Sexual minority adolescents and adults experience higher rates of psychological risk factors and mental health disorders than their straight peers. As theorized by the minority stress model, this increased distress may be related to both external stressors (including discrimination and violence) and internal stressors (concealment, expectation of rejection, and internalized homonegativity). For some sexual minority individuals who also hold religious beliefs, conflict between their sexual orientation and religious beliefs may act as another stressor. Sexual minority adolescents and adults present to therapy at higher rates than their straight counterparts, and clients seeking help with religious and sexual conflict make up some portion of this distressed group. We qualitatively explored the therapy experiences of religious sexual minority college students using CQR methodology. Specifically, we investigated the role therapy plays in helping clients navigate conflict between their sexual orientation and religious belief. Fourteen participants completed 60-90 minute interviews that included questions about their therapy experiences. Themes emerged representing both helpful and unhelpful aspects of group and individual therapy. Helpful group themes included "learning from others,""connecting with others," and "a supportive environment;"and unhelpful themes included "not connecting with others," and "discomfort with group content." Helpful individual therapy themes included "processing and exploration" and "a supportive environment;" and unhelpful themes included "problems with the therapist" and "problems with the therapy process." Connections to Yalom's "curative factors" and common factor theory are discussed, as well as special considerations when working with a religious sexual minority population.

The purpose of this study was to describe, from their perspectives, the experiences of lesbian physical education teachers who work in the public schools and the meanings they made of their experiences. The participants were elementary and secondary school physical educators who identified themselves as lesbians. Twelve teachers were interviewed using an in-depth phenomenological approach. The teachers interviewed were women of various ages, races, and social class backgrounds who taught in rural, urban, and suburban schools. The interview materials were presented in two ways: individual profiles of eight participants and common themes. Several key points from the data emerged. First, the participants made two assumptions about being a lesbian physical educator: (a) as a lesbian, you will lose your job if you are open about your sexual orientation, and (b) female physical educators are stereotyped as being lesbians. Second, the participants actively attempted to separate their personal and professional lives. Third, the participants used a variety of strategies to manage their lesbian identities within school settings. These strategies were used both to conceal and reveal their sexual orientation. Living in two worlds was an accepted reality for the lesbian physical educators in this study. A conceptual model outlining the process by which the participants made decisions about managing their identities as lesbian physical educators was presented. Feminism and oppression theory were used to discuss the participants' experiences. The participants' descriptions revealed the prevalence of homophobia and heterosexism within physical education environments. The lesbian label was specifically used to intimidate or harass women in physical education. The homophobia and heterosexism the participants encountered in their worlds kept them silent, isolated, fearful of discovery, and powerless. Consequently, the participants in this study did not share a collective identity as a subordinate or oppressed group. Developing a collective identity was described as a critical next step in changing the conditions of their oppression as lesbian physical educators.

The purpose of the study was, having elaborated a theoretical rationale, to assess the impact of a twelve-hour anti-homophobia workshop on the attitudes and professional practice of 16 staff participants at the public high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The theoretical aspect included an application of Kohlberg moral development theory and theories of sexism to an analysis of homophobia. The resulting Stage Model of bigotry was used in conducting the voluntary staff development workshop, "Gay and Straight at CRLS: Creating a Caring Community." The methodology included analysis of the responses to a questionnaire and interview given two years after the workshop was conducted. The results show that participants were more likely to be female, politically and religiously liberal staff members with little or no academic experience with the topic of homosexuality. Response to the workshop was very positive with an emphasis on empathizing with families of gay/lesbian people, being moved by testimony of co-workers dealing with their own experiences as gay/lesbian teachers or as parents of gay/lesbian children, and recognizing the inhospitable environment at the high school for gay/lesbian students. Most of the participants felt the workshop sharpened their view of homosexuality as an issue at the school and made them more likely to confront homophobic attitudes/behaviors around them. Participants' near unanimous support for a gay/lesbian student support group, which has been formed at the school as a consequence of the workshop, underscores the idea that a community of caring (Kohlberg Stage 3) was the moral atmosphere created by the workshop.

A paucity of psychological research exists on the topic of fatphobia, a type of pervasive oppression that occurs for people with plus-size, large, and/or fat bodies. Much of the research that exists about fatphobia focuses on medical ideals, the associated weight stigma, and how these are related to fat people’s physical health. Medical researchers have determined that weight stigma is actually more harmful to fat people's health than being fat. Fatphobia impacts women at disproportionate rates. Plus-sized, queer, lesbian, bisexual, and pansexual (LGBTQ+) women may be at a heightened risk for experiencing marinization as a result of their intersecting identities compounding the effects of fatphobia. The purpose of this study was to use a qualitative, grounded theory approach to explore LGBTQ+ women’s experiences of fatphobia, and how these experiences impact their romantic relationships. Four themes emerged from the data: (a) fatphobic is chronic and pervasive in the lives of fat, queer women, (b) fatphobic experiences begin in childhood and continue into adulthood, and are perpetrated by close family and friends, as well as strangers, (c) chronic experiences of fatphobia create negative mental and physical health outcomes for fat, queer women, and (d) intentional body work is used to help fat, queer women cope with and respond to chronic oppression. Suggestions for how healthcare workers and therapists can support fat, queer women engage in intentional body work are provided.

