Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons^™

Ici-Bas!, Nicholas A. Koloian

Student Publications

High school student Moses King isn't a goody two-shoes, but the bully Samuel doesn't understand (or care) about this fact. In this story written by Nicholas Koloian, Moses finds his retribution through his bold friend, Henry, who must overcome his own problems in a tale exploring race, sexuality, and high school bullying.

Hablo Por Mi Disidengia / I Speak For My Dissidence, Lars Eddie

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Si el proceso de este proyecto tuviera un tema, sería la evolución (¿o tal vez que yo estaba equivocado?). Estaba equivocado acerca de tantas cosas- supuestos que yo había hecho sobre Chile, sobre la gente con la que me reuniría, sobre cómo iría el proyecto. Sobre conceptos básicos en los que originalmente basé mi proyecto. Aprendí cosas que yo no sabía que no sabía.

Hablo por mi disidencia empezó en la intersección de dos de mis intereses, el manifestarse y el arte, y me trajó a través del feminismo, el colonialismo, la academia, las políticas del cuerpo, el clasismo, la …

“Archival Of The Fittest: The Role Of Archives In Constructing Public Memory Of Queer History”, Brooks Hosfeld

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

IHLIA LGBT Heritage, an LGBTI-specific archive housed in Amsterdam, is moving beyond traditionally-introverted roles of an archive by putting on an exhibit about the past 40 years of LGBT activism in the Netherlands. The archive alone contributes to public awareness of queer history, and the exhibit, With Pride, gives a heightened platform for select gay narratives from the collections. The subjects on display, as well as the goals and decisions that selected them, reflect which narratives are included in historical memory and deemed palatable to the public.

“So What Are You?:” Nepali Third Gender Women’S Identities And Experiences Through The Lens Of Human Rights Development Discourse, Amit Gerstein

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Nepal is the site of many national and international human rights development measures focused on the country’s gender and sexual minorities (SGM). Given the significant impact those development efforts have on SGM and Nepali society, national and international development actors need to understand the identities and experiences of the populations they attempt to help. Performed in Kathmandu and Bharatpur, this study attempts to understand the identities used by third gender women and if those identities are reflected in development discourse. Furthermore, this research seeks to understand the life experiences of these women and the discriminations they face, a reflection on …

Lgbti+ Language And Understandings In Nepal: Creating Spaces And Forging Identities, Patrick Sonnenberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The 1990 Nepali Constitution opened up opportunities for many forms of activism, and identity groups thus began solidifying to advocate for social change and justice (Karki 2012). After the Nepali Supreme Court ruling in 2007, Nepal became one of the first countries to offer a third gender category “Other,” becoming a leader for human rights in South Asia and the world (Mahato 2017). As Coyle and Boyce (2013) point out, there is little research on LGBTI individuals in Nepal. Furthermore, they advocate for more research and closer work with gender and sexual minority individuals in Nepal.

This research attempts to …

Something Old, Something New: Historicizing Same-Sex Marriage Within Ongoing Struggles Over African Marriage In South Africa, Michael W. Yarbrough

Publications and Research

This article examines contemporary struggles over same-sex marriage in the daily lives of black lesbian- and gay-identified South Africans. Based primarily on 21 in-depth interviews with such South Africans drawn from a larger project on post-apartheid South African marriage, the author argues that their current struggles for relationship recognition share much in common with contemporaneous struggles of their heterosexual counterparts, and that these commonalities reflect ongoing tensions between more extended-family and more dyadic understandings of African marriage. The increasing influence of dyadic understandings of marriage, and of associated ideals of romantic love, has helped inspire same-sex marriage claims and, in …

Speech Delivered At Tupelo Pride 2018, J. M. Benson Hill

Queer Mississippi (Complete Collection)

A speech delivered by J. M. Benson Hill at the first Tupelo Pride Festival, September 6, 2018 at Fairpark.

Benson Hill is an attorney in Tupelo, Mississippi. He is a 2018 graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law.

