En France, dans une société hétéronormative à domination masculine, quelles représentations les mères lesbiennes ont-elles du genre et de la socialisation de genre de leurs enfants ? L’hypothèse principale qui sous-tend la recherche est que la position particulière des lesbiennes dans le système du genre – à la fois dominées et transfuges de la classe des femmes – leur permet un point de vue critique des normes dominantes et les prédispose à transmettre des modèles qui remettent en cause l’ordre du genre. Dans un contexte français d’institutionnalisation progressive de l’homoparentalité marqué par un débat public très houleux (2012-2013), 36 entretiens semi-directifs longs ont été réalisés entre 2011 et 2014 avec des femmes lesbiennes ayant des enfants de moins de douze ans conçus en contexte lesboparental. Malgré une certaine homogénéité des profils qui classent les enquêtées parmi les catégories sociales privilégiées, on constate une hétérogénéité des représentations et des pratiques pour composer avec les normes dominantes. Les mères lesbiennes rencontrées me semblent être des « résistantes ordinaires » à la domination : sans adhésion idéologique aux normes qui les assujettissent, elles sont animées d’une volonté d’intégration. Pragmatiques dans leur lecture du contexte et du contrat social, elles sont attentives à se préserver et à préserver leur famille des effets de l’homophobie. Elles déploient leur résistance du côté de l’infrapolitique pour repousser les limites établies par le cadre contraignant. / In the French heteronormative, male dominated society, what are French lesbian mothers’ representations of gender, and specifically of their children’s gender socialization? The main hypothesis is that being dominated as women and sex-class transfuges at the same time, lesbians have a particular position within the gender system, allowing them a critical point of view on the dominant norms. They are thus predisposed to transmit to their children gender models that challenge the gender system. In France, the gradual institutionalization of homosexual parenting is accompanied with a heated public debate (especially in 2012 and 2013). This research is primarily based on semi-structured interviews conducted between 2011 and 2014. The 36 interviewees are lesbian women with children under 12 years old, conceived within the frame of lesbian parenting. Despite the homogeneity of their social positions (middle and upper class), the interviewees have heterogeneous representations of the dominant norms. They also develop different sets of practices to face these norms. These lesbian mothers seem to develop ordinary forms of resistance to domination. While they show no ideological endorsement to heterosexist norms, they express a real will to be integrated within society. They interpret the context and social contract in a pragmatic way, and seek to protect themselves and their families from the effects of homophobia. Their resistance is mainly infra-political: pushing against the established limits of a framework that restricts them.

Syftet med den här studien är att synliggöra sexuellt våld som sker i lesbiska relationer. Med en kvalitativ ansats ligger ett fokus på lesbiska kvinnors upplevelse och erfarenhet av sexuellt våld i en tidigare samkönad relation. Datainsamlingen har skett i form av fem semistrukturerade intervjuer med lesbiska kvinnor som utsatts för sexuellt våld i en tidigare lesbisk relation. Empirin analyseras utifrån teoretiska ramverk och begrepp.Resultaten i studien indikerar att det sexuella våldet är internaliserat bland lesbiska offer och utgör en del av andra former av våld. Det förekom psykisk ohälsa hos förövaren. Uppbrottsperioden för de lesbiska offren var långvarig och samtliga deltagare sökte professionellt stöd. Samtliga offer hade psykisk ohälsa som ett resultat av att ha utsatts för kronisk misshandel. Dessa resultat är viktiga för fortsatt forskning inom samkönat våld för att kunna synliggöra det osynliga. / The aim of this study is to visualise sexual violence in lesbian relationships. With a qualitative approach there is a focus on lesbian women’s experience of violence from a previous same-sex relationship. Data collection has been undertaken by five semi-structured interviews with lesbian women who have been exposed to sexual violence in a previous relationship. Theoretical frame works and terms will be utilized to analyse the empirical material. The results in this study indicate how the sexual violence is internalized by lesbian victims, thus hard to vocalize. Further to this, sexual violence is only one by many different forms of violence. The perpetrator show signs of mental health problems. The break up period was a long struggle for the victims and all of the victims had mental health problems as a result of long term abuse which they sought professional help for. These findings are pivotal for further research regarding same-sex violence in order to visualize the invisible.

