Historically non-heterosexual individuals have faced prejudice and discrimination in daily life. Non-heterosexuals experience oppression and discrimination that affect personal development on all levels. An increased awareness of sexual identity development could create more inclusive sexual identity models, better understanding for counselor educators, and better training for counselors on issues of sexual identity. The purpose of this study was to explore the life experiences that influence sexual identity in women who love women. This study required that subjects attach meaning to sexual identity formation. Qualitative research methodologies were used in the study. Participants were selected for this study in a thoughtful and purposeful manner and within specified parameters. Data were collected through two face-to-face interviews with the participants; member checking and peer debriefing offered consistency through the use of a semi-structured interview guide. Phenomenological approach and constant comparison was used for data analysis. From the data collected, four themes emerged: I was Just Different, Information Seeking, View of Self as a Woman Within the Context of Culture, and Contextual Relationships. Findings of this study did not support a stage model of sexual identity development. Instead, this study supported the view that sexual identity is fluid and strongly related to relationships with peer groups. All participants reported that sexual identity formation was a painful process.

Orientador: Fernando Silva Teixeira Filho / Banca: Angela Aparecida Donini / Banca: Leonardo Lemos de Souza / Resumo: No presente trabalho, tenho o objetivo de apresentar um percurso narrativo através das experiências e histórias vividas e compartilhadas por cis-homens gays que assumem e/ou vivenciam suas homossexualidades no município de Cascavel-PR. Nesse percurso, pretendo discutir as experiências e os impactos das diferentes manifestações da homofobia em suas intersecções e tensionamentos com as idiossincrasias que marcam o enredo de cada uma das histórias dos participantes da pesquisa. Para tanto, adoto como referencial teórico os estudos de gênero e feministas que me possibilitam pensar as homossexualidades e a própria vivência da homofobia como fenômenos plurais impossíveis de serem submetidos a categorias universalizantes e essencialistas. Nesse sentido, busco discutir e apresentar a homofobia enquanto um conceito "guarda-chuva". Uma categoria política, conceitual e analítica que possibilita traduzir o cotidiano de violências, mais ou menos explícitas, que constituem e afetam todas as pessoas, e especialmente as pessoas LGBT, margeando e (de)limitando as formas de nos relacionarmos social, política, afetiva e sexualmente. Reconhecendo o caráter localizado, contextualizado, (de)limitado e parcial desse empreendimento de pesquisa e visando alcançar os objetivos traçados adoto como "método-processo de investigação" as narrativas de histórias de vida de seis cis-homens gays, dentre os quais me incluo. Por meio dessa pista metodológica, pude estabelecer uma necessária e indissociável... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This dissertation aims to present a narrative pathway through experiences and stories lived and shared by cisgender gay men that assume and/or live their homosexuality in Cascavel city, Paraná state. In this pathway, I intend to discuss experiences and impacts from the different homophobia manifestations in their intersections and tensions with idiosyncrasies that are remarkable on the story of each participant of this research. For this purpose, I adopt as a theorical reference gender and feminist studies, which allow me to consider homosexualities and the homophobia experience itself as plural phenomena, that are impossible to be submitted to universalising, essentialist and static categories. Therefore, I aim to discuss and present homophobia as an "umbrella" concept, a political, conceptual and analytical category, that allows to render the daily violence, explicit or not, that constitutes and affect all the people, especially LGBT ones, creating margins and delimitating the social, aesthetic, political, affective and sexual ways to relate to each other. Recognizing the localized, (de)limited, contextualized and partial character of this research, I adopted as an "investigation method-process" the life stories narratives of six cisgender gay men, in which I include myself. The choice of this "method-process" was fundamental, since it made possible to be linked to and stablish an approximation with the research participants, both undeniable elements to accomplish the... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

In the following, I want to consider the establishment, stabilisation and semantic weighting of borders of normality as part of the education dispute in Baden-Württemberg. Within the spectrum of the normal, borders require both legitimisation and semantic solidification to obtain societal validity. I will focus on symbolic boundaries, which permeate social order and create hierarchies between groups in society. “Symbolic boundaries are often used to enforce, maintain, normalize, or rationalize social boundaries as exemplified by the use of culture markers in class distinctions […] or cognitive stereotyping in gender inequalities.” (Lamont/Molnár 2002: 186) Such boundaries manifest as part of a society’s social order and entail consequences of in- and exclusion. They cause a classification and aggregation of individuals, which imply social difference and real-world effects for those affected. My analysis explores the question of how symbolic borders are drawn in the aforementioned dispute and how the separation as well as differentiation among two groups – homosexuals and heterosexuals – are constructed and legitimized. For this purpose, I refer to the results of a discourse analysis conducted with newspaper articles about the education dispute in Baden-Württemberg.

Recent studies show that both physical and personality characteristics influence mate choice. Two theories explaining particular mechanisms of mate choice were proposed. Theory of homogamy suggests that individuals prefer partners with similar personality traits as they have. In contrast, theory of complementarity states that people choose mates with opposite personality traits. Main aim of the current study was to test homogamy and complementarity of personality traits in long-term same-sex male couples. The research sample consisted of 40 male homosexuals (mean age 24.2, SD = 4.6) and their long-term partners (mean age 27.4, SD = 5.2). All participants completed anonymous set of questionnaires (NEO-FFI, Spanier's test of dyadic adjustment, questionnaire focused on gender diagnosticy and revised sociosexuality orientation inventory) Each questionnaire was evaluated separately. The individual scores of participants and his partner was compared by correlational analyses. Then, we using a correlation and ANOVA analyses between couples similarity and results of Dyadic Adjustment Scale was tested. Findings showed that greater couple similarity in BMI and weight indicates higher satisfaction in the partnership. The results also showed that homosexual couples were similar in age, occupation, level of...

