Thesis (D. Min.)--Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 185-189).

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009. / Directed by Svi Shapiro; submitted to the Dept. of Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed May 11, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 152-165).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2005. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-142). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Saskatchewan, 2005. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Apr. 26, 2006). Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-117).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Auckland, 2000. / Embargoed until 25 October 2001.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (DTech (Tourism and Hospitality Management)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / Over the last two decades, academic literature, various market research studies, and media reports have widely contributed to the belief that the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) market, and more specifically the gay male sub-segment, display favourable characteristics for the tourism industry. As recently as 2017, gay travel was regarded as one of the fastest-growing markets in the international travel industry. It is thus clear that the importance of this market, whether accurate or not, has been well documented over the years and is well known by the tourism industry; however, despite an increasing trend where tourism destinations promote themselves as ‘gay friendly’ in an attempt to attract gay (homosexual) travellers, a segment of the LGBT travel market, these travellers are perceived to be a homogeneous market segment or a niche market as a result of the assumption that gay men and women lead similar lifestyles and because they are homosexual, indicating that sexual orientation is used as the principal distinguishing characteristic of this population. This assumption is problematic and rather simplistic as it conceals many other important variables, and may hinder effective destination marketing. In order to correctly harness the existing potential within this segment, there is a need to overcome the challenge of correctly understanding and adapting the tourism offering to the preferences and needs of gay travellers; hence this research aimed to develop a typology of gay leisure travellers, by segmenting gay travellers into homogeneous sub-segments in an attempt to contribute to the gap in literature regarding this market’s heterogeneity. A web-based electronic survey was completed by 506 gay travellers, and attribute-based benefit segmentation was carried out by applying a hierarchical cluster analysis using Ward’s procedure with Euclidean distances. The typology is based on the push and pull framework; the motivations of travellers were assessed both in terms of their socio-psychological motivations and destination attributes of Cape Town. A number of conclusions can be drawn from the suggested typology of gay leisure travellers. First, the typology suggests four unique gay travel sub-segments ranging from Passive Relaxers on the one end to Wildlife Explorers, Culinary Enthusiasts/Foodies and Gay-Centric Travellers on the extreme end, which empirically proves that gay travellers are not homogeneous as there are sub-segments of gay travellers with different consumer behaviours. Therefore, these sub-segments may be referred to as niches as individuals within these sub-groups are homogeneous in certain characteristics. Second, there are two sub-segments in which travellers’ behaviour is not influenced by their sexuality, while the sexuality of travellers in the two other sub-segments influences their travel behaviour to varying degrees. Third, there is evidence that the gay traveller is integrating with other larger mainstream market segments and that the literature on gay travel may soon find itself outdated as fewer gay individuals, as the typology shows, base their travel decisions solely on gay-related issues, possibly owing to an increasing societal acceptance of homosexuality and the insignificance of a ‘gay identity’ to many of the post-modern gay generation. Fourth, the typology shows that only a distinct sub-segment, the Gay-Centric Traveller, can be described as a gay tourist and that not all gay travellers or activities by these travellers can be labelled as gay tourism. Fifth, the typology may serve as a framework for relating the destination attributes (pull motivations), to the important push motivations that influence tourist decision making and travel behaviour, and is therefore useful to the destination in developing product and promotional strategies. Consequently, the identified sub-segments, each with its own set of motivations, could help the destination refine its target-marketing strategies and may assist in understanding the different opportunities each sub-segment presents.

Research to date in South Africa has explored the coming out narratives of lesbian and gay people. Most of this research suggests these people experience their parents’ reactions as largely negative. This negativity is attributed to the patriarchal culture and religious beliefs which insist on compulsory heterosexuality that dominate African discourse in South Africa. However, thus far, little work has been done focusing specifically on the perceptions of the parents of lesbian, gay or bisexual offspring, and on the parents’ own coming out about their children’s alternative sexual orientation. In this qualitative study, I explored the lived experiences of black mothers of lesbian, gay or bisexual children from diverse backgrounds with the aim of capturing their own voices and gaining an understanding of their journeys, from the moment that each discovered that her child belongs to a sexual minority to her acceptance of the child’s alternative sexuality. I conducted semi-structured interviews with six black South African mothers of lesbian, gay or bisexual offspring in order to learn about these mothers’ experiences. I analysed the interview transcripts using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. I identified three main themes, namely the mothers’ journeys; responses to the study’s research questions, and other concerns the black mothers still have regarding their lesbian, gay or bisexual offspring. Each main theme was comprised of several sub-themes. In a nutshell, the study shows that in contrast to the assumption that South African black urban communities are hostile spaces with no visible familial support for lesbian, gay or bisexual youth, in reality, there are examples in urban African communities of parental support for members of sexual minorities. Although all the mothers in this study held Christian beliefs, none subscribed to a ‘same-sex attraction is a sin’ discourse. Instead, most of these mothers regarded their children as special gifts from God, and some saw their children’s alternative sexuality as God’s way of teaching them as mothers about unconditional love. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology: Research Consultation)

