a fully comprehensive LGBT district.</p>

<p> This study examines how LGBT activists and LGBT youth make meaning of a strategic advocacy campaign. By examining activist and advocacy efforts aimed at youth, this research brings to light how LGBT organizations use campaigns to articulate identity and, conversely, how LGBT youth articulate notions of identity. Through the lens of the It Gets Better Project, a nonprofit activist organization, this dissertation uses in-depth interviews with organizational members and chat-based interviews with LGBT youth to study the meanings participants brought to the campaign. </p><p> Strategic communication has been instrumental in construction of LGBT as a cohesive collective identity and has played a vital role in the early stages of the gay rights movement. This research demonstrates how contemporary LGBT advocacy, through strategic communication, works to shape understandings of LGBT youth. </p><p> Instead of focusing on the Internet as a democratic space that equalizes power differentials between an organization and its publics, this study shows that the construction of identity is the result of a dynamic process between producers and consumers in which power is localized and does not simply belong to an organization or its public. </p><p> This research challenges the Internet as a democratic space and demonstrates that identity is a discursive struggle over meaning that is bound up in the intimate dance between producers and consumers of a campaign. In contrast to functionalist understandings of public relations that privileges the organization, this dissertation contends that a cultural-economic approach focuses on the processes of communication. A cultural-economic approach gives voice to the diverse audiences of a communication campaign and addresses the role communication plays as a discursive force that influences the construction of identities. </p>

<p> <i>Queer Creatures, Queer Times</i> makes a critical intervention in queer theory and queer poetics through a combination of critical and creative approaches to explore how posthumanist thought and animal studies might correct a blindspot in current critical work on queer experience and texts. Queer theory tends to neglect non/human subjects, yet an ecological and posthumanist critique helps to trouble its humanist bias as well as its overly neat ties to constructivist and performative notions of selfhood. I argue that modern lyric poetry, in emergence during the cultural transmission of Darwinian precepts and the social invention of the homosexual, is uniquely situated to challenge the exclusivist principles that underlie specieisim, Social Darwinism, and heterosexism. While queer theory tends to overlook evolution in the construction of subjectivity and sexuality, I posit that such tendencies diminish opportunities for thinking through non-coherent selfhood and the radical contingency of beings upon other life forms. Accompanying my critical essays on three modernist queer poets, Djuna Barnes, Elizabeth Bishop, and Marianne Moore, are my poetics essay entitled "Towards a Poetics of the Animal" and my poetry manuscript <i> Queer Fish.</i> Both poetic texts explore non-dominant forms of queer relation between animals and humans.</p>

<p> The stigma associated with being a sexual minority poses a psychological challenge for people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual/transgendered, and queer (LGBTQ). This population has been found to experience more mental health concerns, higher reports of prejudice and discrimination, as well as physical and sexual violence, among other difficulties. The current study examined if the psychological distress that results as a consequence of stigma-related stress will be moderated by the individual's coping style. Data from 635 volunteer participants were examined. Variables that were assessed included voluntary engagement and disengagement coping strategies, psychological distress (specifically, depression, anxiety, and stress), internalized homonegativity/binegativity, perceived stigma, general stress, as well as demographic variables. Multiple regression models were analyzed to determine the extent to which perceived stigma predicted psychological distress, and the extent to which different coping styles moderated that relationship. The prediction that psychological distress would be positively associated with perceived stigma, internalized homonegativity/binegativity, and general stress was supported. The prediction that an overall positive relationship between perceived stigma and psychological distress would be stronger among those who relied heavily on voluntary disengagement coping and less strong among those who relied heavily on voluntary engagement coping was not supported by the data, although engagement coping was related lower levels of depression and disengagement coping was related to higher levels of distress in general. Finally, the prediction that a positive association between perceived stigma and psychological distress would hold even when controlling for general stressors was also supported. Further supplemental analyses were examined and limitations and future directions were discussed.</p>

<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>