The aim of the work is the analysis of gay pornography from a gender perspective, which examines the anchoring process of gender and sexual stereotypes and the present opportunity and space for subversion or alternative reading. Particular attention is paid to the question of what role in the design and interpretation of these potentially subversive or affirmative moments plays a transgression of gender stereotypes and norms and related pornographic conventions based on heterosexist sexual dynamics and hierarchies. Furthermore, this work focuses on examining the role as a potential affirmative or parody pornography plays in relation to gay activism and emancipation movement, that focuses on the representation of collective identity and subculture and the structural transformation of these representations in commercially oriented pornography industry across time. For this purpose, the empirical part analysis of randomly selected gay pornographic images of Czech provenance of certain development stages of this genre in our country with a special emphasis on politics displaying protected and / or unprotected sex, and discursive compliance of these policies and their visual representations.

Gays, lesbians,and laws that criminalise homosexuality in Africa have been the subject of heated public debate in recent times.Criminalisation and attempts at re-criminalisation of homosexuality in some African countries have generated a lot of debate on the issue.The central theme in these debates has been the justification and maintenance of sodomy laws, as against the argument for the repeal of these laws because it violates the rights of gays and lesbians. / Mini Dissertation (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa. Prepared under the supervision of Prof. Letitia Van Der Poll, Faculty of Law, University of Western Cape, South Africa. 2010. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

In this thesis, three culturally similar yet distinct Chinese societies, China, Taiwan, and Singapore, are analysed in the context of their (in)tolerance towards homosexuality. Although they share many cultural similarities rooted in Chinese cultural heritage, these three societies are not always socially and politically homogenous. Differences in the political and social systems among the three societies contribute to divergences in social tolerance of homosexuality. Therefore, social tolerance of homosexuality and the social mechanisms behind it are explored in this thesis in order to comprehend the three Chinese societies better. The thesis starts with an introduction to the primary purpose of the research and contextualises homosexuality in historically traditional Chinese culture. It then discerns whether Chinese people are more or less homophobic compared with others on a global scale. Next, through quantitative approaches and under Inglehart’s postmaterialist theoretical framework, the research examines the socioeconomic and sociopolitical heterogeneity among Chinese societies. Overall, the findings confirm that homosexuality is still a form of identity politics in Chinese societies, and political and economic structures profoundly influence the tolerance of homosexuality. Also, Mainland China displays some unusual patterns with respect to the relationship between the economy and the tolerance, which sheds new light on the particularity of Chinese politics. / Graduate

The internalization of heterosexism places lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals at disproportionately higher risks of depression and self-destructive behaviors. For LGB Christians, this phenomenon is often exacerbated. Although literature on heterosexism has increased, little research has examined more insular, religious environments. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Christian denominational religiosity and heterosexism and to compare the degree of religiosity and heterosexism between members of 5 Christian denominations and between same-sex sexuality perspectives in the southern United States. Guided by the attribution theory, a correlational, cross-sectional survey design was used to analyze degree of religiosity and heterosexism among 225 self-identifying Christians as measured by the Religiosity Measure and Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men Scale. A Pearson Correlation revealed a large, positive relationship between religiosity and heterosexism. Two ANOVAs revealed significant differences in degrees of religiosity among denominations and same-sex sexuality perspective, in addition to significant differences in degrees of heterosexism among denominations and same-sex sexuality perspectives. Implications for positive social change center on illuminating the effects of heterosexism in insular environments, which may contribute to the understanding of heterosexist ideology including heteronormative assumptions that are replete throughout the United States, including mental health professions. Moreover, LGB Christians may particularly benefit from understanding the variability and distinctions within denominational religiosity, such that denominational choices become evident and viable options.

It is through the announcement and placement of various identities that one is able to enter into various types of social relations. Identity is a label used to describe a person in a particular situation as being a kind of social object. A person announces his identity and others place him as having this identity on the basis of his appearance. Structural relations have been defined as relations where one may enter by using a title, while interpersonal relations are entered by using a name or nickname. Structural identities place people in categories, while separating them from others in different categories. Names are used to identify an individual and thus, distinguish him from all other individuals. It has been the purpose of this thesis to gain an understanding of an empirical world (gay drinking places) through the application of the theoretical concept of identity as discussed by those in the interactionist perspective. The method of participant observation was used to gather the data for this investigation. The role of "participant-as- observer" was assumed. The observations were conducted in male gay drinking places in an urban area over a period of three months. Both informal and formal interviews were conducted with informants. It was found that in the gay drinking places there are different structural identities which may be announced and placed in order to enter into structural relations. In most situations these structural identities are announced and placed on the basis of appearance. Knowledge of these structural identities allows the exploration of the relations between those presenting a specific structural identity with those presenting the same structural identity and with those presenting different structural identities. While the announcement and placement of identities facilitates interaction, in some cases it may preclude interaction. Additionally, It is suggested that the various gay bars and taverns acquire imputed identities. The subject of identity transformation in the gay drinking places was also investigated. When a person new to the gay subculture is aspiring to the identity of gay regular, he must learn how to announce this identity. Gay drinking places serve as places where the individual may announce his intention of becoming a gay regular and where he may meet others who have the identity to which he is aspiring. In gay drinking places he enters into a coaching relationship with other gay regulars who serve as models for him, teach him how to appear, and define the various situations in which he finds himself. Names and nicknames are used to enter into interpersonal relations with others in the gay drinking places. In the gay drinking places, it was found that while a person's structural identity indicates that the person can be shown to be a specific type of person, it is a person's name or nickname which identifies him as an individual. In interaction, a name brings to mind various situationally relevant elements of biographical information. The biographical information which may be brought to mind is in many cases limited to information accumulated about the person's activities in the gay drinking places because last names are rarely used.

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