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

A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experience Of Gay White Men In Mid-Level Student Affairs Leadership Roles, S. Craig Mourton

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the lived experience of mid-level student affairs leaders who identify as cisgender, gay, White, and male in order to further understand the multidimensionality of embodying both privileged as well as marginalized identities. Four participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide and the resulting transcripts were analyzed utilizing the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) perspective. Experiential themes that emerged from the analysis of the individual cases as well as across the cases include unintended pathways into the field of student affairs, experiences of challenging heterosexual male supervisors and the preference for women supervisors, …

Loving-Learning-Leading-Living: A Scholarly Personal Narrative Of A Black Gay Father, Russell E. Thornhill

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation examines the roles, challenges, and contributions of a Black Gay father, a demographic largely absent from academic discourse. While literature explores themes of the church, LGBTQ+ identities, and social justice, there remains a critical gap addressing the lived experiences of a Black Gay father. This study fills that void by elevating narratives as community activists, family leaders, and clergy members, acknowledging their transformative impact within familial and societal structures. The methodology used is the Scholarly Personal Narrative (SPN). It allows for in-depth, reflective engagement with personal experiences in conversation with scholars while situating them within broader sociocultural, theological, …

A Quantitative Examination Of The Role Of Relationship Status In Asexual College Students’ Sexual Victimization, Amanda Mollet, Wayne Black, Leslie Shelton

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

This exploratory quantitative study examines sexual violence among asexual college students using the Asexual Community Survey. We conducted analyses to examine the coercive tactics used by sexual violence perpetrators against asexual college students with a focus on examining statistical differences based on characteristics of students’ relationships. Findings revealed that across multiple forms of relationships, asexual college students’ relationship experiences were significantly correlated with experiencing higher levels of multiple types of sexual violence. The study challenges existing narratives of campus-based sexual violence while highlighting the unique and specific influences of power on sexual victimization within the context of asexual college students’ …

Ephemeral Legacy, Allison Hall

Master's Theses

Recently, my thoughts have centered on the problem of legacy. How do we forge bonds with other humans? What happens on an interpersonal level when these humans pass away, or when we pass, and they continue in life? How do queer spaces consistently offer deeper phenomena of interpersonal legacies; how does death operate as generational catalyst? I am particularly interested in putting these questions in the context of queer spaces. In queer culture, kinship is formed in ways that break from typical western notions of kinship. Despite being incoherent to western notions of family, queer bonds are extremely strong (Bradway …

Challenging Myths & Addressing Intimate Partner Sexual Violence In Lgbtq+ Relationships, Nora K. Whitten

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Intimate partner violence (IPV), including intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV), is a public health crisis that disproportionately affects members of the LGBTQ+ community. This paper draws upon related, though limited, research to identify the five prevalent myths surrounding IPSV in LGBTQ+ relationships, addressing the following misconceptions: 1) IPSV can only occur in heterosexual relationships, 2) IPSV in LGBTQ+ relationships is not as severe, 3) Women cannot commit acts of sexual violence, 4) The more “masculine” partner is always the perpetrator, and 5) IPSV is a “mutual fight” among partners of the same sex. These myths perpetuate victim-blaming, minimize the severity …

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 …

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 …

My Last Concussion, Shannon Valkr

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

MY LAST CONCUSSION is a thesis consisting of a critical introduction, a number of poetic influences, and a collection of poems. The introduction touches on the themes of the collection, my personal history with my subject, my changing approach to poetry, and a brief evaluation of the work as a whole. It details my approach to Catholicism, paganism, transgender identity, and oppression. My work grapples with both my current understanding of myself and my inability to enunciate my reality in the past. I aim to view divinity and personal history through a lens of queerness.

Advisor: Kwame Dawes

Envisioning Queer And Trans Educational Futures In Contentious Times: Editors’ Introduction, Kamden Strunk, Antonio Duran, Stephanie Anne Shelton

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

The field of queer and trans studies has significantly grown, becoming interdisciplinary and intersectional, yet facing existential threats. A range of anti-queer and trans legislation, particularly targeting trans youth, and polarized political rhetoric have increased risks and eroded public support. This special issue of the Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education explores queer and trans futures amidst these challenges. Highlighting various scholarly perspectives, it addresses educational disparities, decolonial queer epistemologies, and intersectional frameworks. Growing out of interdisciplinary collaborations and years of conversations, the journal aims to provide a rigorous, open-access platform for innovative, anti-oppressive scholarship, fostering activism, practice, …

