This is a thematic study examining a popular Swedish public service television show for children. The purpose of the study is to uncover how the show, Bolibompa, has communicated diversity over the last 34 years. Through a thematic analysis with multimodal tools, we investigate three categories of diversity that have undergone change in how they are conveyed: ethnicity & culture, gender and sexuality. A fourth category, disability, is briefly mentioned. Even though Bolibompa has progressed to become more positive towards diversity, there are still aspects left to criticize. While Bolibompa mediates multiculturality, only a few displays of creative diversity are shown. Furthermore, no homo- or bisexuality is seen in Bolibompa, although two trans people are seen and heard in 2020 and 2023 respectively. There are both similarities and differences in how Bolibompa shares its values concerning each of the three categories. Elements such as music, games, colors and clothes are used in different amounts depending on which message of diversity is being conveyed.

True Colors: Out Youth Theater at The Theater Offensive is a Boston based program that focuses its theatrical and social mission on engaging Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered (GLBT) at-risk, youth and the community that surrounds them. Through the process of generating an original touring production, True Colors employs theatre as a tool for personal, social, and artistic expression, empowerment, and activism. The program's balance of both process and product focused goals creates an environment of multifaceted engagement and provides an example of how art can thrive in a structure of youth outreach. Though directors and facilitators guide the process and final product, a fundamental mission of True Colors is to provide a student or youth-centered experience where inspiration, decisions, discussions, and leadership generates directly from participants. By observing and participating in the creation of one of these productions, I explore the impact of this student-centered structure on the personal perspectives and artistic growth of the GLBT participants and the artistic process of creating the production. My goal is to discover True Colors' effectiveness of achieving its mission to both create an impactful and positive process for the youth and also develop a final product that is artful and evokes social change. Additionally, by studying similar programs, I establish a basis of comparison against True Colors in order to develop a broader view of the field and evaluate the variances in methodology and the impact on youth and communities.

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Research shows that Bulgaria is among the least LGBTQ+ friendly countries in the European Union, with members of the community facing discrimination, hostility, and violence both in their everyday lives and on a systemic level. The environment of suppression and stigma has also had an effect on the volume of local research into LGBTQ+ issues. This project’s goal is to fit into that research gap by providing a perspective on the problems faced by Bulgarian LGBTQ+ people and the plausible, practical solutions they would like to see or be part of on a local level. Participants focused on solutions that would create a space for queer community and expression, provide support and information where it is needed, and grow stronger community bonds. Some of those solutions were technological (such as an informational application and a community forum), others focused on interpersonal connection (such as an LGBTQ+ book club), and yet others on direct action (distributing counterpropaganda). / Forskning visar att Bulgarien är bland de minst hbtq-vänliga länderna i EU, med medlemmar av samhället som utsätts för diskriminering, fientlighet och våld både i sin vardag och på systemnivå. De miljö av förtryck och stigma har också haft en effekt på volymen av lokal forskning om HBTQ+-frågor. Detta projektets mål är att passa in i denna forskningsklyfta genom att ge ett perspektiv på problemen som bulgariska HBTQ+ står inför människor och de rimliga, praktiska lösningar de skulle vilja se eller vara en del av på lokal nivå. Deltagarna fokuserade på lösningar som skulle skapa ett utrymme för queergemenskap och uttryck, ge stöd och information där det behövs och stärka gemenskapsbanden. Några av dessa lösningar var tekniska (som en informativ ansökan och ett communityforum), andra fokuserade på interpersonell koppling (som en HBTQ +bokklubb), och ytterligare andra om direkta åtgärder (distribution av kontrapropaganda).

