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Thesis (M. A. (Clinical Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / The South African constitution makes provision for the rights of gays and lesbians, and has legalized same-sex relationships. However, many people, including students in same-sex relationships continue to be harassed and maltreated. The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of first entering students towards same-sex relationships at the University of Limpopo. A sample of 100 students (first entering students= 50, final level students = 50; with ages ranging from eighteen to forty five years), with a total number of twenty five (25) students drawn each of the four faculties at the university were selected using a convenience sampling method. Data was collected using the Homophobia Scale comprising of 25 close-ended questions which focus on behavioural, affective and cognitive attitudes towards gays and lesbians. Data were analysed using nominal data analysis and interpreted using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) software. The study results revealed that fifty two percent (52%) of first entering students at the University of Limpopo have negative attitudes towards same-sex relationships with seventy four percent (74%) of first-entering students having no knowledge regarding same-sex relationships. Seventy three percent (73%) of participants behave negatively towards people in same-sex relationships. The study is concluded by recommending that more similar studies that include larger sample of students from different universities and different racial backgrounds be conducted. The results of the study have implications for the University of Limpopo in when it comes to understanding and promoting knowledge about same-sex relationships.

When lesbians, as women divert from social norms and reject the compulsory heterosexual norm, they are either punished through legal systems for transgressing patriarchial structures or not recognised at all. As women, lesbians suffer at the hands of a homophobic society which believs that women have stepped out of line through challenging the hegemonic discourses stipulating that they have specific and distinct roles to play - that of wives, mothers, homemakers and sexual partners to men. Because lesbians do not fit into this construct, their behaviour is socially and legally condemned for diverting from the &quot / natural order&quot / . This study aimed to identify and explore the various ways people construct and perceive lesbians and to reveal how sexuality, as a product of history and culture, determines the ways lesbians are treated in their own communities. This study attempted to explore how, despite the democratic stance of the new constitution, South African lesbians still experience discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation.

Since the current policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was adopted in the early 1990s, several changes have taken place which call into question the policy's validity. Firstly, the argument proponents of the ban use to justify it, namely that cohesion would suffer if admitted homosexuals were allowed to serve, has been undercut by social science analyses on the correlation between cohesion and performance. Their argument has also been undercut by empirical evidence from several nations that have lifted all restrictions on homosexual service, yet have suffered no decrease in cohesion or performance, despite the reticence of their respective militaries to lift the bans. At the same time, the US public has moved toward a greater acceptance of the notion of admitted homosexuals serving in the military, with 79% approving in a December 2003 Gallup Poll, including 91% of all Americans age 18 - 29. Evidence also indicates the current policy costs at least $40 million per year just to replace those who have been discharged due to their sexual orientation. Other costs include wasted human resources at a time of critical shortfalls in many specialties essential to the ongoing Global War on Terror, and the immeasurable cost of sanctioned unjustifiable discrimination by the US Government. The time to lift all restrictions on homosexual service in the US Armed Forces has come. / Major, United States Air Force

A Research Report submitted to the Department of History of Art, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts, 2016 / Statistics indicate that over the past 16 years (since the year 2000), there have been over 30 black lesbians in South Africa, who have been victims of rape (and in some cases, brutal murder as well) as a result of homophobic violence, which is aimed at “curing” lesbians of their homosexuality. The aim of this research report is to examine how activist methods, such as art exhibitions and public performances, are challenging homophobic violence. The report explores the effectiveness of activist artworks (which include public performances and works by South African artists Zanele Mutholi and Gabrielle Le Roux) in raising awareness and educating South Africans about homophobic violence, which is a daily reality for many members of the South African LGBTQ community. For the purpose of this report, the Queer and Trans Art-iculations exhibition, which was held at the Wits Art Museum (WAM) in 2014, is compared to the annual Johannesburg Pride parade of 2012. These events are analysed in terms of their effectiveness in creating awareness about homophobic violence and how they can improve on being more informative and effective in the future. The importance of this research is to add to the existing body of work around art activism as it explores the ways in which activist artists attempt to make social and political change regarding the South African LGBTQ community. / MT2017

M.A. (Clinical Psychology), University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities / In 1996 South Africa was the first country in the world to protect sexual minorities from discrimination in its Constitution. The benefits of a liberal constitution cannot go unacknowledged, however, negotiating lesbian identity within the work context is still a challenge due to the pervasive stigma attached to homosexuality, as well as the remnants of South Africa’s stormy, oppressive political history. Lesbian woman in South Africa grow up in a society which remains predominantly patriarchal and conservatively religious and where the heterosexual assumption, the idea that one is ‘straight’ unless otherwise stated, is continually confirmed and perpetuated in a variety of contexts, including the occupational environment. It is within this setting that lesbian women woman must attempt to negotiate and continually, in varying degrees, and not always by choice, take part in the coming out process in different social spaces. In interviews with seven self-identified lesbian women, the dynamic process of coming out within the occupational environment, was explored in relation to and within relevant cultural, historical, familial and social contexts. All participants had disclosed their sexual identity within the work place, in varying degrees. Key aims of the research were exploring the negotiation of lesbian identity in various occupational contexts as well as identifying strategies used to negotiate the work environment and lesbian identity / MT2017