Decolonizing Queer Epistemology: Boys Love And Cultural Imaginary From The Global Majority, Roland Sintos Coloma

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

This article aims to decolonize queer epistemology in order to challenge the hegemony of white/eurocentric LGBTQ histories, cultures, and representations as the universal and normalized standard of queer and trans life and sociality. Toward this objective, it analyzes whitestream queer epistemology, and notes its limits that do not account for its inclusions and exclusions, especially in relation to race, geography, and methodological (homo)nationalism. It draws attention to the works of queer and trans theorists, researchers, and educators from the global majority, especially the growing scholarship on LGBTQ education outside of the United States, to point out a significant gap in …

What Is Decolonial Trans* Feminism And What Can It Do For Queer/Trans Bipoc Education Research? Reimagining Knowledge And Identity Through The Convergence Of Decolonial And Trans* Feminism, Omi Salas-Santacruz

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

This paper introduces decolonial trans* feminism, a framework merging decolonial theory with trans* of color feminism to challenge colonial gender oppression. It reimagines knowledge, gender, power, and resistance in educational research for queer/trans BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) individuals by integrating Indigenous metaphysics, diverse self-ontologies, and spiritual dimensions. The asterisk in trans* feminism symbolizes the fluidity of gender identities, challenging rigid boundaries of thought and colonial norms. Emphasizing the Androgynous Whole, the paper explores how different configurations of knowledge inform gender and serve as sites of coalitional resistance. Engaging with Third World Feminists, it calls for a shift to …

“Who All Gon Be There?”: On Blackness, Transness, And K-12 Pedagogies For [Black] Trans Futures, Shea W. Martin

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

Grounded in trans-of-color critique and Black trans studies, this theoretical meditation reckons with the impossibility of Black trans safety, recognition, and futurity within our U.S. K-12 educational landscape. Situated in a “post-Transgender Tipping Point” sociopolitical landscape, I explore how these limitations contribute to Black trans youth’s disparate experiences in today’s schools, particularly with attention to the [in]effectiveness of existing queer and trans pedagogies. In an attempt to locate what is deemed possible for Black trans youth in imagined educational futures, I discuss trends within select K-12 trans pedagogical scholarship through which I explore questions related to authorship, reflexivity, and intersectional …

Curiosity, Passion, & Proximity: Motivations For Attending Safe Zone Trainings, D Chase J. Catalano, Daniel Tillapaugh, Rachel Wagner, Kari Dockendorff, Nina Tissi-Gassoway

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

LGBTQ+ social justice educational interventions (SJEIs), usually named Safe Zone or Ally Training, offer opportunities for knowledge acquisition and reflection. Ideally, they provide components necessary to cultivate allyship through the development of a liberatory consciousness (Love, 2018) through increasing awareness, engaging in analysis, considering actions, and reflecting on accountability. In this instrumental case study (Stake, 2000) focused on 17 graduate students, faculty, and staff at a large, public university in the Mid-Atlantic, we used liberatory consciousness as a conceptual framework to examine motivation for attendance. Three findings emerged: (1) curiosity, (2) passion, and (3) proximity. Implications of these specific factors …

Oppressive Pushout: Examining Differences In Discipline And “Dropout” By Race, Gender, And Sexual Orientation, Danielle N. Aguilar, Taylor Lewis, Jude Paul Matias Dizon, Pearl Lo, Ángel González, Jason C. Garvey, Mario I. Suárez

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

Drawing on well-established insights, our study adds nuance to the discussion regarding school pushout practices by centering race, sexual orientation and gender beyond the binary. By way of descriptive and inferential statistics using the High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS:09), our article seeks to disrupt the cisheteronormative discussion regarding exclusionary school discipline and institutionally inflicted pushout that impacts the educational trajectories and opportunities of queer and trans Black, Indigenous, students of color (QT BIPOC). Results from our chi-square analyses revealed significant differences in rates of cutting/skipping class, in-school suspension, suspension or expulsion, and dropping out across our four groups: QT BIPOC …

Placing Student Success And Well-Being At The Center Of The Educational Process: How The Magic City Acceptance Academy Promotes An Ethical And Caring School Culture, D. Keith Gurley, Dwayne White, Matthew Fifolt Dr.

