This study is an inquiry into discourses which influence gay people's lives. Foucault's ideas regarding knowledge, power, discipline, discourse and sexuality form the epistemological background enabling a social constructivist-deconstructive analysis of these concepts in relation to the problem of homosexuality. The theological origins of influential discourses form the focus of one chapter. Additional discursive fields - such as psychology, education, the military and legislature - are also investigated. Besides the research initiator, three other participants shared their experiences of being gay in a conservative religious context. The narrative analysis spawned five themes of discourse ranging from homophobic discourses - which invite oppression into silence - through reverse-discourse, to those discourses which encourage free expression of gayness. The study seems to support a Foucauldian view that there are various influential power-relations which contest for the right to define human sexuality. Judging from the study, homosexuals do not appear to be powerless or completely silenced at all. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / MTH - SPEC PAST THERAPY

Thesis (Ph.D. (Education Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / This qualitative study explored teacher perceptions, knowledge and intervention of homosexual learners in high schools in the Gert Sibande District of Mpumalanga. Homophobic issues have proven to be rife in high schools in Mpumalanga. Therefore, it was commendable to understand how teachers perceive the homosexuality of these minority learners. That reason directed the purpose of this study, as teachers should teach, guide and protect all learners in the school. Hence, it was crucial to ascertain how they deal with homophobic attitudes or whether they are even aware of homophobic attitudes within schools. This study adopted Gibson’s Theory of Direct Perception, the top-down and constructivist theory, to understand teacher perceptions and knowledge of the homosexuality of high school learners. This study used a case study design and empirical studies were extensively reviewed to corroborate data gathered through individual interviews and document analysis. Data generated from the semi-structured individual interviews were analysed through Thematic Content Analysis. Numerous findings emerged from this research. Firstly, it became evident that teacher perceptions of learners’ homosexuality were hampered by their lack of knowledge about the phenomenon. It follows that there was no mention of homosexuality as a concept during their teacher education. Even in practice, the concept is not precisely included in the curriculum. Secondly, teachers appeared to have negative perceptions and a misunderstanding of the homosexuality of learners because they are obstructed by their own beliefs – namely, the Christian religion and their culture – in recognising homosexual learners in high schools. They still believe in stereotypes and myths which are encouraging homophobic behaviour. Thirdly, no homophobic incident was documented and as a result, no one was able to refer to previous or common incidents. The teachers confirmed that management resonated the same sentiments as everybody else at the expense of homosexual learners, who are rendered voiceless and vulnerable to discrimination, violence and isolation. This study recommends a speedy intervention from the Department of Basic Education to equip teachers with the necessary knowledge and accurate information on homosexuality as a concept for school communities. This study offered sufficient evidence for the claim that secondary school teachers’ perceptions, knowledge and intervention need to be challenged and homosexuality should be explicitly included in the curriculum to benefit the minority youth in high schools.

Due to the increased number of the amount of asylum-seekers that have migrated to Sweden lately, the topic has received increased attention. This has contributed to housing shortage and policy reforms for new migrants to arise in order to ensure that everybody gets housing. Asylum seekers often experience more difficult patterns to housing, and for LGBT asylum seekers especially since they are such a marginalised group in our society already. Housing is an important part in the initial settlement stage and good housing enables successful resettlement and that will help with the integration process. The aim of this thesis is to look at LGBT asylum seekers mobility and what constrains and opportunities they face in that process. To answer these questions qualitative method and semi-structured life story interviews have been performed with twelve LGBT asylum seekers. The result of these interviews has been presented around four different concepts that were factors contributing to their mobility. These four concepts that were found in the interviews was forced migration, homophobia, social network and freedom. These findings should be of interest for further studies in order for LGBT asylum seekers mobility patters to become more safe and secure.

When lesbians, as women divert from social norms and reject the compulsory heterosexual norm, they are either punished through legal systems for transgressing patriarchial structures or not recognised at all. As women, lesbians suffer at the hands of a homophobic society which believs that women have stepped out of line through challenging the hegemonic discourses stipulating that they have specific and distinct roles to play - that of wives, mothers, homemakers and sexual partners to men. Because lesbians do not fit into this construct, their behaviour is socially and legally condemned for diverting from the &quot / natural order&quot / . This study aimed to identify and explore the various ways people construct and perceive lesbians and to reveal how sexuality, as a product of history and culture, determines the ways lesbians are treated in their own communities. This study attempted to explore how, despite the democratic stance of the new constitution, South African lesbians still experience discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation.

