[pt] O objeto central deste trabalho é a mulher negra lésbica: um sujeito político em construção no Brasil. O estudo busca dar visibilidade aos processos de opressão e discriminação interseccional, cotidianamente vivenciados pela mulher negra lésbica. A pesquisa deseja contribuir com a construção e afirmação desta identidade, bem como fornecer elementos para intervenções profissionais do serviço social e para a formação de novos assistentes sociais, em face às expressões contemporâneas das desigualdades sociais. Quatro mulheres colaboraram na construção deste estudo, sendo adotado como critério central nesta seleção suas autodeclarações enquanto negras e lésbicas. Adicionalmente, a pesquisadora buscou colaboradoras que fossem ativistas políticas, com representatividade no movimento de mulheres negras lésbicas, entre 35 e 65 anos, com o objetivo de garantir a percepção de diferenças geracionais. A pesquisa de campo, de natureza qualitativa, baseou-se em entrevistas semiestruturadas configuradas a partir de quatro aspectos: a) trajetória política e pessoal; b) questões raciais, de gênero e orientação sexual; c) preconceito e discriminação, e d) políticas públicas e serviço social. Cada um destes aspectos foi discutido em termos de identidade e preconceito, todos relacionados ao Serviço Social. O trabalho de pesquisa revelou que em algumas situações o peso do racismo é mais relevante e perverso do que a discriminação e o preconceito decorrentes da lesbofobia. / [en] The core object of this work is the black lesbian woman: a political subject under construction in Brazil. This study aims to give visibility to the processes of intersectional discrimination and oppression daily experienced by the black lesbian woman. The research wants to contribute with the construction and affirmation of this identity, as well as to provide elements for Social Work professional interventions and for the education of new Social Workers, in the face of contemporary expressions of social inequalities. Four women contributed to the construction of this work, and the main criteria for their selection were their self-determination as black and lesbians. Furthermore, the researcher looked for recognized political activists of the black lesbians movement, between the ages of 35 and 65, in order to enable the expression of generational differences. The field work, qualitative in nature, was based on semi-structured interviews, dealing with the following aspects: a) Personal and political history; b) Questions related to race, gender and sexuality; c) Prejudice and discrimination, and d) Public policies and Social Work. Each one of those aspects was discussed in terms of identity, race and prejudice, all of them related to Social Work. The fieldwork revealed that in some situations of racism are far more perverse and relevant than discrimination and prejudice based on lesbian phobia.

Stories abound within our culture, and rarely are stories bestowed more legitimacy than within the courts. Social "facts" might be established within the legal forum, but nonetheless connect to everyday life. Research in social movements and judicial politics is thus becoming increasingly useful as social movement organizations increasingly compete before the Court to effect cultural change through the reification of their stories. Lesbian, gay and bisexuals form one group of storytellers whose "collective stories" are told. It is this set of stories that this paper investigates, following the "narrative turn" in sociology to analyze LGB social movement narratives in the empirical setting of the Supreme Court. I present the findings of my content analysis of the amicus curiae, or "friend of the Court," briefs and Court opinions in the Bowers v. Hardwick and Lawrence and Garner v. Texas cases, two of the most significant LGB rights cases, covering a span of nearly twenty years. Despite virtually identical casefacts, the Court handed down differing decisions, first ruling against the social movement before later reversing its decision. This research assesses how the narrative voices in the cases changed within the discourse of the Court, and how these collective narratives resonated within a changing culture. First, I assess how LGB social movement organizations, their allies, and countermovement organizations changed their framings and frame alignment processes, how they changed their emotions work and rhetoric, and how these changes were evidence of organizations' identity work processes during the interim between cases. Next, I assess changes in framings and frame alignment processes and emotions work and rhetoric within the opinions handed down by the Court. This serves two purposes: it allows for a comparison of organizational frame resonance with the Court, and also allows analysis of the decisions' resonance within the larger culture. Analysis is also made of the symbolic meanings found within the opinions of the Court in both cases. This analysis shows that LGB social movement and countermovement organizations operate within a cultural code of sexuality. Narratives are useful in observing how norms within this cultural code are enforced, strengthened, or changed by negotiation and legitimization before the Court. Consequently, this research contributes not only to our understandings of cultural change, but also to social movement theory, especially of identity work processes, to the field of social psychology, to the sociology of sexualities, and to the sociology of emotions and emotions work.