Die Bezeichnung der „Anderen“ ist im frühen queeren polnischen Emanzipationsdiskurs weit verbreitet. Sie taucht in Zeitschriften- und Buchtiteln auf und dient zugleich als Selbstbezeichnung zwischen Euphemismus und performativer Abgrenzung. Ab Mitte der 1980er Jahre wird diese „Andersartigkeit“ in der polnischen Öffentlichkeit zunehmend zum gesellschaftlichen Schlagwort mit emanzipatorischem Gehalt. Erstmals bringen sich queere Subjekte in Stellung, um eine mediale und politische Bühne für sich zu beanspruchen. Diese frühe Emanzipationsphase im Spannungsfeld zwischen den politischen Systemen bildet einen Umbruch in der queeren Geschichte Polens. Inmitten dieses Prozesses werden literarische Texte geschrieben und veröffentlicht, die queere Subjekte und deren Erfahrungen explizit in den Fokus rücken. Sie porträtieren lesbische und schwule Protagonist*innen, die sich mit gesellschaftlichen und kulturellen Hindernissen konfrontiert sehen. Einerseits geht es um die Versuche der „Anderen“, sich Gehör zu verschaffen. Dargestellt wird andererseits aber auch ihr Scheitern an den sie umgebenden heteronormativen Strukturen, das mitunter in einer Abwertung der eigenen Identität münden kann. Somit zeigen die Erzähltexte der frühen queeren polnischen Emanzipationsphase ein spannungsreiches Feld aus emanzipatorischen Bestrebungen und selbsterniedrigenden Tendenzen, das den Ausgangspunkt der vorliegenden Arbeit bildet. Im Rahmen der Analyse wird die theoretische Beschaffenheit des Phänomens queerer Selbsterniedrigung beschrieben und mittels semiotischer Überlegungen für die Literaturanalyse nutzbar gemacht. In diesem Rahmen werden in diesem Rahmen nicht nur die Gründe queerer Selbsterniedrigung untersucht, sondern auch ihre möglichen Funktionen im literarischen Text. / The signifier of the “other” is widespread in the early queer Polish emancipation discourse. It appeared in the titles of magazines and books, but also served as a self-designation between euphemism and performative reclamation. From the mid-1980s, this “otherness” increasingly became a social buzzword with emancipatory content in the Polish public sphere. For the first time, queer subjects in Poland positioned themselves in politics and claimed a public stage. This early phase of emancipation marks a turning point in Polish queer history. In the midst of this process, literary texts have been written and published that focus explicitly on queer subjects and their experiences. They portray lesbian and gay protagonists facing social and cultural obstacles. On the one hand, these texts deal with the attempts of the 'other' to make themselves heard. On the other hand, they also contain aspects of queer failure against the surrounding heteronormative structures, which can sometimes lead to a devaluation of one's own identity. The narrative texts of the early phase of Polish queer emancipation thus reveal a tense field between emancipatory aspirations and self-deprecating tendencies. This is the starting point of this study. In the analysis, the theoretical nature of the phenomenon of queer self-deprecation is described and made usable for literary analysis by means of semiotic considerations. Within this framework, the study examines the reasons for queer self-deprecation but also its possible functions in the literary text.