A sample of 227 undergraduate students was administered pre-intervention paper-and-pencil questionnaires to assess homophobia, fear of AIDS contagion, symbolic representations of AIDS and homosexuality, and specific personality attributes including authoritarianism, religiosity, and conservatism. Participants then read one of eight intervention vignettes about an ill person; these vignettes varied by sexual orientation of the patient, disease (AIDS versus lung cancer), and mode of transmission (in the AIDS conditions). Participants then completed post-intervention measures assessing the degree to which the ill person in the vignette was responsible and to blame for his illness, the level of stigma toward him, and concerns about social interactions with him. Results indicate the following: a) Attributions of personal responsibility are primarily a function of mode of illness transmission; b) fear of AIDS contagion is predictive of stigma and social avoidance of PWAs; and c) AIDS-related stigma and attributions of blame are largely a function of symbolic associations between homosexuality and IV drug abuse (which were previously stigmatized) and AIDS.

Sexual and gender minorities are subjected to discrimination and stigmatization which increase vulnerability to psychological co-morbidities (Mays & Cochran, 2001). The mechanisms through which discrimination contributes to distress in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (lgbt) communities can be partially elucidated through the minority stress model. The minority stress model argues that minorities are subjected to negative societal attitudes and discrimination that results in excessive psychosocial stress related to their minority position, which is distinct from daily stress. Meyer’s minority stress model is supported by social stress theoriesand data linking discrimination to stress in lgb samples. Researchers suggest that self-esteem buffers the negative effects of adverse experiences but tests of the moderating effect of self-esteem on the discrimination-distress relationship in ethnic and gender minorities yielded mixed results. Szymanski found that self-esteem moderates the relationship between discrimination and psychological distress in a male sexual minority sample, but this has never been tested in a gender-balanced sexual minority sample. We hypothesized that higher levels of self-esteem are associated with lower overall perceived stress in lgbt adults, and that self-esteem acts differentially in lgbt populations to moderate perceived discrimination. We found that discrimination, self-esteem and the interaction effect between discrimination and self-esteem accounted for 53 percent of the total variance in perceived stress scores, ∆R2 = .38; adj. R2 = .53, F(12, 133) = 14.47, p < .001.When we tested whether self-esteem moderated the relationship between discrimination and stress, discrimination was positively related to stress, β = .13, t(144) = 2.14, p < .05, and self-esteem was negatively related to stress, β = -.63, t(144) = -10.26, p < .001. The interaction between self-esteem and discrimination positively correlated with stress, β = .14, t(144) = 2.29, p < .05. Our findings suggest that self-esteem may alleviate the impact of discrimination on perceived stress, which has important implications for interventions designed to reduce stress in lgbt communities.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Jamaica is a beautiful island in the Caribbean well known all over the world for its Reggae music and its message of One love. But it is neither the songs about love nor the striking beauty of the island that awoken our interest. It was the widespread homophobia that can be found both in the Reggae lyrics, as they often promotes violence against homosexuals, the law against buggary and in almost every other corner of the society. We wanted to know if this homophobia also could be found in the press. Therefore the aim of this study is to find how LGBT-persons are being described in the Jamaican press. Do the press reflect or oppose the homophobia in the society? Our theoretical framework is about socialization, identity and the building of a nation, of which in all media is a part. It is also about how alienation is created by the media. Our material contains of all articles from the four main newspapers in Jamaica, The Daily Observer, The Gleaner, The Chat and The Star, that in someway touches LGBT-persons during a two week period, between November 10 and November 23, 2008. We use all of these 27 articles to make a quantitative analysis and four of them are handpicked for a qualitative analysis. As a complement to the articles we use qualitative interviews with the editor in chief of The Daily Observer Vernon Davidson, and the Senior lecturer of Media and Communication at University of West Indies, Canute James. We find that the homophobia in the society is in some ways reflected by the Jamaican press. LGBT-persons, especially homosexual men, are described as different, abnormal and as standing outside the Jamaican society. This strengthens the alienation. The great reggae and dancehall stars are often more defended than criticized for their homophobic lyrics in the press. What we also find is that there is an ongoing debate about the homophobic hatred as being a part of an old society that it is time for Jamaica to grow out of. In other words the proud Jamaican nation of which the homophobia is a part should change according to some, whilst others do not want their nation to adapt itself to other countries views.