The American Medical Association's ethics code (2012) highlights trust, established through mutual respect, as the basis of patient-provider relationships. A lack of trust and respect between providers and non-heterosexual patients is suggested throughout healthcare literature. The study utilized a feminist-informed, needs assessment methodology to explore what women who partner sexually with other women need to feel comfortable with their provider. This methodology encouraged exploration, considered participants expert, and encouraged contribution from participants throughout the development of research. This project invited women to lend their voices at every phase of project development and implementation. The responses have provided greater understanding of what cues patients attend to in the healthcare setting, how important these needs are for encouraging comfort, and how often they occur in the healthcare setting. Overall, survey participants ranked the following items as most important for encouraging comfort: "Provider and staff demonstrate comfort with same-sex relationships," "Provider cares about patient as a person," and "Questions on intake forms use language that is inclusive of LGBTQ partnerships, polyamorous relationships, sexual behaviors, genders, and sexual orientations." These results provide significant understanding concerning what women want and are receiving in the healthcare setting. A trusting, respectful healthcare relationship can be created by listening to what women need to feel comfortable in disclosing same-gender sexual partnering.

Using Mohr's (2002) model of the heterosexual therapist as the theoretical framework, this study examined lesbian women's perceptions of heterosexual counselors based on heterosexual identity development. Specifically, it was hypothesized that lesbian women's perceptions of a heterosexual counselor would differ based on the counselor's working model of heterosexual identity development, as conceptualized by Mohr (2002). It was also hypothesized that Mohr's integrative working model would be perceived most positively by participants, followed by the politicized, democratic, and lastly the compulsory working model. Participants were 144 self-identified lesbian, gay, and/or queer-identified women surveyed through an email advertisement. Counselor heterosexual identity was operationalized through vignettes portraying dialogues between a counselor and client. Perceptions were measured by the Counselor Effectiveness Rating Scale (CERS; Atkinson & Wampold, 1982) and one item assessing utilization intent. Covariates included positive and negative trait affect, measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988), and internalized homophobia, assessed with the Lesbian Internalized Homophobia Scale (LIHS; Szymanski & Chung, 2001). Results indicated significant differences in perceptions between counselor working models, such that the compulsory counselor was rated significantly lower than the other three counselors, both in terms of credibility and utilization intent. Implications of this study include shedding light on the identity dynamics of privileged group members in a counseling setting, as well as reaffirming the importance of self-knowledge and training experiences for counselors of privilege to increase multicultural competence, especially in terms of sexual orientation.

The purpose of this study was to explore the intersection of multiple minority identities in men who have sex with men (MSM) of color, focusing on the relationship between experiences of minority stress and negative health outcomes. Specifically, this study aimed to identify how minority stress levels in MSM of color impact the following negative health outcomes: poor mental health, substance abuse, and risky sexual behavior. The role of ethnic identity belonging and religious practice as potentially moderating the relationship between minority stress and negative health outcomes was further explored. A cross-sectional online survey was utilized to test the research questions. The sample consisted of 152 participants who identified as racial/ethnic minorities and MSM between the ages of 18 and 29. Direct effects of minority stress reflected in self-reports of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) victimization, internalized homophobia, and perceived ethnic discrimination on negative health outcomes were tested using analysis software IBM SPSS. The findings revealed that greater minority stress was associated only with increased mental health problems. As hypothesized, evidence emerged that ethnic identity belonging moderated the relationship between minority stress and both mental health and substance use outcomes, suggesting that ethnic identity belonging may serve as a protective factor for MSM of color. Under conditions of high minority stress, MSM of color with greater engagement with formal religious practice were associated with the highest negative mental health outcomes, whereas lower degrees of religious practice predicted better mental health outcomes. This study identified MSM of color to be at risk for poor mental health and has highlighted the importance of ethnic identity belonging as a potential buffer against mental health and substance use issues. Further research is necessary to determine whether religiosity serves as a protective factor or risk factor for MSM of color. These findings will help researchers to better understand MSM of color and may have a potential impact on prevention and intervention efforts by identifying risk and protective factors that help to explain the aversive effects of minority stress.

