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No / While terrorism has become a major topic of discussion and analysis in the academy and in the policy making of Australian institutions, it rarely affects the everyday life of Australian citizens. Yet for some groups, in terrorem is a way of life¿particularly for those whose lives are performed under social and political spotlights. At the core of the limitations imposed on certain groups in Australia is the use of language to police the behaviours of these groups, and to create a social environment that makes the hiding one¿s identity the most effective mechanism to avoid terror. In this paper, I analyse the linguistic themes and forms used in hate violence as way to illustrate the impact of in terrorem on gay men, lesbians and Jews, and suggest alternative means by which to regulate the harm caused by vilification.

<p>The purpose of this paper is to see how differences are handled in preschools, with a focus on children with homo- or bisexual parents. By doing this we wanted to see how the conditions for a child with homo- or bisexual parents looks like, in order to have their family conditions mirrored, confirmed and visualised in the preschool.</p><p>The foundation for the discussion is a questionaire which has been answered by 229 preschool workers from 24 different preschools in the City of Stockholm. The result of the questionaire has been handled in a statistics program. Our analysis is based on the statistical numbers and the written replies to the open questions in the questionaire.</p><p>As a theoretical starting point we have used Iris Marion Young’s ideas about how our society is coloured by an ideal of similarity that defines liberation as the transcendence of group difference, where the dominant group cannot see how their perspective is just one of several perspectives. Furthermore, we use Tiina Rosenberg’s thoughts on the two main principles of heteronormativity and her focus on the sexed and sexual norms from which we organize our assumptions about our sex, sexuality and family. We also use Ann Runfors’ experiences of how differences are turned in to similarities when immigrant background is dealt with in the Swedish school.</p><p>Our results show that the nuclear family is still the norm when speaking about family in preschools and that the knowledge concerning children with homo- and bisexual parents is slight. Many of the informants believe that differences are best dealt with by treatin all children equally. A great number of the informants assume that giving attention to the rainbow children contributes to inequality and a negative distinction of the child as different. There are also informants that request more knowledge on the subject to be able to treat children and parents in an inclusive way.</p><p>We believe that differences have a social significance, which is why we are convinced that preschools ought to become aware of how the heterosexual norm is being reproduced. By reflecting on society’s norms and values, the preschools would be able to help the rainbow child to be proud of its family and in this way counteract heterosexism.</p> / <p>Syftet med detta utredningsarbete är att se hur olikheter hanteras på förskolan, med fokus på barn med homo- eller bisexuella föräldrar. Genom detta ville vi se hur förutsättningarna för ett barn med homo- eller bisexuella föräldrar ser ut för att få sin familjesituation speglad, bekräftad och synliggjord på förskolan.</p><p>Underlaget för diskussionen är en enkät som besvarats av 229 personer som arbetar på 24 olika förskolor inom Stockholm stad. Resultaten från enkäten har hanterats i statistikprogram. Vi baserar vår analys på de statistiska uppgifterna och de skrivna kommentarerna till de öppna frågorna i enkäten.</p><p>Som en av våra teoretiska utgångspunkter har vi använt oss av Iris Marion Youngs idéer om hur vårt samhälle är färgat av ett likhetsideal, där den priviligerade gruppen inte kan se att deras föreställningar om hur saker och ting är bara är ett av flera perspektiv. En annan utgångspunkt är Tiina Rosenbergs tankar om heteronormativitetens två bärande principer och det fokus hon lägger på de könade och sexuella normerna utifrån vilka vi organiserar våra föreställningar om kön, sexualitet och familjebildning. Vi använder oss också av Ann Runfors erfarenheter av hur olikhet görs till likheter när invandrarskap hanteras i den svenska skolan.</p><p>Våra resultat visar att kärnfamiljen fortfarande är norm då förskolorna talar om familj och att kunskapen om barn med homo- och bisexuella föräldrar inte är stor. Många informanter menar att olikhet bäst hanteras genom likabehandling av alla barn. Informanterna uppfattar i stor utsträckning att uppmärksamhet på regnbågsbarnen bidrar till ojämlikhet och ett negativt särskiljande av barnet som annorlunda. Det finns även informanter i materialet som efterfrågar mer kunskap för att kunna bemöta barn och föräldrar på ett inkluderande sätt.</p><p>Vi menar att olikheter har social betydelse. Det är därför förskolan bör, genom reflektion över hur samhällets normer och värderingar ser ut, bli medvetna om hur heteronormen reproduceras på förskolan för att kunna hjälpa regnbågsbarnet att känna stolthet över sin familj och att för att på så sätt motverka heterosexism.</p>

