Hegemony and Heteronormativity: Homonormative Discourses of LGBTQ Activists About Lesbian and Gay Parenting

ABSTRACT

LGBTQ activists have a crucial role in fighting sexuality-based discrimination. However, homonormativity can lead activists to adhere to hegemonic heteronormativity, thus threatening their efforts to widen the concept of family. Drawing on the Gramscian notion of hegemony, this article analyzes the notion of heteronormativity and its homonormative facet as a form of hegemony that impacts activists, sustaining the premises of heteronormativity and seeking inclusion within such norms. This research investigates the hegemonic heteronormative assumptions that endure in the discourses of Italian LGBTQ activists when they talk about lesbian and gay parenting. Findings highlight the presence of heteronormative traces in their discourses, namely in terms of access to reproduction, the parents’ place within the regime of gender, and the right standards for child rearing. Hegemonic heteronormativity appears in multiform ways, and as largely consensual even to those it more directly oppresses, making it difficult to detect and therefore to deconstruct.     

Saying the Unsaid: Probing Homosexuality in The Hairdresser of Harare

ABSTRACT

Homosexuality in Zimbabwe often evokes strong reactions. Due to a tradition of silence, the topic largely continues to be taboo. However, it has been used by some politicians and church leaders to strengthen arguments and to denounce opponents. It is against this background that The Hairdresser of Harare (Huchu, 2010) ought to be understood. The novel gives helpful clues into discourses on homosexuality in contemporary Zimbabwe. This article analyzes the author’s approach to the subject and critiques it. It maintains that the author’s view on homosexuality has been limited by attaching the theme to postcolonial politics and violence. However, the article appreciates his courage in exploring the theme.     

The Charisma and Deception of Reparative Therapies: When Medical Science Beds Religion

ABSTRACT

In this article, I examine the history and resurgence of interest in sexual reorientation or reparative therapies. I begin with a critique of the contemporary “ex-gay” movement, interrogating Exodus as the prototype of a politico-religious transformational ministry that works to “cure” homosexuals, and examine how Exodus utilizes ex-gay testimony to deceive harried homosexuals looking for escape from the effects of internalized and cultural homophobia. Next, I investigate how reparative therapies function as orthodox treatments that charismatically meld conservative religious perspectives with medical science to produce a pseudoscience promising to treat homosexuality effectively. In this regard, I assess the ongoing debate regarding gay-affirming versus reparative therapies by first looking at the history of medicalizing homosexuality and then surveying the debate spurred by Robert L. Spitzer's research. I conclude with a consideration of research needed to measure whether efficacious change in sexual orientation is possible.     

Go home, gay boy! Or, why do Singaporean gay men prefer to "go home" and not "come out"?

Anglo-American ontologies posit that gay men should come out to match their outer selves with their inner ones. In Confucianized Singapore, however, gay men refrain from coming out to their parents to avoid shaming their families. Instead, they couch their homosexuality in kinship terms and "go home" with their boyfriends (Chou, 2000). "Going home" gains familial acceptance, but it does not challenge mainstream discourses of homosexuality. By examining how Singaporean gay men negotiate their sexuality with their families, I question the validity of coming out and going home as both ontological discourses and strategies.     

Developing Lesbian Identity: A Sociohistorical Approach

The process of construction of lesbian identity in a group of eight Spanish women is analyzed from a historical–cultural perspective. For that purpose, we provide a characterization of discourses about homosexuality in Spain and the way in which these discourses are intertwined with autobiographical narratives of the participants. The participants' life stories were analyzed using a qualitative methodology. We focused on the relationship between self and lesbianism and emphasized the themes related to identity issues (development of lesbian identity and reflections about identity). As a conclusion, we stress the need to deconstruct stigmatizing discourses about homosexuality for the development of a positive personal identity.     

How Religiosity Shapes Rejection of Homosexuality Across the Globe

ABSTRACT

This study investigates to what extent different dimensions of religiosity are differentially related to rejection of homosexuality in countries around the world and, moreover, to what extent these relationships can be explained by particular mediators: authoritarianism and traditional gender beliefs. The theoretical framework includes in particular socialization and integration theories. Hypotheses are tested by employing multilevel models, using data from the World Values Survey, covering 55 countries around the world for the period 2010–2014. The results indicate that every dimension of religiosity has a positive relationship with rejection of homosexuality, rejecting some of our hypotheses: those who adhere to any denomination more often attend religious services and have stronger religious particularistic beliefs, or those who are more religiously salient do reject homosexuality more strongly. Sobel tests and bootstrapping procedures indicate that the relationships between the dimensions of religiosity and rejection of homosexuality are partially explained by authoritarianism and traditional gender beliefs.     