Den här avhandlingen tar sin utgångspunkt i äldre lhbtq-personers livsberättelser för att undersöka erfarenheter och betydelser av att leva och åldras som lesbisk, homosexuell, bisexuell, transperson eller queer. Äldre lhbtq-personer har levt och åldrats i tider där könsidentiteter och sexualiteter som går på tvärs med heteronormativiteten har varit kriminaliserade, patologiserade och många gånger framstått som avvikande. Samtidigt är äldre lhbtq-personers erfarenheter förbisedda inom forskningen, då gerontologin ofta utgår från heteronormativa antaganden samtidigt som lhbtq-forskningen sällan fokuserar på åldrande eller hög ålder. Avhandlingen bygger på livsberättelseintervjuer med tjugo personer födda mellan 1922 och 1950 (62-88 år vid tiden för intervjuerna). Det empiriska materialet har analyserats och tolkats med tematisk analys som metod samt med ett teoretiskt ramverk bestående av kritisk gerontologi, feministisk teori samt queerteori. Analysen pekar mot hur personernas erfarenheter relaterar till tidsanda och rumsliga kontexter. Den visar hur kön, ålder och sexualitet flätas samman i heteronormativa föreställningar kring hur livet ska se ut. Att avvika från dessa normer genom att inte leva upp till binära könsnormer eller inte ingå i heterosexuella äktenskap och skaffa barn kan ge stora sociala och materiella konsekvenser under livet. Det kan handla om att behöva smyga, dölja, bli socialt förskjuten, diskriminerad eller utsatt för våld. Trots dessa förutsättningar visar analysen hur personerna orienterat sig mot andra sätt att leva där ens könsidentitet och sexualitet kan få plats. Berättelserna pekar mot de betydelser som relationer, sociala nätverk samt lhbtq-sammanhang haft, där grupper, föreningar och träffställen som skapats över tid gjort det möjligt att finna andra livsmöjligheter. Berättelserna om att åldras påminner i stor utsträckning om andras erfarenheter av åldrande, men blir i några avseenden specifika för lhbtq-personer. Det kan handla om att inse att en åldrande kropp sätter stopp för den transvård en önskar få, eller oro för att bli homo- eller transfobiskt bemött inom äldreomsorgen. Resultaten pekar mot vikten av att lyfta in kritiska förhållningssätt på kön och sexualitet i gerontologin och livsloppsstudier. De visar också vikten av att inkludera materialitet i förståelser av den åldrande kroppen. Avhandlingen bidrar till en historieskrivning av lhbtq-historia i en svensk kontext. Den utgör också en teoretisk brygga mellan gerontologi, feministisk teori samt queerteori och bidrar till mer komplexa förståelser av intersektioner mellan kön, åldrande och sexualitet inom dessa fält. / This study is based on life-course interviews with 20 LGBTQ-identified people, born between 1922 and 1950, 62-88 years old at the time of the interviews. Older LGBTQ-identified people have experienced tremendous changes in how gender identities and sexualities have been re-negotiated during their lifetimes. Even though there is a small but growing field of LGBTQ ageing studies, queer studies rarely problematizes age or ageing. At the same time, the gerontological field often assumes heterosexuality and cis-gender experiences. This dissertation uses a life course perspective and focuses on queer lines, life courses that move beyond the heteronormative expectations of how one should live one’s life in relation to gender identity and/or sexuality. The overarching aim of the study is to explore experiences and meanings of living and ageing as LGBTQ in a changing heteronormative world. Thematic analysis is used to analyse and interpret the empirical material. The theoretical framework in this study refers to critical gerontology, feminist theory and queer theory. The analysis points to how experiences of gender identity and sexuality relate to historical and geographical contexts, and change over time. It illustrates how gender, age and sexuality intersect with heteronormative expectations of what a life is supposed to be like. To not live up to these expectations by not adjusting to binary gender norms or not getting married and having children may have large social as well as material consequences. These include having to hide one’s gender identity or sexuality, being socially repudiated and discriminated against or being subject to physical violence. Despite these conditions, the interviewees have oriented toward other lines - other ways of living where there is room for their gender identities and sexualities. The interviews point to the significance of social relations, networks and LGBTQ communities. LGBTQ groups and meeting places that have been created over time have facilitated in finding these other lines. Most of the narratives on ageing are similar to those of other people the same age, but there are also narratives that are specific to LGBTQ experiences. For some the ageing body has ruled out the possibility of undergoing transgender-specific surgeries. Others are worried about encountering homophobic or transphobic treatment when in need of care. The results point to the importance of including critical approaches of gender and sexuality within gerontology and life course studies, and to including materiality when theorizing the ageing body. The dissertation also constitutes a theoretical bridge between gerontology, feminist theory and queer theory and contributes to more complex understandings of intersections between age, gender and sexuality to these fields.

This study, the first in its scope on transgender religiosity, is based on in-depth biographical interviews with 13 transgender participants with a Jewish Orthodox background (currently and formerly Orthodox). The primary aim of the study has been to elucidate the entanglements of gender and religion in three periods of the participants’ lives: pre-transition, transition and post-transition. One of the main topics investigated have been the ways participants negotiated gendered religious practices in those three periods. A secondary aim of this study has been to co-theorize, in dialogue with the participants, different possible paths for religious change; that is, the ways in which the larger Orthodox community might respond to the presence of openly transgender members in its midst. Concerning the findings, in the course of this study I have developed the themes of dislocations and reversal stories to explain how the participants negotiated the entanglements of gender and religion particularly in the transitional and post-transitional periods. The latter theme–reversal stories–has been of special relevance to explain how gendered religious practices, which were generally detrimental to the acceptance of the participants’ gender identities during the pre-transitional period, had the potential to become a powerful source for gender affirmation after transition. In this study I argue that this possibility and its related mode of agency are not contained within the binary resistance/subordination that feminist scholars have developed to account for the agency of women in traditionalist religions. In order to better conceptualize the notion of agency and explore the nature of the mutual entanglements of gender and religion, I deploy the body of theoretical work developed by Karen Barad known as agential realism. Lastly, I conclude by examining my initial commitments to social constructionism (in Peter Berger’s definition). In the final chapter, I describe how in the course of my study I have encountered three unexpected sites of resistance to social constructionism that have led me to reconsider my previous epistemological commitments and embrace posthumanism as a more satisfactory alternative. / The Impact of Religion - Challenges for Society, Law and Democracy