This dissertation theorizes political resistance in the wake of critiques of the transcendental subject made by poststructuralist theorists. After a review of the theoretical approaches among U.S. rhetoricians to the "rhetoric of social movements" (1965-1985), I review the contributions of three French post-structuralists (Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, and Jean Baudrillard) to theories of discourse and resistance, concluding with Michel de Certeau's correctives to them. The final two chapters propose a theory of political resistance which distinguishes rhetorical performance from rhetorical performativity to account for two forms of resistance in tension within the post-WWII "new social movements" in the U.S. Focusing specifically on the gay liberation movement, one chapter analyzes dance and popular culture (through Madonna's "Vogue" video and the cult it stems from/spawns) as sites of resistance where signifiers of gender, race, and sexuality are deployed, but evade the essentializing rhetorics and institutional forms of power seen in the field of identity. The final chapter analyzes the modes through which new right identity construction and gay liberation identity construction work in tandem, and in relation to black civil rights identity to constitute a contested field of power. I argue that identity is not a developmental accomplishment, but a deontic closure which both constitutes and is constituted by the discourse of "minority" in the U.S., and, therefore, related to a range of social practices from segmented advertising to legal claims to civil rights.

The problematic aspect of including LGBTQ+ perspectives in history education is that history textbooks might not contain a sufficient quantity or quality of LGBTQ+representation, in addition teachers might not be sufficiently equipped to teach history with LGBTQ+ perspectives. The purpose of this overview is to compile research regarding how LGBTQ+ perspectives are represented in the history subject in addition to which methods history teachers can use in order to include it in their teaching. In order to find the relevant research we have used the databases ERIC via EBSCO, Libsearch from EBSCO, Education Research Complete (ERC) and SwePub as well as using supplementary search methods. The material has been assessed in relation to the question: “How are LGBTQ+ related subjects represented in history textbooks and which methods may teachers use in order to include LGBTQ+ perspectives?”. The result of the compiled research indicates that using modern terms and frameworks in history education can be problematic as they are not historical but that they can also be a useful tool in order to explain history. Secondly, the research shows history textbooks lacking quantity and quality of LGBTQ+ representation. Some textbooks are shown to uphold hetero- and cis norms as well as harmful stereotypes of LGBTQ+people. Thirdly, it presents a lack of LGBTQ+ perspectives in teacher education. Further, research suggests that LGBTQ+ inclusive literature can contribute to a safer environment for students. Lastly, it shows that possible methods to include LGBTQ+ perspectives in history education are using intersectional theory, using terms such as heterosexual, representing LGBTQ+ peoples multiple identities and balancing positive and negative aspects in LGBTQ+ related subjects. In conclusion there is a lack of LGBTQ+ representation in history textbooks but history teachers can still provide LGBTQ+ perspectives in their teaching.

Migrant Child is a poetry collection about injustice in the United States of America and the international community. The purpose of the collection is to humanize social injustice in the present, so as to show the reader that discrimination still happens in the United States in 2016. To that end, the collection draws on comparisons from civil rights movements of the 1960s and from present day. It is also meant to reflect injustices the author experiences in his own life. The poetry collection was created after the author spent six months volunteering throughout the State of Florida. The poems in the collection center around Hispanic communities in the United States, refugees seeking asylum, individuals living HIV and AIDS, male rape, and familial abuse. Several poems are written in the epigraph format, so as to place the reader in the author’s desired mindset for that particular poem. In addition, multiple poems in this collection have been inspired by the poets Yusef Komunyakaa, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and Allen Ginsburg. In present day, discrimination and prejudice are still experienced by minority communities in the United States, and Migrant Child is not by any extent an exhaustive list of all communities that are, in the present, experiencing social injustice.

The history of canonical love poetry is inaccurate without the inclusion of minoritized groups. The relevance of the sonnet’s incomplete history and its lingering impact on contemporary poetry are not examined enough within academia. The sonnet is taught through white-, straight-, and cisgender-centered lenses, contributing to the erasure of historically relevant sonneteers who do not align with these identities. This thesis celebrates the diverse history of sonneteering, while drawing attention to the remaining narrow-mindedness within the poetic community. This thesis dismantles traditional elements of the sonnet through varying form, subject matter, and stylistic choices. When viewed in the physical form, these works push for inclusivity by appealing to a multitude of sensory factors. Whether the reader relates to the poems’ contents themselves is irrelevant — these sonnets are made to be enjoyed by any person, whether it be through the oral feeling of the language, the abstract physical manipulation, the content, the formatting on the page, the rhythm, or any other factor. By considering the intersections that allow readers to appreciate content, this thesis reframes how audiences are meant to enjoy poetry. The hyper-fixation within traditional sonnets on strict rhyme patterns and formatting choices, as well as the expectation for the reader to completely understand and relate to the emotional content, is inherently limiting to the art of writing. Poetry can, and should, be enjoyed on an individualized basis without harsh restrictions on the “proper” way to read the works. Through content and form-based reformation, the sonnet can prevail as a genre open to change and relevant to modern and historical minoritized communities.

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