Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Rovelto, Hope, Dakota Desantis

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Hope Rovelto’s oral history offers a compelling narrative of her experiences as a queer person, illustrating her journey of self-discovery, relationships, and dedication to activism. Growing up in a Catholic family, she encountered difficulties in reconciling her queer identity with her family's expectations, particularly those of her father. Nevertheless, Hope embraced her identity and turned her challenges into activism, advocating for issues such as abortion rights, gun control, Black Lives Matter, and prison reform. Her screen-printing business in Portland, Little Chair Printing, acts as a center for her advocacy, providing support to LGBTQ+ and minority-owned businesses through discounts and partnerships …

Hendricks, Kaycee, Katlyn Marcin

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Kaycee Hendricks (she/her) is a 33-year-old media professional born and raised in South Portland. She discusses the intersection of personal identity, sexuality, and community. Hendricks was raised in a close-knit, two-parent household, with a mother and father and younger brother. She developed a strong bond with her father as they shared an interest in photography. She completed an Associate’s degree at Southern Maine Community College and earned a BA from Emerson College in Boston, with a final semester in Los Angeles. Hendricks was inspired to move to Los Angeles after graduating to work within the media industry. Her professional journey …

Shearman, Patricia, Larisa Filippov

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

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Pat Shearman is a 75 year old lesbian currently living in Norway, ME. Although she was born in Waterville, she has lived in other places around the country such as Massachusetts and Ohio. Born to an American Baptist minister, Pat eventually distanced herself from religion as a college student despite her father’s liberal attitude. Years later, she began going to church again, and now identifies as a Unitarian Universalist. Pat was very involved in multiple types of activism during and after college, including antiwar activism and women’s rights activism. Although she does not march anymore, Pat is still politically …

Cardoza, Janice, Silvio Morales

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Janice Cardoza is a 73-year-old lesbian woman from Norway, Maine. She has lived in many places around New England and went to college in Boston, at the University of Massachusetts. She is a quiet woman and the youngest in the 3-child family. Cardoza grew up in a Catholic household but, as she matured, became disillusioned with the Catholic church and religion. She considers herself a Unitarian Universalist and attends a church in Norway, though she describes her relationship as more spiritual than religious. She met her wife at The Underground bar in Portland 40 years ago and they’ve been inseparable …

Moore, Raminta, Alex Kuvaja

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Ramona Moore is a first generation Lithuanian-American immigrant in her 40’s. She works as the Arts & Culture librarian at the Portland Public Library on Monument Square in downtown Portland, ME. During this interview, she discusses themes of coming out, representation, and her work experience at the library. The beginning of the interview focuses more heavily on her personal experiences as a young lesbian growing up in the 1990’s. She explores her own experiences with her sexuality, representation of queer people in her generation, the importance of having role models, and ends talking about coming out. She has worked at …

Hanson, Scott, Joel Kerins

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Scott Hanson is a 62 year old gay man originally from North Conway, NH who now lives in Topsham, ME. Hanson moved from North Conway to New York City at 18 to study art. Hanson later moved to Portland, ME in 1983 where he discovered the local gay community. Hanson’s interview highlights the Portland of the 80’s and 90’s, notably many LGBTQ bars that have long been closed.

Hanson’s story highlights his journey of sobriety that started in 1985 and how he found support outside of the bars, most notably in the local AA community of North Conway. Hanson’s story …

Emery, Kasie, Madison Strout

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Kasie Emery (they/them) is a 31-year-old, asexual, non-binary individual who discovered their asexual identity during their college years and discovered their non-binary identity a few years later. Emery has experienced many instances of asexual erasure in queer communities and speaks on the differences in the perceptions of their gender identity vs their sexual identity both in and out of LGBTQ+ spaces. They emphasize that discovering aspects of identity and self-expression is non-linear and how experimentation has been important in the learning process for them.

Throughout the interview, Emery displays their passion for queer representation in the media, describing LGBTQ+ characters …

Danvers-Kidman, Bre, Eddy Dakota

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Bre Danvers-Kidman is a queer, transmasculine non-binary individual currently living in Saco, Maine, and raised in Rhode Island. They attended Loyola University in Chicago. They go in depth about their experiences growing up as a queer person, including being outed at a young age, dealing with mental health struggles, and finding community through organizations like M.E.S.H. and the burlesque scene in Portland, Maine.