A presente dissertação apresenta a pesquisa Banheiros públicos como demarcação de fronteiras identitárias: experiências de mulheres lésbicas em São Paulo, investigação que traz uma análise crítica sobre as experiências de mulheres lésbicas nos banheiros públicos em São Paulo. No seu objetivo geral, propôs-se identificar as desigualdades em termos de gênero e sexualidade, enquanto marcadores sociais da diferença, que operam nos banheiros públicos, fazendo uso de uma abordagem interdisciplinar entre os Estudos Culturais, as teorias Feministas, Pós-estruturalistas e Queer. Enquanto objetivo específico, buscou-se aprofundar na análise dos sentidos que as entrevistadas produziam ao narrarem suas experiências, analisando assim categorias conceituais e empíricas como mulher, homem, masculinidade, feminilidade, lésbica expressão de gênero e performance de gênero. A abordagem desses temas se contrapõe à concepção idealizada culturalmente dos banheiros como espaço neutro, no qual sua divisão se acredita dar de forma natural. Argumenta-se, por meio das experiências das entrevistadas, como este espaço opera como um dispositivo protocolar do gênero, em termos de indicar os limites e as fronteiras dos processos identitários entre os sujeitos. Desta forma, a não adequação dos sujeitos aos padrões de homem / mulher gera uma ruptura no sistema heteronormativo, no sentido das expectativas e demandas sociais, e aciona diversas técnicas de poder e controle, tornando o banheiro em mais um cenário normativo de afirmação da diferença sexual. O banheiro público é o local por meio do qual, a diferença sexual vai se afirmar e sustentar, já seja no sentido simbólico (os signos, figuras, representações do masculino e do feminino) ou literal (dispositivos de vigilância e controle que estão dispersos no meio social que instituem modelos de corpos-homem e corpos-mulher). Assim, o banheiro público representa, na sociedade paulista contemporânea, o último bastião do sistema heteronormativo e patriarcal / The present research Public bathrooms as demarcation of identity borders: experiences of lesbian women in São Paulo, provides a critical analysis of the experiences of lesbian women in public toilets in São Paulo. Its general objective was to identify inequalities in terms of gender and sexuality as social markers of difference that operate in public toilets, using an interdisciplinary approach between Cultural Studies, and the Feminist, Post-structuralist and Queer theories. As a specific objective, we sought to deepen the analysis of the meanings the interviewees produced in narrating their experiences, thus analyzing conceptual and empirical categories such as woman, man, masculinity, femininity, lesbian, gender expression and gender performance. The approach to these themes runs counter to the culturally idealized conception of the bathrooms as a neutral space, in which their division is believed to be natural. It is argued, through the experiences of the interviewees, that this space operates as a gender device protocol, in terms of indicating the limits and the boundaries of the identity processes between the subjects. As such, the non-adaptation of the subjects to the standards of man/ woman generates a rupture in the heteronormative system, in the sense of expectations and social demands, and triggers several techniques of power and control, making the bathroom another normative scenario of affirmation of sexual difference. The public toilet is the place whereby sexual difference is affirmed and sustained, whether in the symbolic sense (signs, figures, representations of the masculine and the feminine) or literal (devices of surveillance and control which are dispersed in the social environment that establish models of man-bodies and woman-bodies). Thus, the public bathroom represents, in contemporary Paulista society, the last bastion of the heteronormative and patriarchal system

