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The older lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) population is often underrepresented in the current body of research and the needs of this population are not well understood. Most research with this population has focused on wealthy, gay men, creating a deficit in regard to our understanding of the lesbian and bisexual individuals in the population. The present study was designed to add to the body of research on same-sex attracted older adults, by assessing well-being and acceptance of sexual orientation within the population. This study filled gaps in our current understanding of this population and provided new data for the Gay Identity Questionnaire (GIQ) as well as normative data for this population on several measures of well-being. Additionally, it created an image of how older same-sex attracted adults view themselves and the needs that they perceive within their population. Same-sex attracted adults, age 50 and older, were recruited through an anonymous online survey (N = 327; Age M: 59 years old, SD = 6.96). Sexual identity development was assessed with the GIQ (Brady & Busse, 1994; Halpin & Allen, 2004), and psychological well-being was assessed via the Depression-Happiness Scale (Joseph & Lewis, 1993), Satisfaction with Life Scale (Pavot & Diener, 1993), UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, 1996), Rosenberg's Self Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1989), Interpersonal Support Evaluation List. Regression analysis showed that age was overall a significant predictor of all of the outcome measures, with higher age predicting better well-being scores. The GIQ was not a significant predictor in the final model. The implications of these results in regard to the usefulness of the GIQ as a research and clinical assessment tool are discussed, as well as suggestions for future research with this population. A descriptive analysis of results and participants comments is also provided, with an emphasis on different areas of need within the older LGB population.

Considering the rise of transgender representation and discussion across many media platforms (television, film, print, social networking, etc.), how does such burgeoning and diverse exposure affect transgender individuals and communities? This project explores the ways in which transgender communities have developed and investigated potential for alternative and community-created representations of transgender experiences. With a particular focus on the utility and versatility of digital spaces, this project investigates the potential of web comics in harnessing both digital space and graphic narrative in creating alternative representation and discourse. The ensuing work, Maps, follows the journey of a cast of queer and transgender characters on a journey through the American South in search of family and justice.

In the following dissertation, I consider how the legal challenges faced by LGBTI refugees might compel reflection on and revision to traditional conceptions of citizenship in the United States. Specifically, I explore the question of how queer refugees and asylum seekers might alter – or queer – the meaning of “citizenship” in the United States. This project contributes to the conversation about citizenship in the field of rhetoric in multiple ways: (1) It highlights tensions between the cultural construction of citizenship and its legal parameters, (2) It expands rhetorical citizenship scholarship through attention to the intersection of identification, marginalization, and the political imaginary, and (3) It reveals tensions between norms of civic and sexual identity. It does this by tracing rhetorical precedent through a case study of sexual orientation and gender identity asylum in the United States. I argue that LGBTI refugees and asylees can shape a queered discourse of citizenship, but that the discourse produced is limited based on narrow definitions of sexual orientation and identity categories. To make this argument, I analyze the precedent-setting case involving Fidel Armando Toboso-Alfonso, in which I address how the establishment of that case as precedent set in place norms of sexual identity that persist in the adjudication of LGBTI asylum cases today. Next, I look to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration training module for handling LGBTI asylum claims in order to make sense of the ways the norms set forth in the precedent-setting case have become codified and interrogated in current efforts to adjudicate LGBTI asylum claims. Finally, I compare visual representations of LGBTI asylum seekers to other refugees in order to understand how photographs of LGBTI asylum seekers fit within or rupture the genre of refugee photography. Taken together, these case studies provide insight into how citizenship is discursively imagined when access to citizen status is predicated on simultaneous normative and non-normative performances of sexual identity.

The school environment is one of the most critical developmental contexts for adolescents, as it informs both academic and occupational trajectories during the first 20 years of life (Russell & McGuire 2008). Given that LGBT youth may experience more negative academic outcomes than the general population (Kosciw 2010), there is a need to better understand the support needs of sexual minority young people. This research project aims to enhance our understanding of school climate for LGBT students and their heterosexual allies by examining how victimization may mediate the relationship between school connections and academic outcomes as well as how social support may moderate the relationship between victimization and academic outcomes. The study uses data from the Preventing School Harassment (PSH) survey, which included 2,559 middle and high school students in the state of California. The data was collected in 2003, 2004, and 2005 from school GSAs. Results illustrate that verbal victimization-direct and indirect- were significant mediators for LGBT students, whereas physical victimization and LGBT specific victimization was a significant mediator for both LGBT and straight populations. For both populations, the link between victimization and both outcomes was stronger aspirations than GPA. It was only for straight students for whom direct verbal and physical victimization was associated with GPA. For the moderation analyzes, the results show that esteem support and emotional support are the strongest buffers between victimization and academics for LGBT students. For straight students, the findings are more varied. Esteem, emotional, and informational support are a useful buffer for each kind of victimization--LGBT victimization, verbal, and physical. However, none of the social support dimensions buffered the negative effect for direct verbal victimization.