Contemporary music analysts have generally downplayed the relevance of composer intent, a dismissal which ignores the potential for an enhanced expressive context afforded by composers' own assessments and also contributes to the silencing of already othered voices, such as in the case of queer and trans composers. Allowing the trans composer a voice in the reading of their work affirms the integral part of the trans experience that is self-determination. Over time, this project to tell trans stories evolved into a series of vignette-like analyses of trans composers’ works in which I use a methodology that incorporates the voices of living composers while building on and modifying the work of music theorists and queer theorists, and moving queer musicology towards a new trans musicology that includes non-binary genders. This thesis demonstrates my theoretical framework using interviews of six transgender composers to supplement my analyses of their works. By analyzing the work with the added context of the composer’s statements about their own music, my analyses paint more nuanced and complete pictures of the work that reinvest music analysis with the trans voice behind the composition.

The purpose of this exploratory case study was to explore and describe how two gay male parents transitioned to parenthood. The Family Adjustment and Adaptation Response (FAAR) theoretical model was used as the theoretical framework for understanding the experiences of the two participants in the study. The study also used an interpretivist paradigm and explorative case study design. The participants were purposely selected, and the data were generated by means of a semi-structured interview. The findings indicate that the participants experienced similar resistance from their families of origin after ‘coming out’ to them. The ability of one of the participants to become a parent was questioned. The participants in the study, like most couples, considered various factors such as their financial situation and their medical aid benefits before they decided to become parents. They also had to consider their pathway to parenthood, which in their case was adoption. The participants faced many challenges during the adoption process such as finding a country that allowed gay men to adopt, having limited adoption options due to changes in the law, and trying to get paternity leave. They reported that as parents they felt marginalised by the school system and also by having to deal with insensitive and uncomfortable questions from members of society about their family identity. Their children also experienced bullying at school. They were, however, able to establish a strong family and felt fulfilled in their role as parents. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

The concept of “family” has rapidly changed over the past few years. The prevalence of more and more children raised in same-gendered families has brought to mind the question of disclosure. This qualitative case study explored the disclosure practices of adolescents raised in same-gendered families in an attempt to understand how adolescents negotiate their unique family structure throughout their daily lives. The data in this study was analysed using thematic content analysis. It was found that both positive and negative experiences influence the adolescents raised in samegendered families decision to disclose and that disclosure of family structure usually takes place after careful negotiation based on the grounds of either a close relationship, common ground or a perceived urgency. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

Thesis (Ph. D. (Psychology)) --University of Limpopo, 2019 / South African has constitutional protection for the human rights of all its citizens. However, black lesbians in South Africa suffer physical, emotional and psychological abuse. This qualitative study aimed to elicit the social and emotional experiences of black lesbians living, as same-sex partners, in a township setting. The design of the study was exploratory in nature and used a purposive sample of ten couples (twenty women). The investigation was underpinned by Social domain theory (SDT) which allowed for an understanding of the judgements people make in different social settings. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with each couple in order to collect data. The data were analysed using thematic content analysis (TCA) which gleaned ten themes namely, age and sexual orientation, suicide, education, lack of support, hate crimes, substance abuse, stigma, mental health, parenting and discrimination. In the discussion it was found that these themes echoed those in other local and international studies. However, corrective rape is peculiar to South Africa and was experienced by some participants in the study. In one case a brother, with the mother’s support raped his sister repeatedly. This took place in a country which has a progressive constitution and laws. Social norms in the township allows black lesbian couples to suffer this type of abuse and have daily experiences of discrimination and stigmatisation. Recommendations included a quantitative more far reaching study (as well as longitudinal studies) and more workshops and campaigns spreading knowledge about sexuality.

