A thirsty young actor's desperate journey for fame leads him, unknowingly, into a love triangle with the two people he thought he could trust the most.

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Research suggests that social work students' attitudes towards the LGBTQ populations fail to mirror the expectations of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), and its code of ethics. In this cross-sectional research study, a survey distributed to undergraduate and post-graduate part-time and full-time social work students conducted by two students of a post-graduate social work program, is an assessment of social work students' attitudes and knowledge of competent practice with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning clients. This researcher used the findings of the study used to analyze: the relationship between social work students' age and knowledge of competent practice with LGBTQ clients, the relationship between social work students' gender and attitudes toward practice with LGBTQ clients, the relationship between social work students' race and attitudes toward practice with LGBTQ clients, the relationship between social work students' campus region and attitude and knowledge of competent practice with LGBTQ clients, the relationship between social work students' degree program/level and knowledge of competent practice with LGBTQ clients, and students' knowledge of effective responses to ethical dilemmas involving LGBTQ clients. The goal of this researcher is to use the study's findings to contribute to the literature on this topic and to influence changes in social work schools' methods of preparing students for practice with this population.

My findings imply that homeless LGBTQ young adults are very limited in where they can go to find LGBTQ-accepting services. Even though all the shelters that were interviewed claimed they did not discriminate against LGBTQ persons, they do not provide and are not affiliated with services or programs that are considered to be LGBTQ- accepting. Based on the research, shelters would rather have clients conform to their pre-existing structure rather than the shelters conforming to the specific needs of the clients.; The goal of this research is to explore what programs and services are being provided at various homeless shelters in the South Florida area that would appeal to homeless clients who self-identify as a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer/questioning (LGBTQ) community, if staff and faculty are trained on how to better address LGBTQ specific issues, how often staff receive LGBTQ sensitivity training, what demographic information is being recorded upon client intake and whether or not homeless LGBTQ young adults would feel safe using their facility when receiving social services. Data for this research was collected through brief, confidential telephone interviews with staff members at twenty-five various social service providers throughout the Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties of South Florida. Short interviews were also conducted with two major LGBTQ advocacy groups in Broward and Miami-Dade County. As a result of completing my research, I have found that no shelters in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade County provide programs or services that are identified as LGBTQ-friendly. There are a few shelters that are affiliated with the local LGBTQ advocacy groups and will refer LGBTQ clients to these groups for services. Training on cultural diversity is required of all staff members of each social service provider, however in these cultural diversity training sessions, LGBTQ issues are just reviewed and not the main focus of the sessions. In addition to a lack of direct focus on LGBTQ specific issues, these training sessions are infrequent. This research also shows that social services are taking into account demographic information such as race and sex but not really focusing on sexual orientation or gender identity, leaving us with a severe lack of data on where this specific population is going to receive social services.

People of Color (POC) and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Queer (LGBTQ) people have experienced disembodiment due to the Christian dualism in the white Evangelical Protestant (WEP) church and its liturgies. The project first analyzes how this Christian dualism interacts with white supremacy and homophobia within the Sunday liturgy. Then, the project describes how disembodied liturgies significantly harm POC and LGBTQ people. As a response, a theology of embodiment can bring healing to POC and LGBTQ people by implementing embodied liturgies at Table San Diego, a multiracial, LGBTQ-affirming congregation attempting to integrate the Christian faith with the physical body, the lived experience, and social contexts. Addressing the racial, gendered, sexual, and classed experiences of the congregation across various social, political, economic, and religious climates requires a reimagination of the Sunday liturgy as an embodied experience. Liturgical research is drawn from the Black Spirituals, the Gay Liberation Movement, and Asian-American liturgies.

