African Americans who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) are discriminated against in the African American community. Sociodemographics such as income, education, age, and religion/spirituality have been shown to be associated with sexual prejudice. There is limited research on how African American cultural attitudes influence attitudes towards sexual orientation. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which demographic variables and African American cultural attitudes (measured by the African American Acculturation Scale-Revised; AAAS-R) predict attitudes toward sexual orientation in African American adults (measured by the Attitudes towards Lesbians and Gay Men Scale; ATLG). Social identity theory (SIT) was used to describe how group affiliation influences attitudes. A sample of African Americans who were 18 years or older (n = 236) completed the questionnaires online. Stepwise multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relative importance of demographics and cultural attitudes in predicting attitudes towards homosexuals and lesbians. The results of the study indicated that religious affiliation and religious beliefs and practices were statistically significant in predicting attitudes towards both homosexual and lesbian individuals. These findings suggest that individuals who identify as Christians and have stronger religious beliefs and practices are more likely to have negative attitudes towards lesbians and gay men. These results lend support to efforts to create programs to educate people about cultural misconceptions of the African American GLBT community and to encourage spiritual leaders to promote efforts support to them.

By using the creative process as a means to reflect this work delves into the themes of memory and identity as they relate to my struggle, as an adolescent, to define my sexual orientation.

This paper seeks to explore the development of attachments in humans as seen through Bowlby's (1980) attachment theory. Components of the theory which focus on how attachments are formed and how they influence future behavior are explored. These are used to then examine how attachment theory applies to the attachment patterns seen in homosexual males.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-87). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2001. / Title from PDF title page (viewed Jan. 9, 2005). Includes bibliographical references (p. 52-54).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-87). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2009. / Submitted to the Dept. of Professional and Community Leadership. Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 0 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

It has long been a tool of the LGBTQ rights movement to loudly proclaim and own one’s sexual orientation label. However, there is a new generation of young sexual minorities who feel a label is no longer necessary. Are these no-labelers headed in the right direction? Or are they hurting the fight for LGBTQ equality? / text

African Americans who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) are discriminated against in the African American community. Sociodemographics such as income, education, age, and religion/spirituality have been shown to be associated with sexual prejudice. There is limited research on how African American cultural attitudes influence attitudes towards sexual orientation. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which demographic variables and African American cultural attitudes (measured by the African American Acculturation Scale-Revised; AAAS-R) predict attitudes toward sexual orientation in African American adults (measured by the Attitudes towards Lesbians and Gay Men Scale; ATLG). Social identity theory (SIT) was used to describe how group affiliation influences attitudes. A sample of African Americans who were 18 years or older (n = 236) completed the questionnaires online. Stepwise multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relative importance of demographics and cultural attitudes in predicting attitudes towards homosexuals and lesbians. The results of the study indicated that religious affiliation and religious beliefs and practices were statistically significant in predicting attitudes towards both homosexual and lesbian individuals. These findings suggest that individuals who identify as Christians and have stronger religious beliefs and practices are more likely to have negative attitudes towards lesbians and gay men. These results lend support to efforts to create programs to educate people about cultural misconceptions of the African American GLBT community and to encourage spiritual leaders to promote efforts support to them.

This dissertation examines the relationship between gender and language in Japanese through the often ignored lens of sexuality. Although linguists are increasingly examining these issues for American gay, lesbian, and bisexual speakers, little similar research has been done in Japan. Lesbians, in particular, are relatively invisible in Japanese society. Examining these women, who do not fit neatly into the hegemonic gender ideology, illuminates how speakers can project a specific identity by displaying or rejecting prescriptive gender-specific linguistic norms of Japanese.I analyzed data recorded from interviews with both Japanese lesbian/bisexual and heterosexual women, looking for differences in frequency and range of use of pronouns and sentence-final particles and for phonetic differences in terms of average pitch height and width. I also considered the results of a perception experiment undertaken to investigate the effect of pitch height and width on Japanese speakers' perceptions of sexuality.Although Japanese speakers were generally unable to identify a cohesive lesbian stereotype, especially in terms of language use, the perception experiment indicated that both average pitch height and width significantly affect judgments on whether a voice sounds lesbian or heterosexual. Tokens judged to be lesbian were also judged to be more masculine and less emotional than those judged to be heterosexual. Analysis of the interview data showed that lesbian participants produced an average pitch height that was significantly lower than that of heterosexual participants. In terms of gendered morphemes, lesbians were significantly more likely to use masculine morphemes than heterosexual women, both for sentence-final particles and first-person pronouns, and were significantly less likely to use the feminine first-person pronoun <italic>atashi</italic>. Finally, correlations showed that speakers who instantiate gender through the use of gendered-morphemes also do so through manipulations of pitch.Although Japanese lesbians are still fairly closeted and interviewees maintained that there are no cultural stereotypes for this group, significant differences in pitch and gendered-morpheme usage were still apparent. These lesbian/bisexual women did not appear to be mimicking men's language, but instead seemed to be rejecting hegemonic femininity and many of the cultural and linguistic stereotypes that accompany it.