Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Elaine M. Johannes / The life-span theoretical framework contends that development occurs throughout the entire life-span and that experiences at one stage of life influence later development (Baltes, 1987). With this in mind, the present studies explore the developmental experiences of gender and sexual minority (GSM) individuals as they make the transition to adulthood. The first study found that overall, there were no major differences in GSM emerging adults’ perceptions of this developmental stage when measured using the Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA). The second study situated group identification as a process of identity development and found that identifying with the GSM community was a protective factor for GSM emerging adults. Higher attributions to prejudice were associated with increases in well-being when explained through group identification even though the direct effect was negative. The final study found that, similarly to their heterosexual and cisgender peers, GSM individuals’ self-esteem develops in quadratic fashion over the transition to adulthood and that perceptions of familial understanding in adolescence was significantly associated with both the initial level and the rate of change of self-esteem for this population. Implications for further research are discussed.

This project examines “positive change” with regard to queer/LGBTTITQetc. education-activism in Vancouver, British Columbia directed at building what has been described as “queer-friendly schools” through the development and implementation of policy, as well as activist work connected to those efforts. I employ elements of autoethnography and participatory research by documenting and analyzing my education-activist work in this context and that of others with whom I have done this work. I situate this project within the broader context of the education system and queer/LGBTTITQetc. education-activist efforts in British Columbia. In the process, I problematize what is meant by or capable of activism and “positive change.” As demonstrated in the literature review, various understandings of sexuality, gender, activism, educational leadership, and “positive change” are available to inform queer/LGBTTITQetc. education-activism. This thesis examines how these understandings sit in tension with the practicalities, limitations, and contradictions of activist engagement at the school district level of a complex, politicized public school system. My engagement with the literature, documentation of the practical work, and exploration of a number of guiding questions with the project’s participants comprise the bulk of this project. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

Research has shown lesbian and gay (LG) corporate leaders are likely to experience issues in advancement and authority in the workplace. However, little is known about how LG leaders experience these issues, and how their experiences influence their careers and organizations. This qualitative multiple-case study explored the advancement and authority experiences of 12 gay male corporate leaders using a constructivist paradigm. The theoretical foundation used Tajfel and Turner's social identity theory and Fassinger, Shullman, and Stevenson's affirmative lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender leadership model. The conceptual framework included stereotypes, discrimination, sexual identity disclosure, corporate culture, and sociopolitical culture. Research questions included how LG corporate leaders experienced advancement and authority and how their experiences influenced their careers. A qualitative research design and a holistic multiple-case study approach were employed. Data analysis included descriptive, in vivo, and concept coding. Codes were grouped into categories and categories into overarching themes. Findings indicated gay corporate leaders experienced challenges, although they can be overcome through ability, dedication, and informed decisions. Additional research should be conducted in lesbian, bisexual, and transgender populations and in younger populations. Creating a positive corporate culture where everyone has a voice, acceptance is communicated, and different viewpoints are appreciated is critical for LG employee achievement, and both LG individuals and organizations are likely to benefit through improved employee commitment and corporate productivity.

Much of the literature on lesbian relationships links the positive feminine relational trait (intimacy or communion) with problems of psychological merger (Burch, 1982, 1985; Decker, 1984; Elise, 1986; Krestan and Bepko, 1980). Karpel (1976), describes psychological merger as a person's "state of ernbeddedness in and undifferentiation within, the relational context" (p. 67) . This study explores the femininity/masculinity sex role traits as they relate to psychological merger in lesbian couples. Thirty-eight lesbian couples were recruited through friendship and acquaintance networks, newsletter announcements and direct solicitation of members of the Portland Lesbian Community Project (LCP). Couples had to have been living together in a primary relationship for one year or longer in order to qualify for the study.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in the United States won a significant civil rights battle when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in 2015, and a majority of Americans now support same-sex marriage and accept homosexuality (PewResearch 2016a). However, notable conflict between the LBGT community and individuals and organized religion remains, as evidenced by the United Methodist Church’s ruling in April 2017 that the recent consecration of a lesbian bishop violated church law. According to UMC doctrine, homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching” (Goodstein 2017). The choice to continue participating in religious organizations whose formal policies, structures, and doctrines challenge the overlapping identities of “Christian” and lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender is one that merits sociological inquiry. For some non-heterosexual Christians, a third identity enters the picture – that of ordained clergy. This third identity intensifies the salience of the first two; a Christian clergy person follows their religious beliefs and practices to a full-time vocation, and the increased scrutiny and expectations of clergy can shine an uncomfortable spotlight on issues of sexuality. To examine the “incompatibility” between homosexuality and Christianity, this study investigates the integration of homosexual and Christian identities at the micro level, among gay and lesbian Episcopal clergy. While such persons possess a gay or lesbian sexual identity, they also embody the institutional church as ordained clergy. Examining their processes of integrating homosexual and Christian identities provides a deeper understanding of the larger social conflict between homosexuality and Christianity; and because of their unique position vis a vis religion and sexuality, the experiences of gay and lesbian clergy can also reveal important information about the strategies and practices utilized by individuals as they attempt to transform religious institutions. This thesis asks how gay and lesbian Episcopal clergy reconcile and maintain their religious and sexual identities, and what strategies of religious agency they demonstrate as they work for a more just and inclusive church.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This paper will be discussing gay and lesbian activism in Indianapolis during the 1980s and how the mayoral administration at the time interacted with it. We know the stories of Stonewall and San Francisco. But what about gay and lesbian activism in the Midwest? What stories does Indianapolis have to tell? This thesis will cover how a portion of the movement played out in Indianapolis. It will shine a light on the 1980s and look specifically at police discrimination on Monument Circle, gatherings like the Gay Knights rallies and the 1990 Celebration on the Circle, and political efforts to combat the HIV epidemic. It will also explore the local actions by city government to undertake the urban renewal movement and how those efforts interacted with queer activism. Collections from the Indiana Historical Society, University of Indianapolis, and the Indiana State Library illuminate both sides of the social conflict to understand what made this moment in Indianapolis a touchstone moment for the city. This thesis argues that gay and lesbian protests and social gatherings on Monument Circle rendered the queer community impossible to ignore in the Hudnut administration’s dreams to reform Indianapolis into an entrepreneurial city.

