<p> Through hermeneutic and heuristic research this thesis looks at melancholia or complicated grief with the contributing factor of identity questioning. From a depth psychological perspective, normal grief is differentiated from melancholia or complicated grief, which involves the unconscious. This exploration employs the theory of Allan Hugh Cole Jr., whose work on melancholia draws on that of Donald Capps, Erik Erikson, and Sigmund Freud. A disposition to melancholia, particularly in men, comes from the first abandonment by a primary parent, resulting in identity loss and resistance to resolution of grief. Factors such as trauma, sexual orientation, religion, or marginalized race can have exacerbating effect on melancholia and were found to have treatment implications. Ritual, art, play, humor, and dreams can be identity-conferring and restorative resources. The author proposes that melancholia with identity issues should be understood as a psychological problem that is distinct from, although it can prolong and complicate, grief.</p>

<p> Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth continue to struggle with challenges relating to their sexual identities and the coming out process. LGBT youth are far more likely than heterosexual youth to experience negative outcomes relating to their family and social supports, as well as physical and emotional health. The purpose of this project was to identify the specific needs of LGBT youth and write a grant to fund a psychoeducational support program designed to increase the support networks, improve self-esteem, increase communication skills, decrease physical and emotional health disparities between LGBT and non-LGBT youth, and promote a positive and healthy transition during the coming out process of LGBT youth in Ventura County.</p><p> The host agency for the grant is Rainbow Umbrella. The Arcus Foundation was selected as the funder for this grant. Actual submission and/or funding of the grant were not requirements for successful completion of this project. </p>

<p> The intersection of Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) with academic outcomes for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) high school students is the focal point of this study. A survey of the literature found depressed academic outcomes for LGBTQ students relative to their heterosexual peers, and a positive correlation between the presence of a GSA on campus and academic performance of LGBTQ students. Using an anonymous survey and focus group interviews with 12 youth who identified as LGBTQ or allied, and who were currently or recently enrolled in high school, this study inquired about GSA activities, campus interactions, supportive adults, personal empowerment, school safety, school belongingness, and academics. Participants related each of these topics to the presence of a GSA on their campus, to the extent they felt it was relevant. A two-stage coding process concluded that varying campus and societal climates, active/effective versus inactive/ineffective GSAs, and personal and corporate empowerment were major themes of participant responses. Participant responses indicated that GSAs might directly support the academic success of members through social acceptance and exposure to wider LGBTQ advocacy. Academic success of non-members is hypothesized as an indirect benefit, with GSAs understood as a background variable whose presence or absence is indicative of the likely status of other variables that directly impact student academic outcomes.</p>

<p> Each year the importance of a high school education increases; however, there are still populations for which getting a diploma is difficult. One of these populations is the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered community. For many of these students a high school diploma is still out of reach. Quantitative research to this point shows that these students suffer from bullying/harassment, increased depression, substance abuse issues, and what they refer to as an overall lack of school belonging. The purpose of this study was to add a qualitative voice to the quantitative data. This study was designed to explore and understand LGBT high school graduates&rsquo; experiences throughout grades 9-12 and factors that led to persistence to graduation. This information was put together to create a plan for schools to create environments that were welcoming and supportive of LGBT students. To accomplish these goals, 12 participants from different types of communities across the United States were interviewed about their experiences in high school. They were asked to share their experiences with bullying, depression, substance abuse, and their experiences in high school as well as what they believed help them overcome and make it to graduation and what they wish their schools would have done for them. Of the participants who were interviewed, 75% reported facing bullying or harassment in school, 33% discussed using drugs or alcohol, and 17% talked about depression and attempting suicide. In the end there were three main protective factors found among the participants. Participants had either a person who pushed them towards graduation, something at school that made them feel they belonged, or a sheer desire to leave and get someplace better.</p>

No description available.

<p> Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals face significant mental and physical health disparities compared to their heterosexual peers. Such differential outcomes are often attributed to minority stress, chronic stress that is specific to one&rsquo;s marginalized status and which is distinct from normal every day life stress. Current research, which attempts to assess the relationship between minority stress and health, is stifled by lack of a uniform measurement tool to operationalize the construct. The purpose of this study was to develop a comprehensive tool that encapsulates all of the major dimensions of minority stress, as defined by Meyer&rsquo;s (2003) LGB minority stress model. The final LGBT Minority Stress Measure is a 25-item self-report scale, with seven subscales: identity concealment, everyday discrimination/ microaggressions, rejection anticipation, discrimination events, internalized stigma, victimization events, and community connectedness. Results from 640 participants, including 119 of which identified as gender non-conforming, supported the psychometric properties of the scale. Additionally, consistent with existing literature, greater minority stress was associated with increased psychological distress.</p>