The Workings of Homonormativity: Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,and Queer Discourses on Discrimination and Public Displays of Affections in Portugal

This article analyzes how heteronormative discourse may be (re)produced by the very same people it serves to oppress, binding heteronormativity to a specific form of homonormativity. Furthermore, this article also links Portuguese history and society by discussing the context and the recent legal changes that led to legislation providing for same-sex marriage. Using thematic analysis of 14 interviews, this article demonstrates how heteronorms are upheld in the discourses of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) participants. Themes linked to public displays of affection and discrimination emerged from the interviews. Participant discourses are analyzed in terms of their incorporation of heteronorms. Homonormativity is present in both the themes subject to analysis. Analysis of the interviews shows how transgressing the heteronorm implies costs and is ultimately perceived as a personal risk. This article concludes that the lack of discursive resistance denies the possibility of re-signification and subversion even in LGBQ discourses. This clearly indicates the pervasiveness of discourses reiterating heteronorms, even those issued by those most oppressed by such norms.     

Between Legal Recognition and Moral Policing: Mapping the Queer Subject in India

ABSTRACT

With the decriminalization of homosexuality in India in 2009, Indian queer subjects have become visible in various ways. Where Indian queer identities have asserted their public presence through Pride marches and protests, incidents of moral policing and surveillance, especially after decriminalization, have highlighted the broader social and religious attitudes that continue to pathologize homosexuality with grave outcomes. This article argues that debates around access to health care of Indian queer subjects must be framed against the social and religious pathologization of homosexuality in various contexts, which remains a primary bioethical dilemma, particularly in relation to legal change.     

The Erotic Lesbian in the Spanish Sexploitation Films of the 1970s

This article studies the representation of female homosexuality in the newly born erotic Spanish cinema of the 1970s, questioning the political and social implications of these first representations of lesbianism which contributed to shaping the first democratic discourses around women's sexuality. In order to do so, it looks at some of the most relevant films of the genre (most of which have never been studied before) and examines their portrayal of lesbian sex, focusing later on the figure of Ignacio F. Iquino and his film The Mask as the main representative of this genre in order to prove how the narrative construction of the eroticizing lesbian was largely based upon fascist conceptions of homosexuality.     

Modernization of Power in Legal and Medical Discourses: The Birth of the (Male) Homosexual in Hong Kong and Its Aftermath

The removal of homosexuality from the list of mental disorders and the repeal of restrictive sexual laws deem that Foucault's argument on the discursive control of homosexuality requires refinement to take into consideration the continual modernization and improvement of power. This article examines the multilayered discursive terrain in Hong Kong where homosexuality is created, regulated, and contested in the contemporary era. With the popularization of human rights discourse, sexual dissidents are not simply treated as criminal or pathological; rather, legal and medical discourses have shifted to an increasing reliance on notions of risk to put mechanisms of social regulation in place.     

The Relationship Between Homosexuality,Internalized Homo-Negativity,and Mental Health in Men Who Have Sex with Men

ABSTRACT

Whether homosexuality or internalized homo-negativity is the critical variable affecting the mental health of men who have sex with men has long been debated. As part of a larger study, 422 Midwestern homosexual men completed questionnaires examining degree of homosexuality, internalized homo-negativity, and depression. Logistic regression modeling identified internalized homo-negativity, but not degree of homosexuality, as significantly associated with greater adjustment depression (OR?=?1.5), major depression (OR?=?2.6), dysthymia (OR?=?1.5), and likelihood of being in therapy (OR?=?1.4). Internalized homo-negativity was also negatively associated with overall sexual health, psychosexual maturation, comfort with sexual orientation, “outness,” and peer socialization. Internalized homo-negativity, not homosexuality, appears associated with negative health outcomes. Providers should promote sexual health and avoid interventions that reinforce internalized homo-negativity.     

Sexual Prejudice Among Puerto Rican Young Adults

Abstract

Sexual prejudice is linked to hate crimes, mental health, risk behaviors, and stigma. Few studies have examined sexual prejudice among Latinos. We surveyed 382 college students in Puerto Rico. A structural model tested whether contact and positive experiences with homosexuals, perceived similarities with peers' attitudes toward homosexuality, and religiosity were predictive of sexual prejudice among Puerto Rican young adults. Sex differences in the structural model were explored. With the exception of peers' attitudes toward homosexuality, all study variables predict sexual prejudice. No sex differences were found. Implications for decreasing sexual prejudice among Puerto Rican youth in a college setting are discussed.     