Many of us have grown up hearing or using words meant as insults or negative adjectives that were in fact names for social groups. Most of them have gone unquestioned in the mainstream consciousness, but the term Gay in the generally negative meaning has in the past years been given attention as offensive and homophobic, with debates emerging in response over whether or not this is true, particularly on the internet. It is the articles and forum threads from these debates that make out the empirical material for a qualitative study as I ask what these people’s thoughts are about this term and how it is perceived. After a qualitative coding and analysis of these texts, and interpretation of the results based on Erving Goffman’s theory of Phantom acceptance and stigma terms, Judith Butler’s theory of performativity, Ferdinand de Sassure’s theory of signifier and signified and how it connects to the community and Baudrillards theory of simulacra, this is the principal conclusion that I have drawn: For some of the people in this debate, the term Gay and its use is about homophobia and heterosexism, though mostly it’s not overt but a subconscious part of the continued dehumanization and stigmatization of homo- and bisexual people. This is a position I call The socially focused skepticism. Others distance themselves from this idea, talking about language development, the lack of inherent meaning of words and freedom of expression. Using Baudrillard for guidance, I interpret this as having a different, more abstract view of language than those who connect the term to heterosexism, and with this focus on language I name this position The language centered defense. Yet another group frame their reasoning about the term in compromise, preferring to limit their use of it to certain contexts rather than disposing the habit entirely or risk causing offense. To these people, whether or not the word is homophobic is less relevant to the discussion than showing respect for how it can be perceived, which gives their position the name The compromising position.

The purpose of this paper is to see how differences are handled in preschools, with a focus on children with homo- or bisexual parents. By doing this we wanted to see how the conditions for a child with homo- or bisexual parents looks like, in order to have their family conditions mirrored, confirmed and visualised in the preschool. The foundation for the discussion is a questionaire which has been answered by 229 preschool workers from 24 different preschools in the City of Stockholm. The result of the questionaire has been handled in a statistics program. Our analysis is based on the statistical numbers and the written replies to the open questions in the questionaire. As a theoretical starting point we have used Iris Marion Young’s ideas about how our society is coloured by an ideal of similarity that defines liberation as the transcendence of group difference, where the dominant group cannot see how their perspective is just one of several perspectives. Furthermore, we use Tiina Rosenberg’s thoughts on the two main principles of heteronormativity and her focus on the sexed and sexual norms from which we organize our assumptions about our sex, sexuality and family. We also use Ann Runfors’ experiences of how differences are turned in to similarities when immigrant background is dealt with in the Swedish school. Our results show that the nuclear family is still the norm when speaking about family in preschools and that the knowledge concerning children with homo- and bisexual parents is slight. Many of the informants believe that differences are best dealt with by treatin all children equally. A great number of the informants assume that giving attention to the rainbow children contributes to inequality and a negative distinction of the child as different. There are also informants that request more knowledge on the subject to be able to treat children and parents in an inclusive way. We believe that differences have a social significance, which is why we are convinced that preschools ought to become aware of how the heterosexual norm is being reproduced. By reflecting on society’s norms and values, the preschools would be able to help the rainbow child to be proud of its family and in this way counteract heterosexism. / Syftet med detta utredningsarbete är att se hur olikheter hanteras på förskolan, med fokus på barn med homo- eller bisexuella föräldrar. Genom detta ville vi se hur förutsättningarna för ett barn med homo- eller bisexuella föräldrar ser ut för att få sin familjesituation speglad, bekräftad och synliggjord på förskolan. Underlaget för diskussionen är en enkät som besvarats av 229 personer som arbetar på 24 olika förskolor inom Stockholm stad. Resultaten från enkäten har hanterats i statistikprogram. Vi baserar vår analys på de statistiska uppgifterna och de skrivna kommentarerna till de öppna frågorna i enkäten. Som en av våra teoretiska utgångspunkter har vi använt oss av Iris Marion Youngs idéer om hur vårt samhälle är färgat av ett likhetsideal, där den priviligerade gruppen inte kan se att deras föreställningar om hur saker och ting är bara är ett av flera perspektiv. En annan utgångspunkt är Tiina Rosenbergs tankar om heteronormativitetens två bärande principer och det fokus hon lägger på de könade och sexuella normerna utifrån vilka vi organiserar våra föreställningar om kön, sexualitet och familjebildning. Vi använder oss också av Ann Runfors erfarenheter av hur olikhet görs till likheter när invandrarskap hanteras i den svenska skolan. Våra resultat visar att kärnfamiljen fortfarande är norm då förskolorna talar om familj och att kunskapen om barn med homo- och bisexuella föräldrar inte är stor. Många informanter menar att olikhet bäst hanteras genom likabehandling av alla barn. Informanterna uppfattar i stor utsträckning att uppmärksamhet på regnbågsbarnen bidrar till ojämlikhet och ett negativt särskiljande av barnet som annorlunda. Det finns även informanter i materialet som efterfrågar mer kunskap för att kunna bemöta barn och föräldrar på ett inkluderande sätt. Vi menar att olikheter har social betydelse. Det är därför förskolan bör, genom reflektion över hur samhällets normer och värderingar ser ut, bli medvetna om hur heteronormen reproduceras på förskolan för att kunna hjälpa regnbågsbarnet att känna stolthet över sin familj och att för att på så sätt motverka heterosexism.