Since the drafting of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality bill in 2009, the condition for LGBT individuals has deteriorated. In response, Obama administration unveiled several punitive measures to pressure Ugandan government to drop the legislation, including the withdrawal of development aid. This article will essentially consider and assess the effect of US policy to link aid conditionality to a country’s record on LGBT rights. Is aid conditionality an effective instrument in yielding meaningful political and social changes? Under what conditions can transnational advocacy help transform international LGBT norms into domestic practices? What is the role of state in discourses about sexualities? The diffusion of LGBT rights requires not only external pressure from international actors to ensure compliance but also an understanding of domestic moral and political discourses that might challenge the validity of the norm itself.

The purpose of this research was to look into the issues one might encounter as a gay and lesbian Muslim with especial focus on the individual experience. I was interested in analyzing the dynamics of one's sexual identity interconnecting with one's religious identity with the assistance of identity theory, personality and culture concepts. I interviewed three different individuals who are all practicing Muslims and live openly as gay in their community, and gathered secondary resources to gain insights from gay, lesbian and transgender Muslims from other communities. The research disclosed individuals’ perceptions on the legitimacy of homosexuality in Islam and their lived experiences regarding their sexuality and the role their culture has played. / <p>Presentationen skedde genom Skype där lärarna satt i Uppsala och jag själv vid datorn hemma, boende i Paris, Frankrike. </p>

Despite ongoing changes in the national sociopolitical landscape, negative attitudes toward non-heterosexuals continue to permeate throughout our society. Not only is sexual prejudice still prevalent, but experiencing it can have severe and far-reaching effects on LGBT individuals’ mental and physical health. Additionally, previous research has consistently found sexual prejudice to be a predictor of aggression directed toward sexual minorities. In fact, the recurrence and consistency of this finding has motivated researchers to suggest the development of intervention programming for the reduction of sexual prejudice. One major prospect for intervention involves interpersonal contact with sexual minorities. Evidence in favor of the contact hypothesis has been found with a wide variety of target minority groups, including sexual minorities. However, a review of the literature in this area reveals a significant measurement gap. Overall, most studies across all areas of contact research have neglected to follow the proper procedures necessary for the development and refinement of measures. This study sought to address this gap by validating a more robust psychometric measure of intergroup contact with sexual minorities developed by Daboin and Peterson (2012). Since this measure was previously constructed, this validation study relied on secondary data analyses. To achieve the purpose of this study, a series of analyses were conducted including exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and path analysis, as well as reliability and validity analyses. Results indicated that the CSMQ has an underlying structure of three factors: “Quantity of Casual Contact and Contact with Male Sexual Minorities,” “Quantity of Intimate Contact and Contact with Female Sexual Minorities,” and “Overall Perceived Quality of Contact with Sexual Minorities.” These three factors are significantly correlated with one another and negatively correlated with both negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. Additionally, results showed that the revised CSMQ and its resulting subscales have excellent internal consistency, and provided supporting evidence for their convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity.

Why do some organizations in a movement seeking social change gain extensive national newspaper coverage? To address the question, we innovate in theoretical and empirical ways. First, we elaborate a theoretical argument that builds from the political mediation theory of movement consequences and incorporates the social organization of newspaper practices. This media and political mediation model integrates political and media contexts and organizations' characteristics and actions. With this model, we hypothesize two main routes to coverage: one that includes changes in public policy and involves policy-engaged, well-resourced, and inclusive organizations and a second that combines social crises and protest organizations. Second, we appraise these arguments with the first analysis of the national coverage of all organizations in a social movement over its career: 84 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights and AIDS-related organizations in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street Journal from 1969 to 2010. These analyses go beyond previous research that provides either snapshots of many organizations at one point in time or overtime analyses of aggregated groups of organizations or individual organizations. The results of both historical and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analyses support our media and political mediation model.

In this dissertation, I examine the internal divisions in LGBT/Q communities. I illustrate how the notion of a single, unified community is not only fictive, but counter to the goals of liberation. Utilizing critical discourse analysis, I examine cultural artifacts of the contemporary gay rights movement to determine who has the power to shape domestic and international gay rights discourse. I analyze the role of gay citizenship through the same-sex marriage debates, the creation of the homonational soldier, and how gay rights is employed in international conflicts to strategically promote some countries as progressive, while denouncing others as backwards. I argue that the gay rights movement does not address the needs of all members of LGBT/Q communities, but rather, focuses on the wants of the elite and privileged. Despite recent advances, the gay rights movement has been stunted by a limited and marginalizing focus on normalization. Lastly, I present a queer perspective on gay rights and reimagine a movement that is more courageous and inclusive.