In 2018, the compulsory military service will be reinstated in Sweden and will, for the first time, be comprised of both men and women. The Swedish Armed Forces are looking to raise their diversity and wants to reflect the population of the Swedish society and are therefore working actively with their marketing to reach groups that have previously been excluded. The purpose of this thesis is to examine what type of image of Sweden the Swedish Armed Forces are (re)producing through their marketing and how it is used to try and interpellate new, poten-tial recruits. This will be done by examining four advertisement campaigns as well as comments retrieved from the Swedish Armed Forces social media accounts. The analysis will be conducted through a semiotic image analysis and a discourse analysis inspired by Laclau and Mouffe. The essay takes its theoretic starting point in a feminist critique against militarism and highlights the issues of using women and/or LGBTQ-people in the armed forces as symbolic figures of modernity and democracy. The study’s result shows that inclusion becomes a way for the armed forces to improve their own image and elude scrutiny regarding their own problematic structures by positioning themselves as an agency of good. This means that, by the inclusion of marginalized groups, there is as risk of legitimizing the Swedish Armed Forces existence, while still maintaining the problems that these groups are subjected to.

School counselors need to advocate and act as an ally for all students. Safe Space, a training designed to facilitate competency for working with and serving LGBTQ youth (i.e., LGBTQ competency), has received increased attention in the field of school counseling. However, limited empirical support exists for training interventions such as Safe Space, with only one study to date examining its effectiveness for graduate psychology students (see Finkel, Storaasli, Bandele, & Schaefer, 2003). This study used a randomized pretest-posttest control group design to evaluate and examine the impact of Safe Space training on competency levels of a sample of school counselors/school counselor trainees and to explore the relationship between LGBTQ competency and awareness of sexism and heterosexism.

This article reviews information related to school counseling and trainings aimed at increasing professional school counselors’ awareness, knowledge, and skill related to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) students. Educational concerns related to LGBTQ trainings affecting counselor training programs and counselor educators are discussed. Considerations for school counselor trainings are offered with regard to LGBTQ knowledge, awareness, and skill. Lastly, limitations regarding the extent of research on LGBTQ trainings for school counselor trainees are presented.

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In the decades following the Stonewall riots in New York, there has been an increasingly public acceptance and normalization of LGBTQ identities. In some spaces, however, like public schools, LGBTQ identities continue to be contested and positioned as problematic, creating challenges for teachers who seek to create safe and affirming spaces within the classroom and the curriculum. This study using a narrative inquiry methodology, examines the stories of seven teachers of foreign languages at the high school level as they seek to make sense of their work as it relates to LGBTQ identities. This research study using narrative inquiry methods describes the experiences of seven teachers of foreign language as they make sense of and negotiate LGBTQ identities in the context of their work as foreign language teachers. The teachers describe how and when LGBTQ identities manifest in their instruction, their knowledge base of LGBTQ identities, ways in which they address sex and gender normative practices and behaviors in their classrooms, and supports and barriers available to them as they work to create curriculum and classroom spaces that are inclusive of LGBTQ identities. The findings of this study address the unique ways in which foreign language teaching presents a unique site of study of the target language and culture, including LGBTQ identities that are present within those target languages and cultures and within the classroom environment. Teachers described barriers, like language proficiency, administration, perceived surveillance, and lack of materials as challenges to enacting LGBTQ inclusive teaching practices. They cited supports like colleagues, professional learning communities and opportunities to engage with one another on challenging topics, as well as the nature of foreign language teaching as beneficial in their work.