Young And Unafraid: Queer Criminology's Unbounded Potential, Vanessa R. Panfil

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Queer criminology, a fairly young subfield, deals with matters of import for sexual and gender minorities, particularly LGBTQ+ populations. Areas of interest include reducing invisibility and inequity, though these pursuits can sometimes be accompanied with potential pitfalls or unintended consequences. This article provides an overview of the goals and considerations of queer criminology, while focusing on how to cultivate queer criminology's unbounded potential to help address pressing social problems. Several global issues of immediate concern for LGBTQ+ people are identified, such as criminalization and devaluation of their lives, which has resulted in their detainment and torture, persecution when they organize …

Feeling As Knowing: Trans Phenomenology And Epistemic Justice, B. Lee Aultman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a critical intervention into the literatures on epistemic and phenomenological claims about trans experiences, and embodied knowledge more generally. It also addresses the conception of ordinary affects, or feelings of self-adjustment in everyday life, and their political implications for trans people. Traditional literatures on the political tend to avoid questions of embodiment and the experiences of everyday life in favor of institutional interpretations of courts, elections, and protest movements. This has become particularly true of scholarship on trans politics and theories of ordinary life. These literatures often reduce political movements to their presumed universal intentions for constitutional …

Harmony, Dissonance, Or Harm? The Psychological And Spiritual Promises And Perils Of Gay Christian Celibacy, Darren Jay Freeman-Coppadge

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Identity conflicts between sexuality and spirituality faced by religious lesbian and gay people have been described in literature, along with various methods to resolve such conflicts, including sexual orientation change efforts and identity integration. But a dearth of literature exists regarding celibacy as a means of resolving identity conflict. This study employed grounded theory to investigate the psychological and spiritual wellbeing of 12 current and former gay Christian celibates (GCCs). Results revealed how celibacy could harmonize sexuality and Christian spirituality, benefiting some celibates by providing them peace, satisfaction, and spiritual vibrancy. However, for many others, celibacy instigated dissonance between their …

That's So Gay!: Queer Texts In The U.S., Jesse S. Rice-Evans, Andrea Stella

Open Educational Resources

Gender is facing an identity crisis: queer identities in the new era of gender and genre are subverting paradigms of communication and genre by working with language and narrative in new ways. Queer biography and autobiography mark an important turn in contemporary literature and poetics: the shift from a male-dominant gaze towards a kaleidoscopic perspective on queer embodiment, trans and non-binary narrative, and speculative writing about other worlds & possibilities, which offer us as readers new opportunities for storytelling and thinking about writing. These forms also make space for other identities traditionally excluded from mainstream cultural narrative spaces, and we’re …

That's So Gay!: Queer Texts In The U.S., Andréa Stella, Jesse Rice-Evans

Open Educational Resources

Gender is facing an identity crisis: queer identities in the new era of gender and genre are subverting paradigms of communication and genre by working with language and narrative in new ways. Queer biography and autobiography mark an important turn in contemporary literature and poetics: the shift from a male-dominant gaze towards a kaleidoscopic perspective on queer embodiment, trans and non-binary narrative, and speculative writing about other worlds & possibilities, which offer us as readers new opportunities for storytelling and thinking about writing. These forms also make space for other identities traditionally excluded from mainstream cultural narrative spaces, and we’re …

"We Just Treat Everyone The Same": Lgbtq Aquatic Management Strategies, Barriers And Implementation, Austin R. Anderson, Eric Knee, William D. Ramos, Tiffany Monique Quash

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

This study examined the management of aquatic venues in a number of areas (facilities, programming, human resource management, marketing, policies) as it pertains to LGBTQ participants and participation. The study utilized in-depth semi-structured interviews with 16 aquatic managers to examine steps that are currently being taken (or lack thereof) when it comes to creating environments that are perceived to be open, or closed, to LGBTQ participants. A grounded theory-based process of data collection and analysis resulted in emergent themes. These themes included: (a) gendered spaces, (b) non-aquatic initiatives, (c) staff knowledgeability, (d) departmental and organizational mission, (e) aquatic-specific programming and …

“Dyrne Langað”: Secret Longing And Homo-Amory In Beowulf And J.R.R. Tolkien’S The Lord Of The Rings, Christopher Vaccaro

Journal of Tolkien Research

“‘Dyrne Langað’: Secret Longing and Homo-amory in Beowulf and J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings” investigates the close “homoamorous” relationship between Frodo and Samwise, employing a close reading of select passages from the eighth-century English poem, Beowulf. The argument begins with a clarification of terms. Afterwards, it focuses upon the cruces related to a key scene involving Beowulf’s departure and compares the intensity of the unspoken love Hroðgar has for Beowulf to the love Sam has for Frodo at the Grey Havens. Ultimately, the essay argues for a new way of reading both departure scenes.