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Bullying is a widespread public health issue that disproportionately impacts LGBTQ+ youth and is linked to a host of adverse outcomes. Although LGBTQ+ youth are more likely to be bullied and experience poorer mental health outcomes than heterosexual youth, few studies have examined these associations using population-based samples. Moreover, no published study has included an investigation of these associations during the COVID-19 pandemic. To address this knowledge gap, the links between bullying victimization and mental health among LGBTQ+ and heterosexual youth were examined in a population-based sample of 2231 Canadian students (50.2% boys, 45.2% girls, 4.6% gender diverse) in Grades 7 to 12 (ages 12-19). Results indicated that bullying victimization prevalence rates were higher among LGBTQ+ middle (Grades 7-8) and high school students (Grades 9-12) than among heterosexual students during the pandemic. LGBTQ+ high school students were at particular risk for being bullied during the pandemic compared to their heterosexual classmates. Bullied LGBTQ+ high school students also reported more mental health problems during the pandemic compared to heterosexual students who were bullied. These associations also varied by gender. Gender diverse students in both middle and high school experienced the highest rates of bullying victimization and reported more mental health problems because they were bullied compared to cisgender girls and boys. Girls also reported more mental health problems because they were bullied than boys. These findings are consistent with existing evidence which indicates that LGBTQ+ and gender diverse students are at elevated risk for being bullied at school and are more likely to experience mental health problems in relation to being bullied. Findings from my thesis highlight the urgent need for schools to invest in LGBTQ+ and gender diverse-specific anti-bullying intervention and prevention initiatives to buffer against adverse mental health outcomes. Implementing anti-bullying programs in schools will help mitigate risk and promote a safe and inclusive social learning environment for gender and sexual minority youth during and following the pandemic.

For those who were raised in a religious household, leaving one's religion of origin (religious disaffiliation) can be a significant life event that impacts a person for years to come. Similarly, coming out and living authentically as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or another sexual or gender minority (LGBTQ+) is another event that, although ongoing, shapes the course of one's life significantly. In this grounded theory study, the researcher examines LGBTQ+ women's experiences of religious disaffiliation to create an understanding of what the disaffiliation process is like for LGBTQ+ women, and what happens to family relationships during and after disaffiliation. Several themes emerged, including similarities in why they disaffiliated, how they disaffiliated, and what happened to significant relationships during and after disaffiliation. / Doctor of Philosophy / For those who were raised in a religious household, leaving the religion one was raised in (religion of origin), also called religious disaffiliation, can be a significant life event that impacts a person for years to come. Similarly, coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or another sexual minority (LGBTQ+) is another event that can shape the course of one's life significantly, especially since those who are LGBTQ+ often continue to have to come out to new people in their lives. In this study, the researcher examines what it is like for LGBTQ+ women to disaffiliate from the Christian denominations in which they were raised, as well as what happens to family relationships during and after disaffiliation. There are several common themes shared among disaffiliates, including similarities in why they disaffiliated, how they disaffiliated, and what happened to significant relationships during and after disaffiliation.

Sexual minority adolescents and adults experience higher rates of psychological risk factors and mental health disorders than their straight peers. As theorized by the minority stress model, this increased distress may be related to both external stressors (including discrimination and violence) and internal stressors (concealment, expectation of rejection, and internalized homonegativity). For some sexual minority individuals who also hold religious beliefs, conflict between their sexual orientation and religious beliefs may act as another stressor. Sexual minority adolescents and adults present to therapy at higher rates than their straight counterparts, and clients seeking help with religious and sexual conflict make up some portion of this distressed group. We qualitatively explored the therapy experiences of religious sexual minority college students using CQR methodology. Specifically, we investigated the role therapy plays in helping clients navigate conflict between their sexual orientation and religious belief. Fourteen participants completed 60-90 minute interviews that included questions about their therapy experiences. Themes emerged representing both helpful and unhelpful aspects of group and individual therapy. Helpful group themes included "learning from others,""connecting with others," and "a supportive environment;"and unhelpful themes included "not connecting with others," and "discomfort with group content." Helpful individual therapy themes included "processing and exploration" and "a supportive environment;" and unhelpful themes included "problems with the therapist" and "problems with the therapy process." Connections to Yalom's "curative factors" and common factor theory are discussed, as well as special considerations when working with a religious sexual minority population.