Essa dissertação apresenta resultados da pesquisa Deslenguada: uma figuração da dissidência em val flores, sob orientação do Prof. Dr. Luiz Gonzaga Godoi Trigo, no contexto do mestrado acadêmico em Estudos Culturais, na Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, da Universidade de São Paulo, entre os anos 2016 e 2018. O objeto dessa pesquisa foi a obra Deslenguada: desbordes de una proletária del lenguaje\", publicada na Argentina em 2010 pelas edições Ají de Pollo, por valeria flores, escritora lésbica feminista contemporânea dissidente. Tivemos como objetivo analisar a Deslenguada enquanto figuração, abordando a ideia de uma proletária da linguagem, a fim de reconhecer resistências da dissidência sexual em sua obra. A abordagem teórico-metodológica foi qualitativa e fez uso da Análise do Discurso. Para tal, percorremos os enunciados da resistência e da dissidência. A pesquisa teve caráter exploratório, cujos procedimentos foram a pesquisa bibliográfica e a partir de levantamento de referências teóricas de val flores. Utilizamos coleta de dados da internet, tais como artigos científicos, páginas da web, zines e entrevistas. Para abordar as figurações, passamos inicialmente pelos conhecimentos situados através de autoras como Adrienne Rich (1986), Patricia Hill Collins (1990) e Donna Haraway (1995). O reconhecimento de que a produção literária ou as artes, de maneira geral, estão inseridas numa esfera de disputa (econômica, política e social), produzindo significantes que circulam no imaginário social, nos impulsionou a compreender as maneiras pelas quais estas incidem sobre a produção de subjetividades. Concluímos que a figuração Deslenguada é inscrita como um contraponto, numa produção dissidente e imaginativa, perfurando as políticas heterocapitalista branca e patriarcal, que levam os sujeitos da dissidência sexual aos silenciamentos resultantes da opressão masculina e da heteronormatividade que se atualizam por meio da linguagem / This dissertation presents the outcomes of the research Dislanguaged: a dissidence figuration in val flores, upon the guidance of Professor Luiz Gonzaga Godoi Trigo, for the academic masters degree in Cultural Studies, at the Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, University of São Paulo, between 2016 and 2018. This research object was the book Deslenguada: desbordes de una proletária del lenguaje (Dislanguaged: overflows of a language proletarian), published in Argentina, in 2010, by the publisher Ají de Pollo, by valeria flores, contemporary lesbian dissident feminist writer. Our objective was to analyse the expression Dislanguaged as figuration, approaching the idea of a language proletarian, in order to recognize the sexual dissidence resistance in her oeuvre. The theoretical-methodological approach was qualitative and used the speech analysis and, as for this, weve been through the statements of resistance and dissidence. The research has had an exploratory feature, being the procedures both the bibliographical research and val flores theoretical references survey. Weve used internet data such as scientific articles, web pages, zines and interviews. As to approach the figurations, we first turned to the situated knowledges brought by the authors Adrienne Rich (1986), Patricia Hill Collins (1990) and Donna Haraway (1995). Through the recognition that the literary production is inserted in a dispute realm economical, political and social -, coming up with signifiers that are present on the social imaginary, weve been driven to understand how this falls on the subjectivity production. Weve concluded that the figuration of Dislanguaged is inscribed on an imaginative and unsubmissive production, cracking the white and patriarchy heterocapitalist politics, as a counterpoise that silences the sexual dissidence, resulting from the masculine oppression and the heteronormativity that are updated due the language usage

O objetivo desta pesquisa de doutorado é compreender os distintos significados do que é ser uma professora lésbica no ambiente escolar. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa, e de perspectiva sociológica, que dialoga com estudos nacionais e internacionais já realizados sobre o tema, com base no debate sobre gênero, sexualidades e heteronormatividade. Foram entrevistadas seis professoras da rede pública (estadual ou municipal) de São Paulo, estando elas em atividade em três cidades: São Paulo, Diadema e Praia Grande. A partir de um roteiro semiestruturado, a pesquisa teve por objetivo compreender como essas docentes lidam com essa informação de suas vidas pessoais no ambiente escolar e quais seus principais obstáculos e medos. Os resultados da investigação mostram que, no lugar de uma invisibilidade suposta inicialmente, ganhou destaque a busca de uma visibilidade pedagógica, ou de uma tentativa consciente de construir uma possibilidade de existência legítima no ambiente escolar. Trata-se de um ser e estar na escola como docente que, por si só, traz uma aspiração e uma realização pedagógicas: a de construir uma visibilidade que garanta legitimidade para a existência lésbica. / The purpose of this doctoral research is to understand the different meanings of being a lesbian teacher in the school environment. It is a qualitative research and, of a sociological perspective, it dialogues with national and international studies already carried out on the subject, based on the debate on gender, sexualities and heteronormativity. Six public school teachers (state or municipal) from São Paulo were interviewed while they were teaching in three cities: São Paulo, Diadema and Praia Grande. From a semi-structured script, the research aimed to understand how these teachers deal with this information of their personal lives in the school environment and what your obstacles and fears would be. The results of the research show that, instead of an invisibility, initially supposed, the search for a pedagogical visibility, or a conscious attempt to construct a legitimate possibility of existence in the school environment, was highlighted. Wich means that being in a school as a teatcher, brings, itself, a pedagogical aspiration and a accomplishment: building a visibility that guarantees legitimacy for the lesbian existence.

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar como as relações lésbicas são retratadas nas obras Loving Her e The Color Purple. Ao analisar as relações entre homens/mulheres e mulheres/mulheres, este estudo também revê e critica o golpe triplo sofrido por lésbicas negras, por serem, ao mesmo tempo, mulheres, afro-americanas e homossexuais. Utilizando fatos históricos para situar as obras em um contexto social, além da teoria do lesbian continuum afim de atestar a riqueza e diversidade do laço afetivo entre mulheres, este trabalho vem por desmistificar as noções simplistas em relação à literatura lésbica Afro-Americana, afugentando a sombra que pairava sobre o tabu e elevando a mulher negra, lésbica ou não, a seu lugar de direito na sociedade / The aim of this work is to analyze how lesbian relationships are portrayed in the fictional works Loving Her and The Color Purple. By analyzing the relationships between men/women and women/women depicted in the chosen literary works, this study also revises and criticizes the triple strike suffered by black lesbians for being females, African-Americans and homosexuals. Using historical facts to place the fictional works in a social frame, and using the theory of lesbian continuum to attest the richness and diversity of women bonding, this work demystifies the simplistic notions of African-American lesbian literature, casting away the shadow upon the unspeakable and elevating black women, lesbians or not, to their rightful place in society