Toward Culturally Competent Archival (Re)Description Of Marginalized Histories, Annie Tang, Dorothy Berry, Kelly Bolding, Rachel E. Winston

Library Presentations, Posters, and Audiovisual Materials

Influenced by the radical archives movement, panelists discuss their (re)processing projects for which they wrote or rewrote descriptions in culturally competent approaches. Their case studies include materials regarding underrepresented peoples and historically oppressed groups who are marginalized from or maligned in the archival record. Targeted to processors, this session aims to teach participants to apply their cultural competencies in writing finding aids through an introduction to cultural competency framework, the case study examples, and a short audience-participation exercise.

Creating Herstory: Female Rebellion In Arundhati Roy’S "The God Of Small Things" And "The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness", Priyanka Tewari

Theses and Dissertations

In The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness novels, the author Arundhati Roy is not only attempting to give feminist weight to the multiplicity of locations in which gender is articulated by recasting her female characters in their quest for selfhood, she is also focusing on women and women-identified characters as agents of history, thereby contributing to an ongoing project of feminist historiography.

Queering Sexual Health: The Intersection Of Sexual Health And Lgbtq Identities In Worcester, Ma, Sara Richman Davidow

Sustainability and Social Justice

This research examined what support, services, and programming existed at the intersection of sexual health and LGBTQ identities in Worcester MA. The data analyzed were interviews with professionals in sexual health or LGBTQ related fields as well as the public websites of sexual health or LGBTQ organizations. The researcher examined this data, along with literature on the rise of sexual health and LGBTQ communities, to understand (1) how inclusive sexual health resources in Worcester were and (2) what themes still need to be addressed to make gender and sexuality minorities comfortable seeking sexual health medical aid. The findings indicated that …

Correlates Of Not Using Antiretroviral Therapy Among Transwomen Living With Hiv: The Unique Role Of Personal Competence, Richard A. Crosby, Laura F. Salazar, Brandon J. Hill

Health, Behavior & Society Faculty Publications

Purpose: This study tested three psychosocial measures for their potential to serve as counseling goals for promoting ART to transgender women living with HIV (TWLH).

Methods: Among 69 TWLH, 17.4% were not taking ART; these volunteers were compared to the remainder using multivariate regression analyses.

Results: Only one psychosocial measure achieved significance: Personal Competence (Adjusted Odds Ratio = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.67–0.97, P = 0.02). Because this was a continuous measure, assessed on a 7-point scale, the protective adjusted odds ratio of 0.80 represents a 20% reduction in the odds of not taking ART for each unit of increase …

A Case Study: Inclusion Of Student-Athletes Who Identify As Sexual Minority At An Ncaa Division I Institution, Megan Turk

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In comparison to heterosexual counterparts, sexual minority student-athletes are two times more likely to experience harassment, more negative climates, report feeling deliberately ignored or excluded from team actives and are subjected to orientation-based derogatory marks via electronic means (Rankin & Merson, 2012). This particular population is 2-3 times more likely to experience anxiety and depression, nearly 14% will attempt suicide or acts of self-harm, and are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol (Cunningham, 2015). Non-inclusive climates negatively affect academic and athletic performance (Wolf-Wendel, Bajaj, & Spriggs, 2008; Turk, & Stokowski, 2016; Cunningham, 2015). The Athletic Equality Index (AEI) measures …

A Conversation With Keith Plummer

LGBTQ Alumni Oral History Project

This conversation represents an oral history interview with a Holy Cross alum who graduated in 2017.