<p> Minority and Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) businesspersons are carving out for themselves leadership roles in the world of business as entrepreneurs and CEO&rsquo;s. As they are experiencing much success, and are sought after to help provide unique and necessary perspectives regarding best practices in the areas of inclusion, diversity and strategic planning; they are yet underrepresented in mainstream media and in the business community. This qualitative study explores the enabling and inhibiting factors that select African American Gay Male Entrepreneurs (AAGME) experience throughout their career and ascent into entrepreneurship. The qualitative research includes interviews from ten African American Gay Males, who live in the metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia area and have owned/operated their organizations for three or more years. The accounts obtained of the AAGME are the primary data reviewed and reported. </p><p> Qualitative research methods are used to analyze the data, and the findings are presented in narrative format. The findings are consistent with the literature review and examined elements of enabling and inhibiting factors experienced by other LGBT professionals. The findings suggest that African American gay men considering starting their own organizations may benefit from utilizing a collaborative leadership approach, inclusive decision-making practices, personal and professional flexibility, and expressing humility and authenticity. AAGME aspiring to begin their own enterprises may also benefit from mentorship from an established LGBT businessperson and/or living in, or establishing their company in a geography that is supportive of LGBT persons and conducive to holistic identity expression.</p>

This thesis is an exploration of the various ways in which queer identity has been subsumed within an urban sensibility by mainstream culture, and how mediated articulations of queerness have subsequently been impacted. Highlighting the influence of late capitalism within the creation of a categorical “queer” identity, this work connects the history of the gentrified gayborhood to televisual and filmic representations of urban and rural queers. Interrogating legacy media representations opens up a conversation about how new media articulations of queerness might operate in the digital age. Examinations of popular queer websites, Downelink, GLEE and I’m From Driftwood illustrate the reification of common LGBTQ identity tropes, as well as highlight the spaces where queer affect theory might perform a critical intervention in how new media scholars might approach future research of online sources. / text

<p>The need for home health care is a growing need in the United States due to the shift of the &ldquo;baby-boomers&rdquo; into the post retirement years. However, there is a growing niche market within this aging population: the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) elders who have lived their adult lives &ldquo;out of the closet&rdquo; and who are facing difficulty receiving care which is compassionate and culturally sensitive at the same time. The mission of Hand-In-Hand Home Health Care is to provide exceptional home health care with a team of professionals that provide patient-centered care which is culturally sensitive and compassionate, achieved with employee training developed by SAGE (Services &amp; Advocacy for GLBT Elders). Hand-In-Hand Home Health Care will achieve economic viability within the first year through optimal cash flow management with Axxess client software and the initial capital assistance with a 7a Small Business Loan. </p>

abstract: LGBTQ research in music education has become more available and accepted in the past ten years. LGBTQ studies in music education have focused on how gay and lesbian music educators negotiate their identities, the role of music education in the lives of transgender students, and the inclusion of LGBTQ issues in music teacher education programs. Studies have been limited to a singular content experience, such as gay vocal music educators or lesbian band directors. Additionally, studies have not explored multiple generations of LGBTQ music educators. The purpose of this study was to explore the lives as lived of six K-12 music teachers. Six individuals, from various career points, various generations, and various career paths shared their stories with me. To guide my analysis, I considered the following questions: • How do lesbian and gay music educators describe their sexual identity and professional identity? • How do gay and lesbian music educators negotiate the tensions between these identities? • What internal and external factors influence these negotiations? • What are the similarities and differences among the participants of different generations? Two large emerged from the analysis that provided a better understanding of the participants’ lives: finding sexual identity and finding professional identity. Within those themes, smaller sub-themes helped to better understand how the participants came to understand their sexuality and professional identity. External factors such as social and family support, religion, and cultural and generational movements influenced the ways in which the participants came to understand their sexual identity. Participants desired to be seen first as a competent music teacher, but also understood that they could have an impact on a student as a gay or lesbian role model or mentor. Sexual identity and professional identity did not function as separate constructs; rather they were interwoven throughout these lesbian and gay music educator’s self-identities. In order to connect the reader with the participants, I engaged in a creative non-fiction writing process to (re)tell participant’s stories. Each story is unique and crafted in a way that the participant’s voice is privileged over my own. The stories come from the conversations and journal entries that the participants shared with me. The purpose of the stories is to provide the reader with a contextual understanding of each participant’s life, and to offer some considerations for ways in which we can engage with and support our lesbian and gay music educator colleagues. This paper does not end with a tidy conclusion, but rather more questions and provocations that will continue the conversations. I hope this document will encourage thoughtful and critical conversations in the music education profession to help us move us forward to a place that is more empathetic, socially-just, and equitable. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music Education 2018