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Using surveys and interviews with Mississippi Christians, this study provides a more complete understanding of Christians’ beliefs and attitudes toward homosexuality and gay and lesbian civil rights. I analyze how Mississippi Christians make sense of their relationships with gay and lesbian friends and family members and how this differs based on their religious identity. I then consider how these beliefs and attitudes are influenced by social contact with gays and lesbians. I find Mississippi Christians’ views toward homosexuality and gay and lesbian civil rights vary widely from rejection to acceptance. The most conservative views are held by evangelical Protestants who set themselves apart from society through their beliefs about homosexuality. They feel that homosexuality is always sinful and describe almost complete opposition to gay and lesbian civil rights. On the contrary, mainline Protestants continue to move towards full assimilation with secular society. Many believe the Bible does not say anything about homosexuality and that the church should be accepting of gays and lesbians. Mainline Protestants also largely support gay and lesbian civil rights. Catholics fall in the middle of the continuum. They describe a greater degree of ambivalence about the sinfulness of homosexuality and describe conditional acceptance of gay and lesbian civil rights. Social contact with gays and lesbians did not influence evangelical Protestants beliefs and attitudes toward homosexuality or gay and lesbian civil rights. Similarly, conservative Catholics continued to hold on to their more conservative religious beliefs about homosexuality despite social contact. Conservative Christians’ subcultural identity which stands in opposition to homosexuality is stronger than the effects of social contact for evangelical Protestants and conservative Catholics. On the other hand, social contact is often a strong enough influence to change beliefs and attitudes toward homosexuality and gay and lesbian civil rights for mainline Protestants and more liberal Catholics. This study demonstrates that conservative religion acts as a negative feature that deters the positive benefits of social contact to overcome prejudice.

Lesbians have historically lived in obscurity and isolation because living outwardly as a lesbian carried with it the almost certain loss of social standing, family, and friends (Blando, 2001). For lesbians who grew up in the Deep South, isolation and the pressure to conform was greater than anywhere in the United States (Barton, 2010). Most Deep Southerners were homophobic, especially in rural areas where people were deeply religious and had little exposure to sexual minorities. The researcher used a qualitative phenomenological approach to explore the meaning and significance of growing up lesbian in the rural Deep South. The sample included 12 Caucasian lesbians, ages 45 to 62. Four clusters of themes emerged from the interviews. Those clusters were: (1) emerging sexuality, (2) the mark of fatal difference, (3) denial of lesbian identity, and (4) conforming to Deep Southern social mores. Themes within those clusters described how delays in both lesbian identity development (Cass, 1984) and psychosocial development (Erikson, 1975) occurred in each of the participants because of the intensely religious and homophobic environments in which they were raised. Denunciation of participants' personal identities began with the first expressions of their sexual identities in elementary school. Ridiculed at a young age because of attractions to girls, participants cycled back through developmental crises involving shame, doubt, and inferiority. They entered adolescence disturbed about their developing sexualities, to discover that parents and faith-based communities were homophobic. Therefore, at the time when participants faced the most critical developmental crises of their lives (Erikson, 1975), they feared rejection by their parents, communities, and God. Participants sought to suppress or deny their lesbianism. Suppression of lesbian identity came with emotional and developmental costs, including substance abuse, unwanted marriages, and role confusion. Unable to find needed resources and role models, participants conformed to the social mores of the rural community for periods ranging from five to twenty years. Eventually, each participant in this study left her rural origins to begin claiming her lesbian identity. Retrospectively, each woman recognized that in the era in which they grew up, communities in the rural Deep South demanded conformity and resisted allowing members to individuate. Thus, participants in this study entered adulthood, and sometimes middle age, with a number of unresolved developmental crises, particularly as those crises related to sexual orientation.

Queerness as a quality has a permanent fluidity. Videogames as a medium are continually evolving and advancing. Thus, queer games have a vast potential as an art form and research subject. While there is already a wealth of knowledge surrounding queer games my contribution takes the form of both research paper and creative endeavor. I created a game by interpreting the queer elements present in games research. My game reflects the trends and qualities present in contemporary queer games, such as critiques on empathy and alternative game-making programs. This paper details what research inspired elements of my game as well as how those elements compare to other queer games.