<p> Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students do not have the same experiences at school as their heterosexual and cisgender classmates. Whether the climate is characterized as less welcoming or hostile, either way it leads to disparate outcomes in the form of lower GPA (Aragon, Poteat, Espelage, &amp; Koenig, 2014), decreased likelihood of post-high-school education (Bart, 1998), and threats to both emotional (Kann et al., 2011; Saewyc, Konishi, Rose, &amp; Homma, 2014) and physical (Hatzenbuehler, Bellatorre, et al., 2014) well-being. This study began with a quantitative study of the climate, as reported by LGBT students, at 9 Southern California high schools. Survey data were analyzed using a t-test and an ANOVA to determine if there was a difference in school climate based on 2 independent variables: (a) implementation of the FAIR Act, requiring, among other things, positive representations of LGBT people in social science classes, and (b) the presence of out LGBT staff members. No statistically significant difference was found for these variables. Data were also analyzed using a multiple regression to determine whether any component of school climate served as a predictor of students&rsquo; positive affect. Here, a connection was found: students exhibiting self-protective behavior, like skipping class or avoiding restrooms and locker rooms, have a lower ratio of positive to negative emotions. In the second phase of the study, school staff were interviewed. As they shared their interpretation of the quantitative results and their efforts to improve school climate, a unifying idea emerged: school climate can improve over time with consistent, deliberate effort from the entire school community.</p>

<p> Resilience is the ability to be adaptable in times of adversity. In the past fifty years, individuals who identify as being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender have experienced the broadest spectrum from being seen as immoral degenerates to gaining equality in the eyes of the law. Limited research on LGBT resilience has placed emphasis on circumstantial, episodic contentions rather than the dynamics of resiliency experiences of sexual minorities or gender identity. Existing research is even split between quantitative and qualitative methods but does not consider lifelong resiliency dynamic experiences. Qualitatively exploring the resiliency experiences of LGBT Baby Boomers can offer valuable information for the design of sensitivity training of health professionals and amend LGBT resiliency research literature with a broader range of life experiences. Prior research established precedents of resilient self-analysis of expansive situational issues particularly in regard to aging, health, and community. Accordingly, this qualitative research study strived to gain a better understanding of LGBT Baby Boomer resilience as a concept, personal qualities to overcome adverse situations or be resilient, those resilient qualities in regard to sexual orientation or gender identity, and qualities unique not only to their sexual orientation or gender identity, but as Baby Boomers. Five themes were identified that describe resiliency experiences of LGBT Baby Boomers.</p>

<p>Abstract Mixed findings in the research on mental health issues in the lesbian community have resulted in conflicting conclusions as to whether the prevalence rate of generalized anxiety disorders and depression in the lesbian population differs from that of non-lesbians. The variability of findings may be due to factors such as discrimination, coming-out, and self-esteem. Using the minority stress model a framework, the purpose of this quantitative survey study was to examine whether perceptions of discrimination, coming-out, and self-esteem levels predict lesbians? anxiety and depression. Participants anonymously completed online measures of the Outness Inventory, the Schedule of Sexually Discriminatory Events, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory-II, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The snowball sample consisted of 105 self-identified lesbian women from the United States. Hierarchical regression was used to test the hypotheses. According to study results, frequency and stressfulness of sexual discrimination, coming-out, and self-esteem levels predicted depression and anxiety, with low self-esteem as the only significant predictor of depression and anxiety. The findings were only partially consistent with the minority stress model because perceived discrimination did not predict depression or anxiety. This study facilitates positive social change by pointing out and focusing on the need for mental health interventions specific to the stresses that lesbians face pertaining to low self-esteem, as that predicts their anxiety and depression.

<p> This thesis examines the development of the gay rights movement in Louisiana. It begins by exploring both the homophile era and the liberation era in Louisiana, and how members of the LGBTQ community during these periods created safe spaces for themselves. I focus on two groups, the Louisiana Electorate of Gays and Lesbians (LEGAL) and the Louisiana Gay Political Action Caucus (LAGPAC), throughout the remainder of the work and how members of these organizations shaped the LGBTQ community by fighting for legislative protections and civil rights. I examine how gay rights activists negotiated the terms and parameters of identities like "gay" and "lesbian" in the context of political action, and how these identities remain relevant for the community today. Throughout the work, I argue that members of organizations like LAGPAC and LEGAL were more reactive than proactive when advocating for legislative protections for Louisiana&rsquo;s LGBTQ community. To reach this conclusion, I use primary source collections of both LEGAL and LAGPAC, as well as various local periodicals to show how members of these organizations and members of the press disseminated information regarding the fight for gay civil rights to the LGBTQ community and the general public.</p>