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

A Conversation With David B. Harvie

LGBTQ Alumni Oral History Project

This conversation represents an oral history with a Holy Cross alum who graduated in 1982. Highlights of this conversation include content on how Mr. Harvie commuted from home for his first two years at the College, as well as how his experience junior year while studying abroad in Germany helped him to be more confident in his sexuality. Furthermore, Mr. Harvie is very involved in the Catholic community. He helps organize a church, "In God's Image," for the LGBTQ community in New Jersey.

Interview keywords: Study Abroad, Chaplain's Office, Munich, Germany, coming out, night life, day student, commuter, New Jersey, …

Naming The Nameless: An Exploration Of Queer Poetry And Empowerment, Jesse Yelvington

2018 Award Winners

No abstract provided.

A Conversation With Mark Campbell-Foster

LGBTQ Alumni Oral History Project

This conversation represents an oral history interview with a Holy Cross alum who graduated in 2004. Highlights of this conversation include content on a variety of experiences, including living through 9/11, being an RA [resident assistant], and dating men who were in and out of the closet while at Holy Cross. He also offers unique insight to being LGBTQ+ at Holy Cross as he describes his experience with hearing loss and how he was openly gay going into college. Mark was a Psychology major, Deaf Studies minor while at Holy Cross and is now an audiologist.

Interview keywords: Chaplain's …

(Dis)Locations: Dutch Disabled Lgbtq+ Subjects And Queer Social Space, Sarah Cavar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this research was to determine the architectural and social accessibility of “queer spaces” in the Netherlands. Via a series of personal interviews with LGBTQ+ disabled Dutch individuals, lived experiences inside and outside queer spaces were discussed in the con-text of their respective disabilities and other identities. Some sub-questions that were addressed include: the definitions of “access" and of “queer space,” how architectural and social access bar-riers compare with and influence one another, and the present and future possibilities for queer spaces of increased accessibility. In concluding the research, the author distinguishes “queer spaces” from LGBTQ+ spaces, reflecting …

Student Engagement Curriculum For The Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus, Michael Angelo Caban

Capstone Collection

This paper is a guide for a student engagement curriculum for the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus(PGMC). Included are the theoretical frameworks for youth empowerment and development, Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Queer/Questioning, and more (LGBTQ+) empowerment, and intercultural training design and facilitation that are at the center and the considerations an intercultural trainer and youth programmer and facilitator should constantly regard. The main purpose of this is to put forth a document that PGMC, as well as any group or organization, can use to empower LGBTQ+ young people, as well as their straight allies, and to develop leaders in their schools …

Growing A Garden Of Healthy Masculinities: Combating Homophobia In The Imagine Project Workshops, Mia Lloyd

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This qualitative research study examines how peer educators can combat homophobia within the Imagine Project workshops. The Imagine Project is a three country initiative which aims to engage young men to work against sexual violence and sexual harassment through peer education. Combating homophobia is not stated as an official goal of the Imagine Project, and consequently it has not received that much attention within the workshop curriculum and preparation. A literature review and six interviews were conducted to gather information about homophobia, it’s role within the Imagine Project workshops, and how it can be combated in that context. Relevant literature …

Through The Looking Glass: Shining Light On Queer Identities, Daniel Richard Begin

Community Engagement Student Work

Identity informs our actions, beliefs, and whom we surround ourselves with. This project was created in an effort to determine the most efficient way to engage people in conversations about identity and identity formation in the LGBTQIA+ community. What happens when queer identities are visible and supported? What happens when they are not? In addition, this project was created to shine light on queer identities in our communities, focusing on the Merrimack College Campus.

Art In Tunisian Lgbtqi++ Ngos, Emma Cooney

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study examines how non-governmental organizations use the arts to support their missions in a context of Tunisian LGBTQI++ activism. Homosexuality in Tunisia is punishable by three years in prison, and the LGBTQI++ community is under threat of both legal action and homophobic violence. Yet, since the 2011 Revolution, queer activists have founded several associations to advocate for their community, and the associations have formed a strong connection to the arts.

In this study, I spoke with art organizers from three Tunisian LGBTQI++ associations to document their plentiful art activity. Film and art festivals are prevalent among a wide variety …

Tibetan Perceptions Of Lgbtq, Lauren Champagne

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project is aimed at understanding the perceptions of LGBTQ identities, people, and issues within the Tibetan exile community in Dharamsala, India. The project starts by contextualizing feminism in Tibetan spheres as well as Buddhist conceptions of gender and sexuality, as many Tibetans are practicing Buddhists. The focus then turns to the reactions to and experiences of queer Tibetans and how Tibetans talk about and conceptualize queerness. Finally, this project looks at the formation of various networks that have formed amongst a small community of out LGBTQ Tibetans. The main objective of this paper is to provide a context for …

Lavish Weddings, Ambiguous Anniversaries: How Relationship Histories Shape The Experience Of Getting Married For Gays And Lesbians, Aaron Hoy

Sociology Department Publications

No abstract provided.