Visibly ageing femininities: women’s visual discourses of being over-40 and over-50 on Instagram

Abstract

This article explores visual discourses about over-40 and over-50 femininities that emerge from women’s own Instagram accounts. It analyses women’s visual and textual rhetoric of what over-40 and over-50 looks like, and whether it could interrupt the ageist, sexist, and body-normative discourses of female ageing and visibility. Intertextual visual discourse analysis of images, captions, and hashtags reveals two dominant themes (fitness and fashion) and two repeating rhetorical elements (motherhood and self-sufficiency) through which women make themselves visible as over-40/50. A few explicitly subversive discourses (i.e., over-40 fatshion account) exist, but a discourse of a healthy, fit, fashionable, independent, self-sufficient, and happy mother over-40/50 is prevalent. It easily lends itself to being interpreted as an insidious reproduction of post-feminist ideology, but I argue that there are moments of critique and subversion within. Thus, a reparative reading that acknowledges moments of disconnect from the discourse that normalizes ageing women’s limited or non-existent visibility is offered.     

Taking Up the Cudgels Against Gay Rights? Trends and Trajectories in African Christian Theologies on Homosexuality

Against the background of the HIV epidemic and the intense public controversy on homosexuality in African societies, this article investigates the discourses of academic African Christian theologians on homosexuality. Distinguishing some major strands in African theology, that is, inculturation, liberation, women's and reconstruction theology, the article examines how the central concepts of culture, liberation, justice, and human rights function in these discourses. On the basis of a qualitative analysis of a large number of publications, the article shows that stances of African theologians are varying from silence and rejection to acceptance. Although many African theologians have taken up the cudgels against gay rights, some "dissident voices" break the taboo and develop more inclusive concepts of African identity and African Christianity.     

Hungarian Medical Students’ Knowledge About and Attitude Toward Homosexual,Bisexual, and Transsexual Individuals

ABSTRACT

Discrimination that LGBTQ individuals experience in health care settings might affect their health and intention of using health care services. However, health needs of LGBTQ patients are still inappropriately addressed in the medical curriculum. First-, third-, and fourth-year medical students (N = 569) from the four Hungarian medical universities participated in a study in 2017 to assess knowledge about homosexuality, homonegativity, and their attitude as health care professionals toward sexual minorities. We found that higher levels of knowledge about homosexuality were associated with lower levels of homonegativity, upper-grade level in university, not being religious, and having close LGBTQ acquaintances. Our results suggest that it may be necessary to introduce LGBTQ themes in the medical curricula (not only in Hungary, but also in other countries) in order to improve the knowledge and attitude of medical students and thereby improve the health care of LGBTQ individuals.     

A Comparative Study of Attitudes Toward Same-Gender Parenting and Gay and Lesbian Rights in Portugal and in Mexico

ABSTRACT

The belief that gay men and lesbians are unable to provide a stable environment in which to raise children fuels manifestations of sexual prejudice that are still highly prevalent in Portugal and Mexico. The aim of this study was to assess attitudes toward same-gender parenting and gay and lesbian rights, as well as beliefs about the controllability of homosexuality among a sample of 531 university students. A further aim was to assess the predictors of attitudes toward same-gender parenting. Results revealed the existence of ambivalent attitudes toward same-gender parenting. The belief that homosexuality is a choice and thus controllable in particular explained over 50% of the total variance of attitudes toward same-gender parenting. Being a man, older, and highly religious predicted higher levels of sexual prejudice regarding same-gender parenting. Comparative cross-cultural studies have the potential to highlight common features but also specificities of sexual prejudice.     

On Our Memory of Gay Sullivan: A Hidden Trajectory

ABSTRACT

This article examines psychiatrist Harry Stack Sullivan's approach to the issue of homosexuality. Sullivan (1892–1949), well-known for his interpersonal theory of mental illness, is believed to have accomplished a high recovery rate in his treatment of schizophrenia during the 1920s. Most of his patients, as well as Sullivan himself, were concerned about their “homosexual” orientations. He encouraged physical affection between male patients and male attendants, believing that it would free patients from their guilt for their “unconventional” sexuality. But he kept his compelling practice hidden, not bringing it into open discussion to confront the definition of homosexuality as “sickness.” This article traces the process in which the omission of the important aspect of Sullivan's practice began during his lifetime and continued in the scholarship since. In so doing, the article suggests a nuanced understanding of this important figure in the U.S. intellectual and cultural history of homosexuality.     

Navigating Islam and Same-Sex Liaisons Among Men in Turkey

ABSTRACT

This study reports the experiences of 20 Turkish men in having sex with men in an Islamic society. As part of a broader study on Turkish homosexualities, the article analyzes responses to the question, “What joys and difficulties have you experienced regarding your sexual orientation in relation to Islam?” to elicit responses on how Islam and homosexuality might coexist in everyday life.