"Coming out" is a unique experience for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority individuals (LGB+), yet it remains ill-defined within scholarship and is individually focused. This study investigates how same-gender couples negotiate relationship visibility and what motivates them to come out to others. A queer theoretical framework was used to explore how partners do outness. To address the needs of the literature, constructivist grounded theory methods were employed in analyzing the data. These findings showed that the majority of couples believed they had a "mutual understanding" of the rules and boundaries in place for relational visibility. In addition, the ways in which different individuals felt compelled to come out or stay in was impacted by their connection to the historical context of the Gay Rights movement. Clinical implications to help clinicians between in assessment and conceptualization in their work with members of the population were determined. / Ph. D. / “Coming out” is a unique experience for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority individuals (LGB+), yet the motivations for why individuals may choose to come out are underexplored. In addition, what it means to come out varies. This study investigates how same-gender couples negotiate their relational visibility and what motivates them to come out to others. To represent the strong influence of history and the oppression faced by LGB+ individuals and communities, a queer theoretical framework was used to guide this study and attend to the influences of power and privilege. These findings showed that the majority of couples believed they had a “mutual understanding” of the rules and boundaries in place for relational visibility and shared motivations in coming out. Clinical implications to help mental health professionals better serve these individuals, couples, and families were determined.

Thesis advisor: Kevin J. Mahoney / Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults in the U.S. face disproportionate risk of increased health and mental health problems as compared to their non-LGBT counterparts. Experiences of harassment, discrimination, and violence due to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) contribute to the chronic stresses associated with being a sexual and/or gender minority. LGBT older adults may avoid or delay needed services in later life, rendering them invisible to health care providers (HCPs) if they do not disclose SOGI and if providers do not ask. This three-paper dissertation explored LGBT older adults' invisibility and outness in aging services. Paper 1 investigated gerontological social workers' biopsychosocial assessment practices to understand how they became aware of clients' SOGI; assessment forms were analyzed and qualitative interviews with social workers were conducted, showing that social workers did not have a systematic way of learning about clients' SOGI. Paper 2 was a quantitative analysis of survey data from 129 LGBT older adults that showed an association between experiences of SOGI-based discrimination/violence after age 50 and not disclosing SOGI to HCPs and having avoided using aging services for fear of coming or being out. Paper 3 was a qualitative analysis of interviews with 22 LGBT older adults that sought to understand how they disclosed SOGI to HCPs. Those who disclosed did so without being asked, because of health conditions, after having sought out an LGBT /LGBT-friendly provider, or after being asked about their sex and/or love lives. Paper 3 findings offered practice and environmental changes that could increase LGBT older adults' SOGI disclosure to HCPs. This dissertation provides suggestions for social work policy, practice, and research aimed at supporting gerontological social workers in learning about their clients' SOGI in an effort to address health disparities among LGBT older adults / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

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As a result of society's heteronorm many homosexuals do not want to be open with their sexual orientation in the workplace. Healthcare in Sweden has been criticized as there is a general assumption among healthcare professionals that patients are heterosexual. As a result, homosexual patients have received inadequate treatment from healthcare staff. The purpose of the study is to research homosexual healthcare staff's perceptions of the organization's impact on inclusion based on sexual orientation. The purpose is also to study the healthcare staff's perception of being open with their sexual orientation towards work colleagues. How workplace norms affect the openness of homosexual healthcare staff regarding their sexual orientation to colleagues in the workplace is also researched. With the help of qualitative interviews with homosexual care staff, the purpose of the study can be answered. The heteronorm is not a new phenomenon and it still affects society today. However, society is not as heteronormative as before. Even though change has taken place, not all organizations work actively with inclusion based on sexual orientation in the workplace. Working with inclusion can be considered important as previous research shows that many homosexuals do not dare to be open with their sexual orientation in the workplace. The results of the study show that homosexual healthcare staff have different perceptions about being open with their sexual orientation towards work colleagues. There are occasions where the healthcare staff have experienced negative attitudes among colleagues towards homosexuality. But for the most part the healthcare staff have a positive perception of being open with their sexual orientation to work colleagues. / Samhällets heteronorm leder till att många homosexuella personer inte vågar vara öppna med sin sexuella läggning på arbetsplatsen. Sjukvården i Sverige har fått kritik då det finns ett generellt antagande hos vårdpersonal att patienter är heterosexuella. Till följd av det har homosexuella patienter fått ett bristande bemötande av vårdpersonal. Studiens syfte är att studera homosexuell vårdpersonals uppfattning av organisationens inverkan på inkludering utifrån sexuell läggning. Syftet är även att studera vårdpersonals uppfattning om att vara öppen med sin sexuella läggning för kollegor samt hur arbetsplatsens normer påverkar homosexuell vårdpersonals öppenhet med sin sexuella läggning för kollegor. Med hjälp av kvalitativa intervjuer med homosexuell vårdpersonal kan studiens syfte besvaras. Heteronormen är inget nytt fenomen och påverkar fortfarande samhället idag. Dock är samhället inte lika heteronormativt som förr. Trots att förändringar har skett arbetar inte alla organisationer aktivt med inkludering utifrån sexuell läggning på arbetsplatser. Inkluderingsarbete kan anses viktigt då tidigare forskning visar att många homosexuella inte vågar vara öppna med sin sexuella läggning på arbetsplatsen. Studiens resultat visar att homosexuell vårdpersonal har olika uppfattningar om att vara öppen med sin sexuella läggning för kollegor. Det finns enstaka tillfällen då vårdpersonal upplevt negativa attityder från kollegor på grund av homosexualiteten. Men för det mesta har vårdpersonalen en positiv uppfattning om att vara öppen med sin sexuella läggning för kollegor.

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Thesis (M.G.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Sociology and Gerontology, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 64-68).