Bre also discusses running for the U.S. Senate in 2020 in Maine as the first non-binary candidate to run for that office, as well as their current role as the development director at MaineTransNet, a transgender advocacy …

Lyon, Lex, Oliver Eaton

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Lex Lyon is a 48 year old queer transgender man living in Portland, Maine. He is a multilingual language learner teacher and was a leader of the Welcoming and Safe Schools Youth Conference. Lyon speaks about the course of his life, identifying different ways and finding joy in different queer scenes. He transitioned during his teaching career, teaching middle schoolers. He has a strong passion for music and has good memories of the Michigan Women’s Music Festival. One of his role models is Nicole Maines, a transgender activist who stood up for herself at a very young age. Lyon recalls …

Patrick, Michelle, Julia Scavello

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Michelle Patrick is a 60-year-old lesbian woman born in Bethesda Maryland, but who mostly grew up in Washington D.C. Metro area. Patrick came out as a lesbian at age 15 in the late 1970s. Her mother initially reacted negatively but later became an advocate for her after a tragic accident. Patrick, who was openly gay in high school and college, faced some challenges but also found support from teachers and peers. She discusses the bar scene in Washington D.C and her experiences sneaking into some of them underage. She was involved in political activism from a young age. Moving to …

Munderback, Lisa, Noam Albion

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Lisa Munderback is a 68 year old lesbian who grew up in Pleasant Valley, New York and is currently married to her wife, Susan. Having grown up a Christian, Munderback attended seminary school with the intent on becoming a pastor, however after graduating decided not to. After being involved with a Jewish woman, she began attending the reform Jewish synagogue, Congregation Bet Ha’am, connecting particularly with the Jewish concept of Shekhinah, or the feminine aspect of G-d.

Munderback also spent time with the National Organization of Women, supporting the Anti-Proliferation movement, and still regularly contributes to LGBTQIA+-supporting organizations such as …

Spaulding, Bryan, Thomas Wreck

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Bryan Spaulding, also known as Letta the Queen, is a 22 year-old drag

performer known for both adult and children’s performances in Southern Maine. In this interview, he discusses his family, including his close relationship with his mother and two sisters; coming out; and friendships and chosen family. He then talks about the meanings of drag and drag performance, as well as his own roles within that genre. He also discusses how drag can serve as a powerful form of political activism. Spaulding describes his experiences as a theater major; as a Residential Assistant for the Rainbow floor on the …

Keen, Shahida, Olivia Davis

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Shahida Keen is a 63 year old lesbian real estate agent originally from California but she grew up mainly in New Hampshire and Maine. She currently resides in South Portland, Maine and attended the University of New Hampshire. She worked as a massage therapist before getting into real estate and finding her love for helping women, families and members of the LGBTQ+ community find their home. Throughout her life she has been involved in many organizations in various capacities such as AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, Dyke Marches, Pride Marches, Sexual Minorities Action Committee and Seacoast Response to AIDS.

Shahida …

Parker, Kael, Mj Huot

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

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Kael Parker is a 44-year-old transgender man who was born in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He first came out as a lesbian to his family and friends in college before later discovering he was trans. He went to University of Maine Farmington (UMF) and while there he felt, for the most part, very at home and welcomed as a queer person. In this interview he talks about his life, finding people he connected with in the lesbian and the trans communities. He also talks about how his gender identity has shaped his life in a plethora of aspects. He talks …

Neilan, “Sive” Sadhbh, Isabelle “Izzy” Ferreira

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Sadhbh “Sive” Neilan is an 83 year old woman who identifies as a lesbian and a feminist. Neilan has been an active political figure, activist, and entrepreneur in the Southern Maine area since immigrating here in 1978. Neilan served as President of MLGPA (Maine lesbian gay political alliance) for a short period of time and ran as a democrat for the State Senate in the early 1990s. Neilan also owned and ran New Leaf Books, a feminist alternative bookstore in Rockport, Maine. In this interview, Neilan discusses the intersectional nature of her queer identity and feminist identity.

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Using Mixed Methods To Explore Forms Of Harassment For K-12 Bipoc Trans Students, Caroline Reale-Smith, Mario I. Suárez, Emma Mecham

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

Trans students of color face verbal and physical harassment all too often in educational settings. Using the 2015 United States Trans Survey, this mixed methods study explored the relationship between race and gender identity with regard to experiences with verbal and physical harassment in the K-12 setting. The quantitative phase investigated the extent to which race and gender identity predicted verbal and physical harassment, while the qualitative phase explored the types of harassment experiences for trans students of color. Quantitative findings highlight a higher incidence of verbal and physical harassment for Alaska Native/American Indian trans individuals and trans women, and …

Pedagogies Of The Home And Terquedad In Transgender Parenting And Teaching, Jackson M. Matos