Race, Sexuality, And Masculinity On The Down Low, Stephen Kochenash

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In a so-called post-racial America, a new gay identity has flourished and come into the limelight. However, in recent years, researchers have concluded that not all men who have sex with other men (MSM) self-identify as gay, most noticeably a large population of Black men. It is possible that a tainted history of Black enslavement in this country that is inextricably linked with ideas of space, surveillance, subversion, and survival inform a Black male’s self-identification as being “on the down low” (DL). This begs the question: What does mainstream society view as gay-ness and how is the DL constructed …

Queer: Good Gay, Bad Gay, Black Gay, White Gay?, Ian Barnard

English Faculty Articles and Research

"As Deadline .com bluntly put it, 'Kevin Spacey Apologizes to Anthony Rapp for Alleged Sexual Advances; Chooses to "Live As A Gay Man."' The outraged response of progressive intellectuals, activists, and cultural critics to Spacey’s twofold tweet has demonstrated, inter alia, the resilience of old school assumptions and expectations about coming out and about gay identity and gay identifications. These outraged responses have come especially from younger generations of intellectuals, activists, and critics, but also across generations, genders, and sexual orientations. Despite decades of attacks on models of gay identity that center on teleological narratives of coming out, and critiques …

Let’S Escape Into The Music: A Cross-Generational Oral History Of Orlando Lgbtq+ Spaces, Hannah Powell

Honors Program Theses

Since Orlando’s first gay bar, The Palace Club, opened in 1969, LGBTQ+ spaces have played an essential role in the Orlando queer community. They have acted as loci of gathering, solidarity, identity-formation, recreation, and even healing. There is an absence of literature on the LGBTQ+ community in Orlando and, more generally, in Central Florida as a whole. The legacy of LGBTQ+ spaces in Orlando is worthy of study due both to the city’s rich queer history and Orlando’s singular experience of the deadliest act of hate-motivated violence against the LGBTQ+ community in the history of the United States. Through documenting …

Factors Impacting Parental Acceptance Of An Lgbt Child, Dani E. Rosenkrantz

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Chrisler’s (2017) Theoretical Framework of Parental Reactions When a Child Comes Out as Lesbian, Gay, or Bisexual suggests that parental reactions to having a non-heteronormative child are impacted by a process of cognitively appraising information about their child’s identity and experiencing and coping with emotional responses, both of which are influenced by contextual factors such as a parent’s value system. However, some religious values can challenge parents in the process of accepting a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) child. The purpose of this study was to test a model that examines the influence of cognitive-affective factors (cognitive flexibility, emotional …

Blurring The Spectrum: Exploring Queer Conservatism, Austin P. Mejdrich

Masters Theses

Running parallel to the groundbreaking and historic advancement of LGBTQ rights over the past decade has been the rise in the prominence and public discourse of queer conservative thinking. From the Log Cabin Republicans to far-right nationalistic politics, queer conservatives underscore both diverging ideologies within the modern American conservative tradition and the increase of far-right politics in Western societies. This study argues that queer conservatism, while traditionally less explored in the broader context of sexuality politics, is consequential to an understanding of the LGBTQ community and queer politics. Thus, an exploration of queer conservatism as a political ideology is explored, …

"I Think That's Really What It Comes Down To, Is Intimacy": Lgbtq+ Polyamory And The Queering Of Intimacy, Emily Pain

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Polyamory is an intimate practice, identity, and philosophy that permits open and honest relationships with multiple partners and centers on values such as communication, trust, and egalitarianism. The limited body of existing research on polyamory has contributed important perspectives towards a sociological understanding of polyamorous relationship negotiations and family challenges; however, it has focused primarily on privileged groups, drawing participants from polyamorous communities that are largely comprised of white, middle-class, heterosexual cisgender men and bisexual cisgender women. LGBTQ+ (‘queer’) lives have been severely marginalized in this literature, reinforcing oppressive gender and sexual hierarchies and leaving many important questions unanswered. Moreover, …

Asexuality: To Include Or Not To Include A Slice Of Cake In The Lgbtq+ Community, Devin Oliva-Farrell

Tredway Library Prize for First-Year Research

Due to the growing number of sexual orientations and genders that have joined the LGBTQ+ community, a debate has sparked on whether all of these should be included. Specifically, this paper analyzes the debate on whether asexuality should be included or excluded from the group. The results from including or excluding asexuality will have drastic effects on the LGBTQ+ community, self-identified asexuals, and society as a whole when it comes to examining sexualities and genders.