In the United States and abroad, the LGBTQ+ population has both historically and currently, suffered from a higher likelihood of poorer health outcomes than their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts due to stigma and discrimination (Alencar Albuquerque et al., 2016). While these health disparities have been well studied for the United States LGBTQ+ community as a whole, there is less understanding of what subgroups within this population may be disproportionately more susceptible to poorer health outcomes and risky behaviors, as well as, less understanding for the reasons behind such health outcomes and behaviors. One such subgroup is that of sexual minority women (SMW), or women who are sexually and/or romantically attracted to other women or who identify outside of heterosexual norms (Youatt, Harris, Harper, Janz, & Bauermeister, 2017). Preliminary studies have found that SMW are less likely than their sexual minority male and heterosexual female peers to have regular access to healthcare providers and are more likely to have negative experiences in healthcare settings, specifically in regards to sexual and reproductive healthcare (Riskind, Tornello, Younger, & Patterson, 2014). For these reasons, coupled with discrimination and risky sexual and health behaviors, SMW are a vulnerable population in need of social, political, and medical attention. This thesis aims to understand the causes and barriers SMW face when accessing sexual and reproductive health resources, as well as, provide direction for navigating such barriers on a multifactorial level. This research analyzes how hegemonic heteronormativity and sexism take root in (a) economic and political barriers in obtaining health insurance and health knowledge for SMW, (b) SMW patient ignorance of health risks and needs, (c) minimal to no medical provider training and understanding for SMW health risks, behaviors, and needs. Each barrier is addressed holistically; a novel approach necessary for the initial alleviation of such barriers to sexual and reproductive care and knowledge for SMW.

The purpose of this study was to examine national survey data from across the United States for respondents from two-year community colleges. Historically little empirical evidence exists in the literature about this population of students who identity as sexual minorities. The study begins with a historical overview of the LGBTQ rights movement. This provides a baseline for why studies including this invisible minority group are important and especially timely for two-year college campuses. Literature is barrowed from four-year college and university studies. Data were analyzed using the Rasch Partial Credit model. This analysis included testing for data-fit to the model, evaluation of items which did not fit the model, item mapping, differential functioning based on sexual identity, and standard descriptive statistics. The aim of this analysis was to determine if harassment, discrimination, and violence on campus towards sexual minority students occur and attempt to assess the prevalence of such activities. Results indicate that there doesn’t exist differences in responses between male and female participants. However, differences exist related to campus perceptions for sexual minority students and their non-minority (heterosexual) peers.

Utilizing a sample of lesbian, gay, and heterosexual adoptive parent families with school-age children, results suggested that parents engage in adoption communication less but racial-ethnic socialization more when a child is transracially adopted. No differences were found in lesbian and gay parents socialization practices for adoptive or racial-ethnic identity. Further, lesbian and gay parents engaged in sexual minority parent socialization less than adoptive or racial-ethnic socialization. Children’s self-worth was related to sex but not socialization practices such that girls reported lower self-worth, and no significant associations were present for children’s closeness. Children’s age, sex, and transracial adoptive status were predictive of their understanding of adoption and only children’s age was predictive of their recognition of sexual minority parent socialization. Children’s sex and transracial adoptive status as predictors of understanding of adoption have not yet been reported on in the literature. Further, no work has reported on associations between parent and child socialization practices in the context of sexual minority parent socialization. The implications of differences emerging in parent socialization frequency (i.e., racial-ethnic communication higher than adoptive communicative openness), as well as how children’s sex and transracial adoptive status contribute to children’s understanding of adoption will be discussed.

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Parents who experience their children's coming out encounter emotional reactions that could compromise their ability to function, particularly when challenged by the Catholic doctrine towards homosexuality. It is not well known how Latino parents experience their children's coming out and how they mediate their Catholic identity. The purpose of this research was to explore the experiences of these parents considering phenomenology as the method of inquiry. The theoretical lens was based on the parental acceptance-rejection theory. The research questions addressed how Latinos experienced the coming out of their children and how they mediated their identities as Catholics and as parents of a lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) child. The data for this study consisted of 12 interviews with parents using an open-ended, and a semistructured format. A total of 6 themes (disclosure of an LGB identity, conflicts, help towards conflict resolution, church support, acceptance, and identity consolidation) and 10 subthemes (suspicion of an LGB identity, unexpected disclosure, internal, family, cultural and church conflicts, God's love, unconditional love, parenting pride, and Catholic pride) emerged from the analysis. The results indicated that Latino parents underscored the positive qualities of their LGB children while other Latino parents criticize the Catholic doctrine towards homosexuality. In conclusion, the notion of an all-loving and all-accepting God prompted Latinos to consolidate their identities as Catholic and as parents of a LGB child. Implications for positive social change include the education of behavioral health professionals and the Catholic clergy to enhance their professional competencies to assist Latino parents seeking counseling services or seeking spiritual care within the Roman Catholic Church.