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

Schools and school leaders are well-positioned to create school cultures that are supportive of all students, including students who identify as LGBTQ and those who are perceived as other due to status of race, class, or ability. The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to explore how faculty and staff at the Magic City Acceptance Academy (MCAA) promote an ethical and caring school culture. To guide our thinking and interpretation of research findings, our team relied on two conceptual frameworks, including queer theory and the ethical educational leadership framework ethic of care. Based on inductive coding of focus …

The Mental Health Experience Of Transgender And Gender Diverse Colombians: Que La Diversidad No Cueste La Vida, María Natalia Acosta Canchila

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Experiences of TGD people in various countries reflect difficulties accessing mental health services and significant mental health needs. In Colombia, experiences in broader healthcare systems suggest various barriers to care that include experiences of discrimination. However, specific experiences in mental health services have not been thoroughly examined. The current study aimed to understand the experiences, perceptions, and needs of TGD people in Colombia in mental health systems. Qualitative data was collected via 40 semi-structured interviews with TGD people in Colombia, data was analyzed via reflexive thematic analysis. Findings suggests great mental health needs related to needing support in the process …

The Realm That I Am: An Interdisciplinary Memoir On Identity And Healing, Maria Rowen Flores

University Honors Theses

This thesis is an interdisciplinary exploration into identity, self, and meaning-making. Engaging queer studies, Chicano/a Studies, narrative therapy, creative nonfiction, and visual arts, this project is both a collage and self-portrait in two parts. Part one uses the ideas of philosophers Gloria Anzaldúa, María Lugones, Jack Halberstam, and Judith Butler to explore identity formation in the author’s family and social contexts. Part two follows the experience of having C-PTSD and uses memoir and creative writing to explore the narrative therapeutic mode. Both sections explore themes of identity, social isolation, relationships, failure, mental illness, trauma, and addiction. The work is underscored …

Gender Diversity In The Workplace: Pronouns, Gender-Stereotyped Job Listings, And Perceptions Of Hireability, Elise B. Charette, Sarah E. Nemanick, Paige C. Keim, Sarah M. Ledoux, Lindsay A. Goolsby, E. Paige Lloyd

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Past research has investigated the impact of gender and gender biases on hiring decisions for cisgender individuals. However, there is a lack of research on how perceptions of gender diverse individuals impact hiring decisions. The current work explores how a job applicant’s gender pronouns may impact the likelihood of the applicant getting hired. We also investigated whether this likelihood varied depending on the job description—specifically whether it included content related to gender stereotypes (e.g., “nurturing” versus “leadership capabilities” as a desired trait in job applicants). Ninety-six participants were randomly assigned to view an application package including she/her, he/him, or they/them …

A Trauma-Informed Socially Just Approach To Working With Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth Utilizing Expressive Arts Therapy, Ciara Carr

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Youth involved with the juvenile justice system often have a history of trauma and oppression resulting from their positionality and circumstances. Most juvenile justice-involved youth are boys, youth of color, low-income, LGBTQIA2S+, disabled, and traumatized. This literature review explores the history of the juvenile justice system, issues with the present-day model, and trauma-informed and transformative justice approaches to practice. The implementation of socially just, trauma-informed expressive arts therapy programs is proposed as a more equitable practice to replace commonly used punitive practices across the United States. More research is needed to understand the impact of such programs on this population …

Three Card Spread: Theorizing Queer And Trans Futurity For Tenure-Track Faculty Through Divination Dialogues, Justin A. Gutzwa, Sergio A. Gonzalez

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

This article lies betwixt methodological, conceptual, and empirical scholarship, queering traditional presentations of qualitative research to imagine what a future in the academy could look like for queer and trans faculty if the academy instead prioritized queer and trans joy, thriving, and life. The authors, two queer and trans early-career tenure-track faculty, utilize divination dialogues, or conversations that take place during and following a divinatory practice such as tarot reading, as a liberatory politic of community building and co-theorization on how to actualize our own futures in a colonial, neoliberal academy. In presenting excerpts from the conversation that took place …

Queerform/Ing, Matthew Solon-Lee Weimer

Art Theses and Dissertations

My artwork is situated within and around vessels and the Queer Homoerotic World and explores sexuality as a Demisexual within them. This is accomplished through the two processes of my creation, Minivague and Queerform/ing: balancing sexual tension and explicit expression, while subverting traditional norms and stereotypes with queerness to distance oneself from stereotypical Gay Art. Altering/emphasizing makes the artwork more romantic, lighter, whimsical, softer, and tender than the figure/s and the situations actually are. The process is also emphasizing what one sees or wants to be seen. The Pink Boy becomes a celebration of intimacy of any form. I discuss …