This is illustrated in the following ways: 1) examining the definition of asexuality; 2) exploring the debates surrounding its inclusion or exclusion; 3) highlighting the …

Introduction: For Better Or For Worse? Relational Landscapes In The Time Of Same-Sex Marriage, Michael W. Yarbrough

Publications and Research

As same-sex marriage has become a legal reality in a rapidly growing list of countries, the time has come to assess what this means for families and relationships on the ground. Many scholars have already begun to examine how marriage is helping some same-sex couples, but in this introduction I call for a broader and more critical research agenda. In particular, I argue that same-sex marriage crystallizes a key tension surrounding families and relationships in many contemporary societies. On the one hand, strict family norms are relaxing in many places, allowing more people to form more diverse types of caring …

Whether Or Not 'It Gets Better'…Coping With Parental Heterosexist Rejection, Cara Herbitter

Graduate Masters Theses

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people face the burden of additional stressors as a result of their experiences of stigma and discrimination regarding their sexual minority status. Parental rejection of LGB people in the context of heterosexism serves as a powerful minority stressor associated with poorer mental health (e.g., Bouris et al., 2010; Ryan, Huebner, Diaz, & Sanchez, 2009). Few contemporary theories exist to describe the experience of parental rejection. In addition, the extant empirical research has focused primarily on youth experiences among White and urban LGB samples, signaling the need for research across the lifespan investigating more diverse samples. …

Rocky Horror Sublimation: Identity As A Contingency Of Experience, Josh Harper

Senior Theses

Queer theory, as a subfield of feminist theories concerned with revealing epistemic, political, and humanitarian problems of a male-dominated society, has been heavily influenced by its founding thinkers, including Judith Butler, the theorist focused on herein. In critiquing various problems of our western society, Butler preserves the structure underlying such problems: through her approach of a gay/straight framework critiquing a male domination of female, the binary is preserved. This is problematic for many reasons, including its exclusion of perspectives that do not fall cleanly into such dichotomies, namely trans and polysexual ones. By appealing to these, as well as to …

Lessons For Legalizing Love: A Case Study Of The Naz Foundation's Campaign To Decriminalize Homosexuality In India, Preston G. Johnson

Capstone Collection

In 1860, British colonizers codified Section 377 into the Indian Penal Code. 377 is an anti-sodomy law based on Victorian/Judeo-Christian values which criminalizes homosexuality through judicial interpretation and the manipulation of ambiguous language. On August 15^th, 2017, India celebrated 70 years of independence from British control, yet 377 still exerts oppressive control over the safety and freedom of Indian LGBTQI communities. Defining queerness as perversion has caused LGBTQI individuals to become victims of false accusations, blackmail, harassment, housing and workplace discrimination, familial rejection, forced “conversion therapy”, assault, rape, torture, and even murder because of this power imbalance and …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 93, No. 26 [27], Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. This issue contains articles:

• Alvey, Rebekah. Finding His Way – Timothy Caboni
• Coyle, Cameron. WKU Police Department Builds Trust with More Diverse Force
• Ziege, Nicole. Student Government Association Discusses Strategic Planning, Passes Two Bills
• Lee, David. College Heights Herald Reserve Fund
• King, Jennifer. Editorial Cartoon re: Responsibility
• Ho Ho Herald – Christmas Gifts
• Leonard, Nicole. Gender Disparities Impact Health Care Policy
• Semester Recap
• Fletcher, Griffin. Mr. Devastating: Male Pageant Aims to Defy Sexism – Delta Sigma Theta
• Mohr, Olivia. New Restaurant Hickory & Oak to Come to Town
• Moore, …

No Human Right To Sodomy: Christian Conservative Opposition To Sogi Human Rights, Cynthia Burack

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The American Christian conservative movement is the most consistent and persistent adversary of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) civil rights in the US. In recent years, the Christian right has responded to changes in attitudes to same-sex sexuality in the US by relocating some of their attention and operations to issues and arenas of contest outside the US that hold more promise for implacable antagonism to rights and recognition for LGBTQ people. In some parts of the world, these US-based anti-LGBTQ actors have become recognized as “experts” on gender and sexual minorities and the dire consequences the existence of …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 93, No. 19, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. This issue contains articles:

• Coyle, Cameron. Students Express Concern Over WKU Alert System
• Alvey, Rebekah. Faculty Regent Reflects on Term – Barbara Burch
• Eastham, Lillie. Glow Walk Honors People Affected by Cancer – Relay for Life
• Ziege, Nicole. Student Government Association Fails to Pass Resolution Supporting Dreamers – Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
• DeLetter, Emily. Scheduling Software Aims to Simplify Registration
• Huff, Taylor. Do You Support the Fairness Ordinance?
• Austin, Emma. Editorial Cartoon re: Faculty Regent Election
• Part-time Faculty Deserve a Say in Faculty Regent Election
• Hormell, David. The …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 93, No. 18, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. This issue contains articles:

• Alvey, Rebekah. Faculty Regent Ballot Results Tossed Over Part-time Vote
• Moore, Noah. Stand Proud – Pride Festival
• Stahl, Matt. Event Celebrates Young Women in Science, Technology, Engineering & Math – SkyTeach
• Collins, Emma. Hiring Process Changes to Address Budget Deficit
• Harsh, Spencer. New Tracks to Add to your Playlist
• Smith, Alexis. Editorial Cartoon re: Fairness Ordinance
• Fair Play – Fairness Ordinance
• Burgess, Kelly. Raising the Granola Bar of Collegiate Nutrition
• Heichelbech, Evan. Offensive Line Coach Recovering from Brain Surgery – Mike Sanford
• Jessie, Alec. Conditioning …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 93, No. 17, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. This issue contains articles:

• Coyle, Cameron & Monica Kast. Multiple Shots Fired Near Campus Late Tuesday Night
• DeLetter, Emily. Powerhouse – Jadier Rivera, Weightlifting
• Alvey, Rebekah. Bowling Green Hosts First Pride Festival on Saturday
• Hornsby, Morgan. Student Finds Sisterhood, Growth with Major Redz – Melody Dickerson
• Huff, Taylor. #MeToo Social Media Campaign – Sexual Harassment
• King, Jennifer. Editorial Cartoon re: Candy Corn
• Leonard, Nicole. Direct Discussion: Hollywood Confronted Rape Culture, So Should We
• Dimeo, Chris. Babylon Offers Authentic Oasis of Middle Eastern Cuisine
• Porter, Sam. Friday Night Lights – …

Invisibility, Illegibility, And Stigma: The Citizenship Experiences Of Divorced Gays And Lesbians, Aaron Hoy

Sociology Department Publications

No abstract provided.

Colonización, Globalización, Descolonización: Cambiar La Forma En Que Los Bolivianos Piensan Sobre Cuestiones Lgbt / Colonization, Globalization, Decolonization: Changing The Way Bolivians Think About Lgbt Issues, Courtney Manning

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

La intención de este proyecto es obtener una imagen del mundo de las organizaciones homosexuales en Bolivia y ver cómo la popular corriente cultural de la descolonización influye en los objetivos, los métodos y las retóricas de los miembros. A través de varias entrevistas, analices de literatura y observaciones mientras asistía a reuniones LGBT, se refiere tanto al éxito hipotético y al uso poco frecuente de la retórica y las estrategias de descolonización en colectivos LGBT en Bolivia. Las razones de esta dicotomía radican principalmente en la eliminación casi completa de las prácticas homosexuales en Bolivia por parte de los …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 93, No. 8, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. This issue contains articles:

• Ziege, Nicole. Student Government Association to Fund Inaugural Pride Festival
• Austin, Emma. American Dreamer – Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Immigration
• DeLetter, Emily. Second Tuesday Salons Focuses on Incarcerated Men, Songwriting
• Collins, Emma. Virtual Reality Event Focuses on Refugee Crisis – No Lost Generation
• Coyle, Cameron. Cage the Elephant Offers WKU Free Concert
• Eastham, Lillie. LGBTQ Groups Host Annual Ice Cream Social
• King, Jennifer. Editorial Cartoon re: Condoms
• Leonard, Nicole. The B Grade Women in the Public Eye: Sex Double Standards Impede Universal Respect
• Hovell, …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 93, No. 6, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. This issue contains articles:

• Alvey, Rebekah. Losing Community – Levi Hanson, ROTC, Transgender
• Hornsby, Morgan. WKU, Bowling Green March to Defend Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – DACA
• DeLetter, Emily. University of Kentucky College of Medicine Construction Continues
• Ziege, Nicole. Student Government Association Approves Funding for Legal Observer Training
• Burgess, Kelly. Eating Produce or Producing Waste
• King, Jennifer. Editorial Cartoon re: Dating
• Murrer, Erick. Godless Entertainment
• Johnson, Kalyn. Working Towards a Cleaner Planet on Campus – Sustainability
• Porter, Sam. WKU Aims to Make History in Illinois – Football
• Manlove, …