<p> Researchers and theorists have generally included drag queens and transgender (trans*) populations together in their scholarship, and have paid little attention to how these populations may differ. Such sampling practices may lead to a variety of misleading assumptions about both drag and transgender populations. For one thing, researchers have pointed to higher rates of gender dysphoria and depression among trans* individuals, but the same may not be the case among drag queens. In order to add greater clarity to similarities and differences between these populations, a gender dysphoria questionnaire, depression inventory, and work involvement inventory were administered to a sample of gay and bisexual, cisgender male drag queens. Descriptive statistics from these measures represent the first step toward establishing rates of depression and gender dysphoria among drag queens. Mean comparisons of rates of depression and gender dysphoria between gay/bisexual male cisgender drag queens and male-to-female transgender persons indicate significant differences between these populations. When level of involvement in drag was considered, a small positive correlation was found with depression while a small negative correlation was found with gender dysphoria. Results indicate that drag queens are less depressed and experience considerably less gender dysphoria than transgender individuals. Furthermore, gender dysphoria may decrease as involvement in drag performance increases. This data may add clarity to research on gender diversity, support efforts to de-pathologize drag performance, and reduce stigma associated with drag in general. Implications for future research and for mental health treatment are discussed.</p><p>

<p> Over the past five years, American public opinion on homosexuality has rapidly shifted in a more positive direction. Its subjugation exemplifies how an intimate and singular topic can be used to ignite and potentially misguide the American people, resulting in violent demonstration and even death. Although public opinion has shifted towards a greater acceptance of homosexuality, viewpoints are still very polarized. In addition to the available literature, elements from the complete data set of the General Social Survey (1972&ndash;2014) were analyzed to better understand this polarization that persists. Subject-specific variables concerning homosexuality were extrapolated and simple Ordinary Least Squares regression models were tested using STATA version SE 12.1. The evidence gathered supports this thesis&rsquo; assertion that Snyder&rsquo;s theory of hope, when applied to the topic of homosexuality, provides a uniquely useful and alternative lens through which to explain the polarization of current public opinion about homosexuality in America.</p><p>

<p> Most research on body image and disordered eating has focused largely on women, as women are at higher risk than men for eating disorders. In recent years research has revealed that men are at increasing risk for these outcomes, especially as the ideal male body represented in media images and therefore frequently internalized among men is becoming so lean and muscular as to make it very difficult for most men to realistically achieve. Sexual minority men in particular have been found to be at increased risk for body dissatisfaction, body shame, and disordered eating than their heterosexual counterparts. The research on sexual minority men, however, is in the beginning stages and it is unclear to date how and why body dissatisfaction and eating pathology may be systematically different in this population in comparison to heterosexual men. The current study sought to investigate mediating and moderating factors into the relationship between sexual orientation, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating. Sexual minority men (<i>n</i> = 112) reported higher levels of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating than heterosexual men (<i>n</i> = 242). Contrary to hypotheses, integration into gay culture was not related to the outcome variables, nor were appearance conversations. Also contrary to hypotheses, exercise motivations were similar in both groups of men, with the exception that heterosexual men were more likely to report exercising for the purpose of competition. Implications and possible directions for future research are discussed.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study is to provide context around the often-complex involvement that multiple minority identities can have on an individual. With the use of current identity development models around racial identity and sexual orientation, there have been no provisions around multiple identities or to the intersection of other identities building one main identity. As there is also a lack of literature around the topic of multiple identities and influences, this study&rsquo;s main purpose is to add to the literature. The use of an intersectionality methodology was to provide a framework that would allow for discourse around marginalized identities to be examined simultaneously, in an effort to understand the complexities around this particular demographic. The sample consisted of women who identified as Black and lesbian between the ages of 18-51. A case study was conducted to gather information on how participants navigated their development process. The data analysis found several themes which were (1) sexual identification, (2) What it means to be and experiences related to (identity), (3) how the participants juggled (managed) intersecting identities of being Black and lesbian (4) acceptance of sexual identity (5) religion (6) discrimination. The findings provided an interesting outcome as there were many layers that were not considered such as how religion interacted with them and the development of their identity and was often a negative aspect in their lives to the discrimination that they felt not only in the LGBT community but also the Black community.</p><p>

Aeolian is a creative work of poetry in which coming out, self-discovery, identity through LGBTQ+ community, family pressures, romantic struggles, secrecy, and survival are explored through myth, poetic form, sense-of-place, and music. The work is divided into three sections like an art triptych with each section titled: Vinyl, Mixtape, and Music Download. The piece is a journey through the speaker’s self-discovery, and coming out, and the heady queer “underworld” of clubbing during the height of the AIDS epidemic. A tone of melancholy pervades the work as friends are lost to the AIDS epidemic, and a brother succumbs to the pressures of heteronormativity, and many struggle economic struggle in a changing economic and political landscape. Elements of music and Greek Mythology are employed, adding levels of metaphor, symbolism, and a connecting motif to the work.

<p>?Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest? (New International Version, Matthew 11:28). In South India, transgenders are treated as untouchables and part of the least in the society. This restriction that the society places on transgenders has built hurt and regret in their lives. The Bible tells us to treat everyone equal and Jesus asks us to love all unconditionally; at times, it is difficult to put that teaching into practice. This topic was originally chosen to investigate this community and find a biblical approach to them, but working with Seesha, a non-profit, the approach took a different direction. The following research and documentary will focus on the acts of Jesus, that is, educating and empowering. This is in hope to bring awareness to the rejection of the transgender community and possible ways to change the perspective of society by choosing to accept them. The aim of this project is to try to lessen the burden of life in transgenders (stigma), by educating the society of their physical anatomy, lifestyle and daily struggle for a better standard of living.