Det existerar flertalet föreställningar kopplat till homo- och bisexuella kvinnor och våld som menar att icke heterosexuella kvinnor inte utsätts för partnervåld eller att våldet inte skulle vara lika allvarligt som mäns våld mot kvinnor. Bristen på forskning inom ämnet skapar ett kunskapsglapp inom professionen som kan bidra med sämre förutsättningar att ge adekvat stöd till de hjälpsökande. Studien fokuserar på arbetet med våldsutsatta kvinnor i samkönade parrelationer, definierat från professionellas perspektiv. Syftet är att beskriva hur hjälpinsatser för homo- och bisexuella våldsutsatta kvinnor utformas samt hur normativa föreställning kring partnervåld och relationer påverkar detta. Ämnet utforskas genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer med praktiker inom området och materialet analyseras genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys med stöd av queerteori. Av resultatet framgår att det finns en bristande medvetenhet hos praktikerna och att ett behov av konstant självreflektion i arbetet är nödvändigt i kombination med ökad kunskap i form av fortsatt forskning och utveckling av arbetet inom de verksamheter som möter våldsutsatta kvinnor i samkönade parrelationer. / <p>2019-01-17</p>

Social psychology researchers have become increasingly interested in the role of essentialist beliefs in predicting attitudes toward social groups. However, there is little agreement about what the term actually means, whether it means different things for different groups, what endorsement of essentialism (or its sub-components) means for attitudes, and how much this varies depending on the relevant social context. This underlying lack of clarity helps to explain some of the difficulty in understanding the relationships between essentialist beliefs about sexual orientation and attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. In the current project, I suggest a fundamental shift in the approach to this issue. Specifically, I examine the effects of essentialist beliefs related to gender (rather than essentialist beliefs related to sexual orientation) on heterosexist attitudes. In study one, I explore the interrelationships among gender- and sexual orientation-related beliefs and attitudes toward gays, revealing that essentialist beliefs about gender are more consistent and unitary in their relationship to heterosexism than the sexual-orientation related analogues. In my second study, I demonstrate a causal link by manipulating essentialist beliefs about gender. Increasing the salience of gender essentialist beliefs produced higher heterosexism scores relative to decreasing the salience of such beliefs. Taken together, these studies demonstrate the interconnectedness of sexism and the gender hierarchy with heterosexism and discrimination against gays. More importantly, study two forecasts a possible intervention strategy for reducing anti-gay prejudice.

This research provides an ethnographic and phenomenological study of how lesbian and gay educators in Western Australia employed adaptive rituals of conformity and nonconformity within their educational culture. This thesis depended on these educators telling their own story and it became a more complex study of their perception of and adaptation to homophobic distancing and repression. Through private interviews and collaboration with the co-participants in the research the study makes sense of the roles lesbian and gay educators enact in the educational culture in Western Australia around the time of Law Reform in 2002. The study is not an historical account but presents data from a specific historical context as a contribution to knowledge of how lesbian and gay educators view themselves and construct themselves in educational settings. The stories of everyday experience of Western Australian lesbian and gay educators present layers of gestured meanings, symbolic processes, cultural codes and contested sexuality and gender ideologies thereby reconstructing the reality of lesbian and gay educators. The research provides a range of embodied narratives and distinctive counter-narratives experienced by this group of educators in Western Australia. The study demonstrates that there are social practices in schooling that assist in the recognition and construction of their own gender identity even though the law in Western Australia at the time of writing, precluded the public promotion of lesbian and gay activities, and by association, silenced what many take to be their preferred mode of public behaviours. More importantly the study maps the extremely subtle processes involved in generating and expressing homophobia resulting in a sense of double invisibility, a constitutive silencing of personhood, which makes even the identification of rituals problematic. The very different stories reveal various interpretive strategies of belonging to the dominant homophobic culture, furthering our understanding of the contemporary identity formation issues of a hitherto invisible and silenced group of educators.