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

This counter-narrative utilizes pedagogies of the home (Garcia & Delgado Bernal, 2021; Delgado Bernal, 2001) and terquedad, or intentional resistance against dominant group norms (Salas-Santa Cruz, 2020) to illustrate how I transmit home-based lessons regarding oppression and liberation to my children and to my college-aged students. It demonstrates the importance of vulnerability (Caraves, 2020) in sharing counter-narratives with both groups, and illustrates how resistance and terquedad can be utilized to actualize social justice. I describe how I, as a Puerto transgender parent and educator, use my body and lived experiences as text (Helton, 2020) for curriculum in my home and …

“We Don’T Do That”: Negotiating Graduate Education As A Bisexual+ Student, Kaity Prieto, Victoria B. Olivo

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

Bisexual+ people comprise the largest portion of the queer and trans community, yet there is limited research on bi+ subpopulations and a particular absence of literature exploring bisexual+ student identities and experiences. Much of the extant bi+ college student literature has centered on undergraduate experiences, leaving graduate experiences underexplored. Through this narrative inquiry study, guided by a queer theoretical framework, we sought to understand how bi+ graduate students navigate academic and professional contexts and how systems of power influence their identity negotiation narratives. Findings revealed pervasive bisexual+ erasure in academic contexts, pressure to conform to normative notions of professionalism, and …

How Do Lgbt Employees Assess Their Firm’S Organizational Culture Regarding Lgbt Leadership?, Philippe Honore

Dissertations

This study explored Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans (LGBT) employees’ perceptions and assessments of their firms’ organizational cultures and, in particular, the opportunities within the culture that can lead to upper management positions for those who identify as LGBT. The research sought to understand the extent to which inclusivity efforts are reflected in real career progression opportunities for openly LGBT employees working in San Diego County. Employing a convergent parallel mixed-methods research design, the study incorporated quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to achieve a comprehensive understanding of participant’s perspectives and experiences. The decision to use both methods allowed the research …

Celebratory Queer Space: Innovation Beyond Safe Space, Ezra Hebron, Adriane Sparks

Faculty & Staff Research & Creative Activity

"Safe space" refers to a place "free of bias ... or potentially threatening actions [or] ideas ... "* Simply, it is a place where one is accepted. A "celebratory space" is a safe space, but it is ALSO a place that reaches out to queer patrons to make them feel that they are not only accepted by the community, but that they are a part of the community.

"safe space." Merriam-Webster.comM. erriam-Webster, 2024. Web. 1 July 2024.

Out And About, Fall 2024, Queer Coalition

Queer Coalition

Newsletter of Queer Coalition, Illinois State University's sponsored LGBTQIA+ faculty, staff, and graduate student affinity group. Also available as a dynamic Foleon site: https://dig.illinoisstate.edu/isuqueercoalition/out-and-about/fall-2024/

Comparing The Social Responses Of Aids And Covid-19 Through Oral History, Elise Lee

Women's and Gender Studies Theses

In the past 40 years, the United States has faced 2 major public health crises: the AIDS epidemic, and the global COVID-19 pandemic. In this project I consider the various aspects of these public health emergencies such as sharing the burden of survival, the role of fear, the bastardization of identity politics, and queerness as a political project. I do this by analyzing oral histories and I argue that we can look at the AIDS epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic in parallel. During both AIDS and COVID, despite severely lackluster governmental responses, we saw overwhelming amounts of community organizing and …

Weight Bias Internalization And Disordered Eating: Examining The Role Of Sexual Orientation In A Sample Of Women Who Binge Eat, Meredith I. Turner

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Sexual minority women and heterosexual women endorse different rates of disordered eating symptoms. Weight bias internalization (WBI), or self-directed negative attitudes and beliefs about oneself due to their weight, is known to be associated with binge eating and other disordered eating behaviors. However, little is known about the influence WBI may have on disordered eating symptoms across various sexual orientations. Therefore, this study examined disordered eating, WBI, and the association between them among sexual minority and heterosexual women. Specifically, the study aims were to (1) compare instances of WBI and disordered eating symptoms between sexual minority and heterosexual women, (2) …

Self-Identifying Minoritized Doctoral Students’ Experiences Of Epistemic Injustice In Counselor Education And Supervision, Francisca Rivas

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine and understand how epistemic injustice (EI) is experienced by minoritized doctoral students in Counselor Education and Supervision programs. The primary researcher performed a phenomenological study examining the experiences of EI for minoritized CES students (n = 8). There were three female participants with an average age of 31, two male participants with an average age of 31, and three nonbinary/trans participants with the average age of 33. Five participants were BIPOC, one being an international student, and six participants were LGBTQPA+. Five participants held Ph.Ds. at time of their interview, having …