As late as the past century, the possibility of professional scientific progress on the subject of homosexuality as one of the options of sexual behavior without prejudice and ideological limitation was not possible. The attitude towards homosexuality has changed rapidly during different time periods and among various cultures. By already making homosexuality legal in the early 60{\crq}s, Czechoslovakia was ranked as one of most progressive countries in the world during the last century because it had already legalized homosexuality in the early 1960{\crq}s. Also thanks to the effort of sexologist, this also happened earlier than in the majority of European countries, thanks to the efforts of sexologists. However, the quality of life of homosexual men and women is still limited up to a certain level. This limitation is distinct. Especially in the impossibility of starting a family, which corresponds to the traditional picture of a heterosexual marriage. Among other things, taking care of children in a homosexual relationship is also controversial. Unfortunately, the majority of individuals still has a negative approach towards homosexual people, and therefore this doesn{\crq}t put their quality of life for homosexuals on the same level as that of heterosexual society. The aim of my thesis has been to do research and an analysis of the quality of life of homosexual men and women in several areas, especially in the biological/medical sphere, as well as with the psychological, moral/ethical, educational, cultural, historical, political and religious spheres. The partial aim has been to compare the differences between the quality of life of homosexual men and homosexual women as compare to the differences in the quality of life of the homosexual and heterosexual population. In order to process the empirical part of my thesis, I have chosen the method of qualitative research; for data collection, I have chosen the technique of the interview. The results of this research clearly show that the quality of life of homosexual men and woman is limited, up to a certain level, precisely due to their sexual orientation. On the other hand, it is necessary to say that the majority of homosexuals I spoke with, lives a satisfied life, consider life to be good one and wouldn{\crq}t exchange the position in life with heterosexuals. The majority of those who were interviewed sees the biggest difference between the life of homosexuals and heterosexuals as being the possibility of having children, whether these children are physically their own or adopted. Unfortunately, today there are still people who force some lesbians and gays to hide their sexual orientation. It would be good to a deeper elaboration of the results of this research into smaller units. For example, the influence of family, childhood and adolescence on the individual{\crq}s later orientation could be analyzed more closely. A big topic would definitely be the subject of sexual-based discrimination and another interesting thing would also be to explore more the process of coming-out etc. This diploma can help the students gain further knowledge about our homosexual fellow citizens, and also elementary school teachers could find this information to be useful during sex education classes, during the same time the children are also being taught about other kinds of sexual orientation, apart from the heterosexual one.

abstract: The experiences of lesbian and gay (LG) administrators in school and district-level positions are different than their heterosexual counterparts, not just because their social lenses are different, but because the policies and climates of the communities where they work has a significant impact on their relationships with stakeholder groups in the schools/offices. In this qualitative study I document and analyze the stories of LG educators, how they navigate their professional relationships, how they evolve as leaders, and their understanding of how their choices to be out or not have influenced their careers and professional relationships. The study also explores how performativity and sexuality relate to the professional relationships of the participants. Finally, the leaders' stories provide insight into the experiences of marginalized groups of professionals whose stories are often absent from the professional and research literatures on school administration. These eight school and district administrators live in the Southwestern and Northwest, many of them are out at work and a few are not. They range in age from mid-20s to late 50s, and their experiences as educational leaders spans from just one year to over 25 years. The participants sat for two to three interviews each over the course of approximately four months. The names of the participants, institutions, and specific communities have been changed to maintain confidentiality. I found that all the participants' relationships with stakeholders groups and individuals were impacted to varying degrees by fear - specifically the fear that results from the heteronormative rules, biases, and expectations of the public school system. The heteronormativity of the public education system is often a reflection of its community's belief system, as well as a reflection of the larger, more unconscious heteronormative belief system that shapes schools and educational leadership, a leader's professional capacity, and the relationships that are critical to being an effective leader. Essentially, the heteronormative fear reflected in the policies and practices of a community, an educational institution, and its members has a dramatic effect on the decisions and relationships that educational leaders have with key stakeholder groups on both an unconscious and conscious level. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2014