<p> LGBT-headed families are experiencing a changing social environment and public school environments cannot be assumed to change in synchronicity with educational policies and laws. Schools are heteronormative spaces that create an identity conflict for gay fathers because their very existence conflicts the norm that&rsquo;s prevalent in that space. Two school stakeholder groups (school counselors and gay fathers) were investigated through a qualitative complementary case study. Intersectionality and social movement theory are theoretical lenses that can help identify the overlaps of salient roles and responsibilities that each group utilize to uncover understanding of identity and advocacy stances through a family, school and community partnership context. </p>

This project explores how a retreat ministry grounded in Theological Action Research (TAR) may help ameliorate the harmful effects of negative religious experiences among transgender persons. As a method of practical theology, TAR is interactive and participatory; in this study, TAR fostered agency and ownership among retreat participants. The study identifies larger implications of employing TAR to inform the practice of ministry, particularly among marginalized communities. Data and feedback from retreatants indicate that a retreat created through TAR and drawing upon spiritual autobiography, is a helpful model and method for ministry with transgender and gender non-conforming people seeking spiritual companionship

<p> In the Middle East and in many majority Muslim nations, homosexuality, including homosexual acts, identities, desires, and discussions of those, is considered taboo. Utilizing a feminist theoretical orientation, this project examined the ways in which same-sex desiring women in Amman, Jordan view the concept of sexually desiring and its relationship to identities. It also examined the pressures placed on them to abide by and navigate familial and religious expectations that conflict with their sexuality. This project drew upon 15 interviews from Muslim and Christian women in Amman using semi-structured and unstructured interviews and participant observation. After analysis, it was concluded that the majority of informants believe in innate sexual desires and sexuality and that all people sexually desire in similar ways. It was also concluded that informants face more pressure from family than from religion, and therefore, find it easier to balance religious obligations than familial obligations with their sexuality.</p><p>

<p> This study examined sexual victimization, resilience, and revictimization in the transgender community. Participants were recruited nationally through targeted Facebook advertising. This study observed that transgender participants were more likely to experience victimization and revictimization when compared to cisgender participants. It was also observed that transgender participants had more positive attitudes toward help-seeking but scored lower on a resilience scale than cisgender and sexual minorities. Implications will be discussed. </p><p>

<p> In recent decades, there has been a significant rise in the prominence and visibility of gay-identified men choosing to become fathers. The rise in planned gay fatherhood may be partially due to young gay men&rsquo;s radically evolving views of fatherhood (Berkowitz, 2011a). The current research is a phenomenological investigation in to the lived experience of gay fathers and community. Research questions include: How do gay men re-orient to evolving sources of social support over the transition to parenthood? How does the experience and quality of social support affect the process of becoming a father for gay men? Do gay fathers experience a sense of inclusion or exclusion in various social settings? How do gay fathers experience social milieus differently than before having children? Data collection consisted of interviews with 12 gay identified cisgender men who became fathers in the context of a previously established gay or queer identities. Interviews were in-depth and semistructured. While some fathers have described the process of becoming a parent as a second coming out process that allows a casting off of internalized oppression, others have described feeling alienated from previous social networks. Participants did not describe a distancing from a gay community, nor did a majority appear to feel embedded in a gay community describing diverse group of friends before and after having children. Participants experienced varying levels of family support in which future parenting identity became paramount to maintaining connections and approval from family members. Several fathers described interactions, particularly in public, that fall under the category of microaggression laden with stereotype threat. Such intrusions were disorienting and threatened to undermine an emerging sense of competence at critical stages of establishing a new fatherhood identity. Suggestions for further research and implications for therapeutic interactions are considered.</p><p>

<p> To examine the influence sexual identity has on the relationship between victimization and aggression in queer Black Men, thirty-eight participants (31 queer Black men, 7 straight Black men) completed a survey designed to assess experiences of victimization and current aggressive attitudes and behavior. This study hypothesized the following: (1) Queer Black men experience higher levels of victimization, (2) sexual orientation affects the strength of the relationship between victimization and aggression, and (3) there is a positive correlation between victimization and aggression. Findings indicated that queer Black men did not report higher rates of victimization and that sexual orientation did not moderate the strength of these two variables. Despite these findings, results indicated a positive relationship between victimization and aggression in both groups, with queer Black men exhibiting a stronger correlation. These significant findings further reinforce theoretical models and set groundwork for future research to address challenges that confront this understudied population.</p><p>