This study examines the experiences of public library staff who works in an LGBTQ-profiled children’s library. The aim of the study is further to find out whether the library as an institution can challenge heteronormativity or if traditional gender identities are reproduced. I have conducted five qualitative interviews with librarians who all work in the same library, and who all work with children to some extent. The interview material is analyzed with queer theory and norm critical theories of pedagogy. These perspectives wish to critically examine heteronormativity and change what is defined as normal. The result of the study shows that the way the library works with separate rainbow shelves, where LGBTQ-themed material is gathered, is pointing out LGBTQ as something different. And although it may also shed a light on a group formerly made invisible, it is reproducing traditional gender identities and leaves heteronormativity unquestioned. By contrast, the way the librarians are working with always including LGBTQ-materials in programming as storytimes and book presentations, is challenging the dominant position of heterosexuality. It is also shown that the way the library staff has developed their written and oral communication with the patrons, including using the gender neutral pronomina ”hen” and alternatives to ”mom and dad”, is increasing the possibilities of an inclusive reception in the library. The oral communication is for various reasons not always used though. In conclusion the interviews show that the librarians are positive to working with LGBTQ-issues although they sometimes tend to forget. The study further concludes that the library’s way of working with LGBTQ-issues is both reproducing traditional gender identities, and challenging heteronormative structures. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.

Στην παρούσα εργασία παρουσιάζεται η ποιοτική προσέγγιση των συνεντεύξεων, τριών Ελλήνων ομοφυλόφιλων ατόμων, που ζουν και εργάζονται στην Ελλάδα, της 29χρονης Kacy, του 28χρονου Μανόλη και της 32χρονης Μάρθας. Η έρευνά μας εστιάζει στο αν οι νέοι ομοφυλόφιλοι στην Ελλάδα, αντιμετωπίζουν συμπεριφορές και στάσεις διάκρισης στον εκπαιδευτικό, τον επαγγελματικό χώρο καθώς και την κοινωνική ζωή και πώς αυτή η κατάσταση είναι σε θέση να επηρεάσει την ταυτότητα και τη ζωή αυτών των ατόμων. Τα αποτελέσματα των συνεντεύξεων αναλύονται και περιγράφονται σε έξι βασικές ενότητες με σκοπό την πιο σαφή και εύστοχη επεξεργασία των δεδομένων καθώς και την πιο κατάλληλη τοποθέτησή τους στο χώρο και το χρόνο: 1. Συνειδητοποίηση διαφορετικότητας-η εμπειρία της οικογένειας, 2. διαμόρφωση προσωπικότητας -η εμπειρία του σχολείου, 3. Πρώτες ερωτικές σχέσεις-η εμπειρία του πανεπιστημίου, 4. Η επίδραση της ομοφυλοφιλίας στο μορφωτικό επίπεδο και τις επαγγελματικές επιλογές, 5. Επαγγελματική σταδιοδρομία-η εμπειρία διάκρισης στην εργασία και 6. Η «ιδανική» ζωή. Η επεξεργασία των απαντήσεων των τριών συμμετεχόντων ακολουθεί χρονικά την πορεία της ζωής τους (παιδί, έφηβος, ενήλικας), γιατί θεωρήσαμε σημαντικό να φανεί πώς η διαφοροποίηση της αλληλεπίδρασης στη σχέση του εκάστοτε εξωγενούς περιβάλλοντος με την εκάστοτε ηλικιακή φάση του κάθε ομοφυλόφιλου ατόμου, επηρέασε τα στάδια ωρίμανσής του, καθώς και όλες τις πτυχές της προσωπικής και κοινωνικής ζωής τους. / This paper presents a qualitative approach of the interviews of three Greeks homosexuals, living and working in Greece, 29 year old Kacy, 28 year old Manolis and 32 year old Martha. Our research focuses on whether the young homosexuals in Greece, face anti-gay behaviors and attitudes in education, the workplace and social life and how this state is able to influence the identity and lives of these people. The results of the interviews were categorized into the following basic six sections for a more explicit and targeted processing data and a more appropriate position in space and time: 1. Awareness of diversity-the family experience, 2. Personality shaping- experience of school, 3. Raw sexual relations-the experience of university, 4. The effect of homosexuality in educational attainment and occupational choices, 5. Career experience-discrimination at work and 6. The “ideal” life. The processing of the responses of three participants follows the course of their life (child, teen, adult), because we considered important to reflect on how the modulation of the interaction in the relationship of each exogenous environment with their particular age phase of every gay person, influenced the stages of maturation, as well as all aspects of personal and social life.