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo investigar a existência e atuação de uma regra não escrita de proscrição de candidatos homossexuais masculinos à formação psicanalítica oferecida pelas sociedades filiadas à Associação Psicanalítica Internacional (IPA) nos países em que está presente. Realizou-se uma pesquisa histórica através de códigos de procedimento, artigos, revistas e depoimentos que sinalizassem para uma injunção à rejeição destes candidatos e expusessem as justificativas que a fundamentam. Descobriu-se a existência de uma prática histórica de proscrição baseada num discurso psicanalítico sobre a homossexualidade masculina que desde Freud até os psicanalistas contemporâneos mostrou-se progressivamente patologizante. Por fim, o modelo de institucionalização da psicanálise e padronização da formação psicanalítica foi investigado, mostrando-se determinante tanto aos expedientes discursivos sobre a homossexualidade quanto à exclusão de homossexuais da possibilidade de formarem-se psicanalistas / This work aims to investigate the existence and practice of a non-written rule of proscription of male homosexual candidates to the psychoanalytic training offered by societies affiliated to the International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA) in the countries it is present. A historical research was performed through procedural codes, articles, journals and testimonies that signalized to an injunction to reject these candidates and which also exposed the reasons behind it. The existence of a historical practice of proscription was discovered, based on a psychoanalytic discourse about male homosexuality that since Freud until the contemporary psychoanalysts became progressively pathologizing. Finally, the model of the institutionalization was investigated, being regarded as determining both the pathologizing discourses about male homosexuality and the exclusion of homosexuals from psychoanalytic training

O objeto principal da pesquisa é a violência contra travestis, mulheres transexuais e homens transexuais no Brasil contemporâneo. Ele é abordado a partir das denúncias de violações de Direitos Humanos (DH) dessa população, realizadas através do serviço Disque Direitos Humanos (Disque 100) da Secretaria de Direitos Humanos da Presidência da República (SDH/PR). Foram identificadas as seguintes categorias de violação: agressão verbal, ameaça/tentativa de morte, ameaças (exceto de morte), assassinato, discriminação, negligência, prejuízo financeiro, violência física e violência sexual. Apurou-se quantitativamente a frequência de violações por unidades da federação, por categorias de violações e por categorias de suspeitos, relacionando-as entre si. A maioria das violações são perpetradas por homens, exceto nos casos de negligência, em que os principais violadores são instituições públicas. Também foram descritas, numa abordagem qualitativa, situações de violação nos contextos familiar, de trabalho, de consumo, de exploração sexual e de utilização de serviços públicos, especialmente nas áreas de educação, saúde, assistência social e segurança. Além disso, procurou-se compreender os impactos da violência nas subjetividades das vítimas utilizando-se o conceito de humilhação social. À luz dos resultados desta pesquisa e de outros trabalhos realizados em várias partes do mundo, conclui-se que a transfobia é um fenômeno transcultural que se assenta em cinco eixos ligados à interdição e à reificação: interdição da vida corpórea, interdição na vida social, interdição na vida política, reificação para uso sexual e reificação para o escárnio / The main purpose of this research is to discuss about violence against transvestites, transsexual women and transsexual men in contemporary Brazil. Its approach is based on the reports of Human Rights violations in this population, carried out through the Human Rights Hotline Service (Dial 100) of the Secretariat of Human Rights of the Presidency of the Republic. The following categories of violation have been identified: verbal aggressiveness, death threat/attempt, threats (except death), murder, discrimination, neglect, financial loss, physical violence and sexual violence. The frequency of violations by federation units, by category of violations and by categories of suspects, was quantitatively determined by relating them to each other. Most of the violations are perpetrated by men, except in cases of negligence, where the main violators are public institutions. Situations of violation concerning the contexts in the family, work, consumption, sexual exploitation and use of public services, especially in the areas of education, health, social assistance and security, were also described in a qualitative approach. Moreover, we aimed at the comprehension of the impacts of violence on the subjectivities of victims making use of the social humiliation concept. In the light of the outcomes of this research and other works held in various parts of the world, the conclusion is that transphobia is a cross-cultural phenomenon which is based on five axes linked to interdiction and reification: corporeal life interdiction, social life interdiction, political life interdiction, reification for sexual use and reification for derision