Beyond Craigslist Personal Ads: Contemporary Usage Of The Label T4t, Madi Lou Alexander

Student Research Symposium

Trans for trans relationships (t4t) are a special type of connection specific to transgender individuals, whether in the process of [re]affirming one’s gender identity and/or finding and building community. Originating from Craigslist personal ads, t4t indicates a trans person seeking out another trans person. What are these t4t relationships like for the trans people involved in them? With this research, I hope to evaluate and define the range of what t4t relationships are, hypothesize how t4t relations foster a sense of connection for the transgender individuals in said relationships, and explain why community amongst those who identify as transgender is …

Seeing Is Believing: Observing Trans Spirituality Through The Smith-Waite Tarot, Phoebe Santalla

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

In 1909 the Rider Company published the Smith-Waite Tarot deck which featured 78 illustrated cards by Pamela Colman Smith. With heavy use of appropriated and ambiguous symbology, the Smith-Waite deck became a meditation tool for realizing alternative realities. By observing the history of the deck, analyzing Smith’s approach to illustration, and retracing the counterculture occult explosion in the 1970s, this essay argues that the Smith-Waite deck is an object the reflects the queered body and self. The modern, trans-contentious, Western political climate creates an environment that obscures the fact that transgender people exist beyond the medicalization of their bodies. To …

Neuroqueering Art Therapy: Bringing Neurodivergent Gender Diversity Into The Creative Arts Therapy Room: A Literature Review, Avital Eisen

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Recent research across disciplines has established the significance of the overlap between neurodivergence and gender diversity, a truth long espoused by the community. Acting on this research, some mental health disciplines have begun addressing neurodivergent transgender and gender diverse people as a unified population in their research, but the field of art therapy has not yet followed suit. Theoretical frameworks of intersectionality, queer theory, and disability justice highlight the importance of centering the unique experiences and needs of neurodivergent gender diversity. Using these frameworks, this literature review synthesizes community knowledge with art therapy research on both neurodivergence and gender diversity, …

Lessons In Persistence, Syble Heffernan

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

LESSONS IN PERSISTENCE is a thesis that operates within the tradition of writing about trauma and resilience, taking up themes of mental illness, class, colonialism, loss of a parent, navigating queerness in a conservative Christian context, and reckoning with gender-based violence and expectations directed toward people socialized as women. The use of ecopoetics highlights the relationship between traumas to the earth brought about by climate change, war, and worldwide suffering, and those brought upon the human body (specifically marginalized bodies) by grief, illness, abuse, and the loss of self. The collection ultimately aims to establish explicit connections between internal and …

The Role Of Family And Peer Social Support Against Bullying Involvement Among Sexual Minority Latine Young Adults, Guadalupe Gutierrez

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Bullying is a significant risk factor for healthy youth development and functioning. Research on bullying has provided evidence that bullying involvement is linked to negative mental health outcomes for young adults; however, researchers have yet to fully explore the relationship between the different bullying statuses (victims, perpetrators, bully-victims) and internalized problems (anxiety and depression), and whether peer/friend and family support serves as a protective factor. In addition, a significant amount of research on bullying has been conducted in Europe and the United States but it remains limited in Latin American countries. The current research demonstrates that bullying is a significant …

That Way: An Examination Of Male Relationships In Film During The Hays Code, Jane Knudsen

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The Hays Code (1934-1968) influenced the construct of United States masculinity and the discourse surrounding masculine presentation between the 1920s to the 1960s. The Hays Code and World War II affected the culture surrounding male/male relationships in the United States. Previous research done by David Lugowski (1999) and Jeffrey Suzik (1999) shows that both World Wars led to crises of masculinity in which the hegemonic ideal of masculinity was restructured to establish men as providers and warriors, and Code-era films reflected the discourse. To understand the gender roles in the 20^th century, I analyzed the Hays code, male bonds, …

American Perspectives On The Legitimacy Of Transgender Identities, Sethe Zachman

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This mixed-method project examines how Americans’ and Nebraskans’ perceptions of the validity of transgender identities varies by the demographic characteristics of respondents, and how these perceptions are justified. Two representative surveys are used to examine demographic associations with opinion on the cisgender and transgender binary: the 2023 American Values Atlas (AVA) from the Public Religion Research Institute (N=4,788) and the 2022 Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS) (N=934) from the Bureau of Sociological Research. A measure from the AVA data examines the degree to which respondents believe there are only two genders versus a range of gender identities. The NASIS …