This study focuses on a group of homosexual men. The group has been defined as 'Queer' based on the value and pride which they place on their difference to the general norms and values of the wider society. Four of these men were interviewed on their moral structure and the way in which they structure their relationships. The study focused on: the nature of the norms this group has developed; the process by which this has occurred; and the psychological effects of this process. It was found that the research participants have developed new norms and behavioural scripts significantly different to those existing generally in society. These new behavioural scripts relate to the socially mandated scripts in various ways with some mandated scripts being rejected, some being adapted and amended and others being inverted. These differences seem to originate from individuals being rejected and stigmatised. The changes these queer men have made were moves to bring a greater sense of congruence between their experience, their morality and their behavioural scripts. The initial period of divergence between the socially mandated behavioural scripts and their sexual behaviour was marked by psychological distress while the move to greater congruence between behaviour and behavioural scripts was characterised by increased psychological empowerment and sense of self-worth. The study also showed that during these processes other differences developed between the way these individuals act in their world and the general norm of society. These differences included a greater self-awareness; an increased ability to operate at a meta-level; a conscious effort to create the life that one wants; differences in gender behaviour which incorporated behavioural aspects of both genders and new forms of establishing and maintaining relationships. Homosexuality is an historic opportunity to open up new relational and affective potentialities, not in virtue of qualities intrinsic to the homosexual, but because of the position of the homosexual 'offcenter', somehow, together with the diagonal lines which the homosexual can draw through the social fabric, makes it possible to bring to light these potentialities - a famous homosexual Queer (M. Foucault) / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Orientadora: Regiane Regina Ribeiro / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Parana, Setor de Artes, Comunicação e Design, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Comunicação. Defesa: Curitiba, 24/04/2017 / Inclui referências : f. 121-130 / Resumo: Este estudo tem por objetivo investigar como se dá o processo de gestão da diversidade sexual na comunicação organizacional, através de uma análise de representações sociais de quatro narrativas ficcionais LGBT presentes no manual "Construindo a igualdade de oportunidades no mundo do trabalho: combatendo a homo-lesbo-transfobia". O manual, desenvolvido em parceria pela OIT, PNUD e UNAIDS - agências da Organização das Nações Unidas -, apresenta diretrizes que as organizações brasileiras podem aderir no trato das sexualidades periféricas, trazendo histórias de quatro personagens que têm problemáticas e vivências em seu ambiente de trabalho associadas a estigma e preconceito sexual. Dessa forma, através de uma análise dos sentidos que tais representações suscitam neste manual, situa-se a sexualidade como uma categoria histórica e processo simbólico que é ornamentada segundo jogos de poder, também, das organizações. Partindo da noção de dispositivo da sexualidade em Foucault (1980), da abordagem teórica metodológica ancorada na teoria das representações (Moscovici, 1978) e no emprego da técnica Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo (Lefèvre e Lefèvre, 2005). Observou-se que os sentidos de diversidade as quais estas representações evocam culminam em um reconhecimento identitário mais próximo da lógica da produtividade e dos resultados organizacionais, do que de uma valorização das estéticas e vivências LGBT, estando a comunicação organizacional neste local ocupando um papel de reguladora dessas sexualidades. Demonstra-se, nessa gestão da sexualidade, uma estreita ligação com estratégias de comunicação organizacional - neste caso o storytelling - que partilham de uma nova visibilidade a essas minorias, mas que terminam por naturalizar, em certa medida, uma representação cultural ainda genérica e ancorada em núcleos de significação heterocentrados e hegemônicos, bem como de uma valorização da diversidade que captura as subjetividades LGBTs em uma lógica de consumo. Propõe-se assim uma reflexão acerca das perspectivas da comunicação organizacional enquanto gestora e reguladora dessas significações. Palavras-chave: Comunicação organizacional; Representações sociais; LGBTs; Diversidade. / Abstract: This study aims to investigate the sexual diversity management process in organizational communication, through an analysis of social representations of four LGBT fictional narratives presented in the manual "Construindo a igualdade de oportunidades no mundo do trabalho: combatendo a homo-lesbo-transfobia". The manual developed in partnership by OIT, PNUD and UNAIDS - agencies of United Nations Organizations - presents guidelines that Brazilian organizations can adhere in the peripheral sexuality treatment, bringing four characters stories who have problems and experiences in their work environment associated with sexual stigma and prejudice. Thus, through a meaning analysis that such representations elicit in this manual, sexuality is placed as a historical category and symbolic process that is decorated according power games, also, of organizations. From the Foucault (1980) sexuality device notion, the methodological theoretical approach anchored in the theory of representations (Moscovici, 1978) and in the Collective Subject Discourse technique use (Lefèvre e Lefèvre, 2005). It was observed that the diversity meanings that these representations evoke culminate in an identity recognition that is closer to the productive logic and organizational results, than to a LGBT aesthetics and experiences valuation, and organizational communication in this place occupying a regulating role of these sexualities. From this sexuality management, a close connection with organizational communication strategies - in this case storytelling - that share a new visibility to those minorities, but which end up naturalizing, to some extent, a cultural representation still generic and anchored in meaning heterocentered and hegemonic nuclei, as well as a diversity valuation that captures LGBTs subjectivities in a logical consumption. It is proposed a reflection about the organizational communication perspectives as manager and regulatory of these significations. Keywords: Organizational communication, Social representations, LGBTs, Diversity