Master of Arts - Arts / This MA dissertation uses “queer theory” to read existing literary texts and to inform the riting of new fictional works. In the opening literary-critical essay, which functions as an ntroduction to queer theory, I give an overview of its development and conceptual formation, then go on to demonstrate how it may provide useful and fruitful readings of a writer such as William Burroughs. The central and longest section of this dissertation is a group of short fictions that engage with queer theory, using some of its insights to generate investigations of sexuality, power, social relations, and to inspire formal experiments in keeping with the spirit of queer theory. In conclusion, I look back upon this group of short fictional texts and link them to the issues raised in the essay on Burroughs and queer theory.

Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / The research project is based on the belief that Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender (LGBT) people have specific information needs and interests that public libraries should cater for. The philosophical literature of public libraries states that they have to cater for all sectors of their diverse communities without discrimination. The aim of the research study was to gauge if Cape Town’s library and information services (LIS) include gay and lesbian materials in their collection development policies and procedures. It also aimed at finding out if City of Cape Town Library and Information Services (COCTLIS) provide for the information needs of their gay and lesbian users in their provision of information services. The research problem and the review of literature led to the following research questions: • Do the gay and lesbian library user community constitute a special user group with particular information and reading needs? • If it is accepted that public libraries have a responsibility for the special information and reading needs of gay and lesbian library users, how do they cater for these needs? • How do South African public libraries, specifically the City of Cape Town Library and Information Services (COCTLIS), provide for these needs with their collections and their information services? • Are the public library staffs aware of the UNESCO principles in terms of LIS services for gay and lesbian library users? The first two research questions were answered by means of a review of the theoretical and professional literature. The last two questions were answered by analysis of COCTLIS collection development procedures and policy and a questionnaire survey of library staff. A survey was conducted among librarians in charge of collection development in the COCTLIS libraries early in 2009, collecting data by means of a structured questionnaire. The sample comprised 69 libraries of the total 100, with an even spread across the six city library districts and including a mix of “types” of library (regional and community). The findings of the research study echo the agreement found in the literature that the provision of library services to LGBT people is inadequate. City of Cape Town collection development policy does not have any explicit mention of the LGBT user group. The major finding of the survey is an evident gap between stated beliefs and actual practices. The majority of respondents agree that public library collections should cater for LGBT people but in fact they buy very few books or magazines oriented to gays and lesbians. And only 55% indicate that they do consciously consider the needs of gays and lesbians in their book selection. The information services to gays and lesbians appear to be rather thin. For example, less than 10% include gay and lesbian oriented information in their community information files and only 37% display gay and lesbian oriented information on their community notice boards. The study provides some evidence that practices might differ according to size and position of library. The research study hopes to make a difference in the provision of gays and lesbians in the City of Cape Libraries. It also hopes to remind librarians of the mandate they have to develop their collections to reflect diversity.

This thesis raises the question to what extent remains lesbian identity relevant as a stigma in the Czech Republic. The theoretical part shows how sexuality and homosexuality in particular is influenced and shaped by society. I draw predominantly from scientific texts of foreign origin and for information relating to the Czech Republic I draw from Czech resources. My approach to the study of sexuality is constructivist. The research part of my study I drew from the analysis of semi-structured interviews with lesbian women. Initially, I offered an insight on what it means to be lesbian by the bearers of lesbian identities themselves. In the central part of my study, I explained in what context and why are the lesbian identities usually experienced as a stigma. As part of everyday life lesbian identity manifests itself as a stigma especially when a lesbian did not come out and treats her own identity as a stigma herself. By doing so she brings tension into interactions, especially with people who she is closer with, because she constantly deals with the control of information about her lesbian identity. Dissimulation of lesbian identity gets even harder in case that she is in relationship with a woman. Such a thing is necessarily connected with closeting the relationship, which makes it difficult for the...

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / Democratic South Africa was based on a constitution that is meant to have democratic values that promote human dignity and non-discrimination. Such democratic values were put in place to ensure that the human rights violations that took place in apartheid South Africa would not take place again and that everyone, especially those previously oppressed are treated with respect and dignity. Despite the guaranteed human rights that are supposed to apply to everyone, lesbians and other members of the LGBT community still face discrimination because of their sexual orientation. Nell and Shaprito (2011, p12) point out that “in stark contrast with constitutional guarantees of freedom and human rights for all, research indicates that homophobic victimization is an endemic part of the South African landscape”.