This thesis explores the question “What do teachers who have recently graduated from teacher education programs know, believe, and experience about supporting LGBTQ+ students?” This research was conducted using narrative inquiry and métissage, with a group of six volunteer participants who had completed their teacher education programs since May of 2012. The participants wrote narrative responses to written prompts and the researcher wove those narratives together with his own experiences to highlight points of affinity and tension. This research articulates a number of ways in which teacher education programs can better prepare teachers to support LGBTQ+ students. / Graduate / 2018-12-18

This thesis analyzes LGBTQ equality in the two Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Jamaica. The research answers the question: what key institutional factors can explain the variance in LGBTQ equality in Guadeloupe and Jamaica? I argue that variances in local LGBTQ equality between Guadeloupe and Jamaica can be explained by analyzing the different political, legal and socio-cultural historical institutions in these two islands. The central conclusion contends that historical institutions with a political or legal dimension have created significantly different levels of LGBTQ legal equality in Guadeloupe and Jamaica while socio-cultural historical institutions have helped to establish a similar level of LGBTQ equality in social and cultural realms. This thesis thus makes the case for using a historical institutionalist perspective to examine LGBTQ activism in the Caribbean.

Since Badgett's (1995a) landmark study on the wage effects of sexual orientation, interest in and production of scholarly work addressing the economics of sexual orientation has grown tremendously. Curious puzzles have emerged in the literature on the economics of same-sex couple households, three of which are addressed in detail in this dissertation. Most studies of the wages of women in same-sex couples versus different-sex couples find that the former earn more, even controlling for differences in present labor market supply, education, experience, area of residence, and occupation. However, most previous studies of the sexual orientation wage gap omit the role of motherhood in the lesbian-straight women wage gap, and most take the sample of lesbians to be a homogenous group compared to straight women. Chapter 1 uses American Community Survey data from 2010 to study the wage gap between lesbians and straight women, putting motherhood in intra-household differences at the center of the analysis. The analysis shows that in terms of earnings, lesbian couples are quite heterogeneous; one partner has a large wage premium over straight women, and the other faces a large wage penalty. These findings are enhanced when a child is present in the lesbians' home, possibly suggesting a household division of labor in lesbian homes. Chapter 2 considers the possibility that same-sex couples, like many different-sex couples, have one person who specializes in paid work while the other specializes in unpaid work for the household, such as housework and childcare. Chapter 2 presents a study which uses American Time Use Survey Data pooled from 2003-2011 to analyze the time spent in household, care, and paid work for members of different couple types and finds that in same-sex as well as different-sex couple households, some personal characteristics, such as being the lower earner in the household, are correlated with spending more time in household and care work. Chapter 3 offers a study of poverty in same-sex versus different-sex couple households, exploring which characteristics are correlated with poverty for same-sex and different-sex couple households. When controlling for a couple's education level, area of residence, race and ethnicity, age, and household composition, same-sex couples are more likely to be in poverty than their different-sex counterparts.

This study examined the effects of perceived parental rejection in gay men and romantic relationship quality during the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic,. Meyer (2003) noted several dimensions of minority stress that LGBTQIA+ individuals are at risk of experiencing, including discrimination based on their sexual orientation, internalizing negative societal attitudes about homosexuality, and expecting rejection due to their sexual orientation. Researchers have just started to identify protective factors that contribute to resilience among gay men (Goldfried & Goldfried, 2001; Holahan et al., 1994; Steinberg, 2001), and this study sought to add to that literature. Perceived parental acceptance has been found to be associated with improved well-being (Steinberg, 2001; Holahan et al., 1994), suggesting that relationships with parents or caregivers have effects well into adulthood. Yet, the literature has failed to examine the effects of early parental rejection and how current attachment styles may mediate past experiences and their effects on current relationship quality. The main goal of the current study was to examine whether recollections of past parental rejection were associated with relationship quality later in their adult intimate relationships (Cassidy, 2008). Outness to family, friends, and others and current attachment styles were assessed as mediating variables for the links between perceived parental rejection and relationship quality. A sample of 275 participants was recruited through Amazon Turk (MTurk), Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The mean age of participants was 31.05 years old (SD = 7.94), with a range of 18-65. The sample consisted of 93% of the sample identified as male, with the remainder identifying as transgender (4%), non-binary (0.7%), or other (2.2%). This diverse sample identified their race/ethnicity as either European American (41%), followed by African American (15%), Asian American (14%), Hispanic American (14%), American Indian, or Alaskan Native (12%), Other (4%), and Biracial (1%). The researcher conducted a multiple mediation analysis using Hayes (2018) PROCESS macro to examine the relationship between perceived parental rejection and relationship quality, with attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, and outness as possible mediators. Consistent with the literature, perceived parental rejection from both mothers and fathers was associated with lower current relationship quality. Overall, the findings of the current study indicate support for attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance mediating the effect of perceived parental rejection on current relationship quality. Attachment Avoidance was found to be a stronger mediator of the relationship between perceived maternal rejection and relationship quality. Attachment anxiety was still a significant predictor, but not as strong when compared to attachment avoidance. Surprisingly in contrast with existing literature, results showed that outness is not a potential mechanism for how perceived parental rejection is related to relationship quality.