“As Blind Men Learn The Sun”: Towards A Poetics Of Queer Mysticism In American Literature, 1860-1960, Bradley M. Nelson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation seeks to play with the similarity between the queer and the mystical, and in the process, defines something I call “queer mysticism.” I include four cardinal figures of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American poetry: Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Gertrude Stein, and Robert Duncan. Beginning with Walt Whitman, I show how each of these poets bear witness to an experience of the divine that is both immanent and immanently queer. Through historical and biographical research, I uncover their poetic inspiration in popular modes of expression and in the esoteric and arcane. By establishing a connection with a few Catholic mystics …

Féminas Speaking Up: Three Papers On Feminine Transgender Identities, Gender Identity Activism, And Language Reform In Lima, Peru, Ernesto Cuba

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this three-paper dissertation, I explore the linguistic and discursive practices of Féminas, a leading transgender rights activist organization based in Lima, Peru. Building on scholarship on language ideologies (Irvine & Gal, 2000), queer linguistics (Motschenbacher, 2011), and socio-onomastics (Ainiala & Östman, 2017), I analyze the role that language beliefs and language-in-use plays in performing local (trans)gender identities and shaping grassroots politics within this specific community of practice (Eckert & McConnell-Ginet, 1992). Based on an extensive corpus of semi-structured interviews and ethnographic material gathered during my long-term investigation with Féminas, I present three studies exploring distinct –though related– ideologically-driven sociolinguistic …

Female Fandom In The Digital Era: ‘Alternative Universe’ For Promoting Thai Boys Love Drama, Monika Sri Yuliarti

JURNAL KOMUNIKASI INDONESIA

Digital era has changed human’s life, including in the practice of fandom. It results in a much broader dissemination of fans-related products produced by the fans, such as alternative universe (AU) as part of fan fiction. In addition, nowadays, Thailand popular culture is rising, especially with the boys’ love drama series (Thai BL drama) which caught foreign viewers’ interest, including Indonesians. This study explores how AU can be considered as a tool for promoting Thai BL drama which goes to fandom actively involvement in the promotion of a foreign country's cultural product with taboo value. It is a qualitative content …

Just Say Gay: An Exploration Of Authenticity And Connection; Queer Identified Therapists’ Lived Experiences Of Identity-Based Self-Disclosure, Courtney Dunne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current sociopolitical climate in the United States continues to reinforce the complexities and nuances that mental health providers face when facilitating therapy. Over the past few years, anti-DEI legislation has aimed to control the narrative in educational and therapeutic settings regarding what therapists and educators are permitted to teach and share about themselves (Flannery, 2024). At the same time, anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric continues to dominate the media and further marginalizes individuals whom are in the queer community. In turn, LGBTQ+ individuals continue to face an increased risk for homelessness, substance use disorders, and suicide, which particularly has impacted LGBTQ+ youth …

The Post-Closet Home: Queer Domesticity, Enclosure, And Queer Southern Gothicism In Lee Mandelo's "Summer Sons", Andrew Dylan Dampier

Master's Theses

In current discussions of queer theory, terms such as “post-gay” leave room for misrepresentation. The premise behind this term serves a primarily cisgenderheterosexual agenda by promising the assimilation of queer individuals into the dominant society. For this reason, I prefer to align the term “post-closet” with the queer person’s journey towards, and past, such societal barriers while maintaining the significance of foundational queer theories. In his novel Summer Sons, Lee Mandelo depicts Andrew Blur’s journey through the grief-ridden confines of the closet as he seeks a new identity following the death of his best friend. Mandelo accomplishes this by juxtaposing …

Virtual Cellphilming With Gbtq Pups: Towards Participant-Driven Research As Activism, Kinda Wassef, Olivia Bonardi, Olivier Ferlatte, Megan Aston, Phillip Joy

The Qualitative Report

In the present paper, we draw upon our research, entitled Puppy Philms, to guide researchers who are interested in queering cellphilming methodologies. In this context, “queering” refers to the process of challenging and disrupting heteronormative roles and perspectives within research practices. We argue that taking a queer poststructural approach to virtual cellphilming helped us shift this project away from typical academic relations of power, towards participant-driven research as activism. In emphasizing flexibility, reflexivity, a desire for partnership and community building, we found queer communication to be a mechanism through which we could shift power and drive levels of engagement. In …