Lesbianism has received unprecedented screen time in the cinema in the first fifteen years of the twenty-first century. This marks a significant shift away from a prior invisibility, historically interrupted only by invocations of pathologisation, isolation and tragedy. At the same time, critical discourses have increasingly replaced identity categories such as “the lesbian” with the more fluid notions of “queer” sexuality. In this paradoxical context, this thesis identifies and theorises the kinds of cinematic language through which the figure of “the lesbian” has continued to be made legible on the screen. If the cultural invisibility of lesbianism is arguably a thing of the past, the invisibility of lesbianism in academic scholarship is an increasingly notable feature of the current critical landscape. The majority of anthologies on “queer” or “gay” cinema exclude lesbians both as contributors and as objects of study, rendering insecure the equation of political progress with screen visibility. Identifying a shift away from defining lesbian cinema as “about lesbians”, this project offers a series of close readings of narrative feature films released between 2001 and 2013 that put lesbianism in motion. The thesis discusses a range of recent films to consider how the cinematic language of lesbianism has moved beyond the twin burdens the term has historically carried, as deplorably singular and threateningly doubled. In dialogue with debates in psychoanalytic feminist film criticism about the woman in cinema, the first two chapters consider the relationship between lesbianism, narrative and genre in Mulholland Drive (Lynch, 2001), Nathalie (Fontaine, 2003) and Chloe (Egoyan, 2009). My argument explores how these films expose the contradictory relationship between absence and presence in cinema’s production of lesbianism, troubling the ease with which sex can be read as the visual evidence of sexuality. The subsequent two chapters move from psychoanalytically informed studies of the cinematic coding of lesbian fantasy to an investigation of the affective, spatial and temporal registers of desire and eroticism that have provoked recent debates in feminist theory. These chapters consider the ways in which the in-between and expectant modes of subjectivity and sensation that characterise adolescent sexuality coincide with, and accent, lesbian desires in Water Lilies (Sciamma, 2007), She Monkeys (Aschan, 2011) and Circumstance (Keshavarz, 2011). Moving from transactions of power to those of pleasure, the final chapter offers a close reading of Blue is the Warmest Colour (Kechiche, 2013) and of the discursive constructions of explicit lesbian sex surrounding it. My reading of the film argues that it formally queers desire in a way that unsettles the over-privileging of sex in the characterisation of lesbian sexuality. Across these five chapters, this thesis explores the relationship between the figuration of the singular lesbian and the multiple registers of her desire and sexuality. In conclusion, the thesis argues that a new field of figurations, emerging from the influences of queer theory, has pushed at the limits of lesbian legibility and generated nuanced and sensitive renderings of debates about sexuality on the screen.

This article delves into the murky waters of homophobic victimisation within the post-Apartheid South African society. It draws attention specifically to a sub-group within the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community by critically examining the phenomenon of ‘corrective’ rape that has befallen them in the recent past years. The article seeks to achieve a critical examination of ‘corrective’ rape in South Africa a threefold manner. Firstly, and as a point of departure, the article takes a look at some of the prominent cases of ‘corrective’ rape that have not only captured the attention of the nation, but also that of the international community. It looks not only at the sensational stories published by media but also at the response of the criminal justice system to the cases that have surfaced before it. In so doing the article aims to establish that ‘corrective’ rape is a reality for lesbian women in South Africa. Once the reality of ‘corrective’ rape has been established, the article seeks to then answer the questions as to whether or not ‘corrective’ rape can be and should be categorised as a ‘hate crime’ offense. These two questions are addressed in a comparative manner, by examining the definition of ‘hate crime’ and the definitional characteristics of the latter. These are then applied to ‘corrective’ rape within the South African context in an attempt to establish whether or not the latter is truly a ‘hate crime’ and should be seen and dealt with as such by the South African legal system. In this part of the examination, the by-question of whether or not the South African legal framework should recognise ‘hate crime’ offenses as a separate category crime filters through. However, the latter question is only addressed as the article progresses. From the theoretical, the article returns to the current reality to not only comprehensively discuss the national and international legal measures that have been put in place to protect lesbian women from homophobic victimisation but also to discuss the reasons why these legal measures are allegedly failing South African lesbian women – this regardless of the heart and soul that has been poured into the South African constitutional jurisprudence. The aim of this part of the examination is to establish what, if anything at all, can still be done to offer better protection to lesbian women all across the nation, regardless of their social class. Having completed all three of the above and in the penultimate, the article makes recommendations that touch on both the law and human rights education policies of the nation. The main focus of the author’s submissions is on reform as well as education and awareness. These recommendations are made in the hopes that in the nation’s endeavor to provide better protection for the most vulnerable in our society these will be progressive steps. The article then concludes with final thoughts as to what has been learnt and established in each substantive chapter. Copyright / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

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