Religion,Contact, and Ambivalent Attitudes Toward the Rights of Gays and Lesbians in Barbados

ABSTRACT

Over 70 countries in the world currently carry anti-gay laws, among which is Barbados, a small English-speaking Caribbean island. This study evaluates whether heterosexuals in Barbados are consistent or ambivalent in their attitudes toward anti-gay law reform and the extent to which competing messages from interpersonal contact and religion affect ambivalence. The analysis revealed that a majority of heterosexuals hold ambivalent attitudes about gay and lesbian rights. Moreover, results from a multinomial logistic regression imply that Barbadians whose views on sexuality were theologically based were less likely to support restrictions on same-sex intimacy when they have a close relationship with a gay man or lesbian. However, this decline in support for the laws brought about by meaningful contact did not translate to support for gay and lesbian rights among the religiously inclined. Rather, it manifested itself as a state of attitudinal ambivalence.     

Disclosure as an interaction: why lesbian athletes disclose their sexual identities in intercollegiate sport

Over the years, the number of gay, bisexual, and lesbian athletes who have disclosed their sexual identities has been increasing. Given that sport has traditionally been defined as a heterosexist institution, this pattern is deserving of attention and investigation ( Anderson, 2001 ). In response, the present study examines why intercollegiate lesbian athletes disclose their sexual identities in the sport context. In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 self-identified lesbian athletes who disclosed their sexual identities while participating in intercollegiate sport. Unlike most past literature on disclosure, the present study approaches disclosure as an interactional process that involves a discloser, an audience, and a context.     

Negating Identity: A Feminist Analysis of the Social Invisibility of Older Lesbians

SUMMARY

Older lesbians are invisible both within and outside of the lesbian community. Using a postmodern and lesbian feminist approach, in this article we identify a paradox in our society which defines lesbians in terms of their sexuality while older women are generally viewed as asexual. We suggest that this paradox contributes to the invisibility of older lesbians. Our focus is on the interactive nature of the relationship between personal and public constructions of lesbianism in the lives of older women. Finally, we discuss the potential impact of invisibility on self-identity, and using a feminist gerontological framework suggest implications for the empowerment of older lesbians.     

Transnational Mobilties in Snowboarding Culture: Travel,Tourism and Lifestyle Migration

Abstract

Drawing upon global ethnographic methods conducted in six countries over seven years, this paper offers the first in-depth examination of the transnational flows and corporeal mobilities in the contemporary physical culture of snowboarding. Focusing on the travel and migration experiences of various groups of snowboarders (that is, tourists, professional athletes and lifestyle sport migrants), and engaging recent work by human geographers, as well as Pierre Bourdieu’s key concepts of field, capital and habitus, this paper reveals fresh insights into the lived transnationalism and global migration of contemporary youth facilitated by the ‘action’, ‘alternative’ or ‘extreme’ sports economy.     

Before and After “I Do”: Marriage Processes for Mid-Life Gay and Lesbian Married Couples

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study examines how mid-life gay and lesbian married individuals articulate their decision to marry. Using 2013 data from 30 mid-life couples in Massachusetts, this study challenges previous literature that conceptualized marriage as entirely positive or negative for same-sex individuals. Mid-life individuals’ unique social and historical context influence their experiences of marriage, as mid-life individuals have witnessed the rise and feasibility of marriage equality, have formed relationships outside of the bounds of marriage, and have been in committed relationships long before they married. Using the framework of ambivalence, our findings provide three main contributions to the literature. First, we show that marital ambivalence is a common experience in our sample. Second, we detail how marital ambivalence is indicative of the age, life-course stage, and length of relationship for mid-life lesbian and gay individuals. Third, we explore ambivalence at the level of the relationship, not just as an individual experience. This study provides new insight into how sexuality shapes both intimate relationship dynamics as well as the effect of same-sex marriage on LGBT communities and identities.     

Concealing Concealment: The Mediating Role of Internalized Heterosexism in Psychological Distress Among Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Older Adults

ABSTRACT

Recent population-based studies indicate that sexual minorities aged 50 and older experience significantly higher rates of psychological distress than their heterosexual age-peers. The minority stress model has been useful in explaining disparately high rates of psychological distress among younger sexual minorities. The purpose of this study is to test a hypothesized structural relationship between two minority stressors—internalized heterosexism and concealment of sexual orientation—and consequent psychological distress among a sample of 2,349 lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults aged 50 to 95 years old. Structural equation modeling indicates that concealment has a nonsignificant direct effect on psychological distress but a significant indirect effect that is mediated through internalized heterosexism; the effect of concealment is itself concealed. This may explain divergent results regarding the role of concealment in psychological distress in other studies, and the implications will be discussed.     

The Emergence and Persistence of Queerness: Conversing Through Visual Culture Within a Generation

ABSTRACT

In this article, the authors explore the work of becoming queer within the Millennial generation. Collaborative in nature, their investigation turns to three key popular-culture texts of the 1990s—Will & Grace, Rent, and MTV’s Spring Break—that were central to their then-emerging sense of self. Staged as an intragenerational conversation, the authors look to create space to unpack the connections, anecdotal by design, between popular texts and changing ideas of queer identity and community. Since neither author grew up within the confines of a gay ghetto—Boystown of Chicago, the Castro of San Francisco, the East Village of New York City—where they may have encountered and been enamored by the avant-garde queer subcultures so often praised in queer scholarship (for important reasons), they turn instead to experiences with popular culture that opened up lessons in becoming gay, in rural and Midwestern locales where queerness operated and emerged differently.     

Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Individuals’ Perceptions of American Religious Traditions

ABSTRACT

The cumulative alienation sexual minorities experience from American mainline religious groups may leave them feeling disillusioned and even hostile toward the religious organizations that have historically rejected them. However, research to date has not explored sexual minorities’ perceptions of religious traditions in the United States. The current study examines the variations between lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults’ (LGB) perceptions of whether religious traditions are friendly/neutral or unfriendly toward the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) population. Using data from the Pew Research Center 2013 Survey of LGBT Adults, the author conducts separate binary logistic regression analyses examining whether four religious traditions—evangelical Protestantism, the Catholic Church, the Jewish religion, and mainline Protestantism—are generally perceived as friendly/neutral or unfriendly toward LGBT people. The findings from this study offer rare insight on sexual minorities’ perceptions of major religious traditions and illustrates that sexual minorities have a complex relationship with religion.     

Negotiating Religiosity and Sexual Identity Among Hispanic Lesbian Mothers

ABSTRACT

Hispanic lesbian mothers face bicultural tensions that stigmatize their roles as mothers. Religion could produce heightened conflict given their potential incompatibility with the role of a “good mother.” In particular, there is a potential for conflict between the definition of a “good mother” set forth in Catholicism and the sexual orientation of Hispanic lesbians. I conducted semistructured in-depth interviews to examine how Hispanic lesbian mothers negotiate their Catholic religious identity with aspects of their sexual identity. More specifically, I examined the strategies that Hispanic lesbian mothers use to reconcile or navigate perceived conflict between their roles as a Catholic and as a lesbian. The research questions to be answered were: How do Hispanic lesbian mothers negotiate a Catholic religious and a sexual identity? How do Hispanic lesbian mothers create and maintain a religious narrative? How do Hispanic lesbian mothers redefine religion and spirituality?     

A Lesbian Identity Disclosure Assessment: ALIDA Instrument

ABSTRACT

Background and Purpose: Disclosure of lesbian sexual identity has been associated with greater self-esteem, less anxiety, and greater relationship satisfaction. Nondisclosure interferes with supportive, congenial, and intimate relationships with important people in their lives. Lesbian mothers choose nondisclosure to protect their children from social, psychological, and physical harm. Since disclosure is a health concern, ALIDA was designed to measure disclosure for lesbian mothers. Methods: ALIDA is a written, self-administered instrument with 15 questions that fall under 6 categories. It was tested on 360 lesbian mothers from 38 U.S. states. Results: ALIDA was one-dimensional, reliable (.79), and had face and concurrent validity. Regression indicated that 58% of the scores were predicted by eight variables. Conclusions: ALIDA measures disclosure and should be used in more studies.     

Homosexuality and the Heartbeat of a Locker Room: An Analysis of Quotations in the Context of Hegemonic and Inclusive Masculinity Theories

ABSTRACT

This qualitative textual analysis examines the attitudes and beliefs of the U.S. sports industry reflected in news stories through quotations (n = 405) employed by writers in the media. The researchers analyzed quotations from U.S. national newspapers regarding Jason Collins (National Basketball Association) and Michael Sam (National Football League), the first openly gay athletes in their sports leagues, and their coming-out announcements. The findings from the quotations suggest that the National Basketball Association is more accepting toward the presence of gay male teammates than adhering to a more inclusive definition of masculinity. The National Football League, however, is more resistant to the presences of gay male teammates, with more attitudes aligned with a traditional hegemonic masculinity. Whereas both organizations openly state their support for equality, there are still obstacles to achieving GLBT equality in professional sports leagues.     

Lesbian brides: post-queer popular culture

The last decade has witnessed a proliferation of lesbian representations in European and North American popular culture, particularly within television drama and broader celebrity culture. The abundance of “positive” and “ordinary” representations of lesbians is widely celebrated as signifying progress in queer struggles for social equality. Yet, as this article details, the terms of the visibility extended to lesbians within popular culture often affirm ideals of hetero-patriarchal, white femininity. Focusing on the visual and narrative registers within which lesbian romances are mediated within television drama, this article examines the emergence of what we describe as “the lesbian normal.” Tracking the ways in which the lesbian normal is anchored in a longer history of “the normal gay,” it argues that the lesbian normal is indicative of the emergence of a broader post-feminist and post-queer popular culture, in which feminist and queer struggles are imagined as completed and belonging to the past. Post-queer popular culture is depoliticising in its effects, diminishing the critical potential of feminist and queer politics, and silencing the actually existing conditions of inequality, prejudice, and stigma that continue to shape lesbian lives.     

Poppies in a wheat field: exploring the lives of rural lesbians

Many believe that lesbian identity is predicated upon the availability of opportunities in urban life to find information, support, and like others (Bell and Valentine 1995a). Indeed, exploring one's lesbian sense of self often involves identifying with a visible reference group, seeking out social arenas where there are other gays and lesbians, connecting with a local community, and taking part in gay and lesbian oriented activities. For rural residents, these opportunities are mostly unavailable, and the lack of access to information, to a public meeting space, and to connections with other lesbians further hinders the development of social group identity. Given that gay and lesbian identity has as its basis a social reference group, how might rural lesbians develop and sustain their sense of personal and group lesbian identity? With few exceptions (D'Augelli 1989; D'Augelli et al. 1987; Kramer 1995; Krieger 1982) the empirical research conducted on the lives of gays and lesbians has utilized urban and suburban samples. Likewise, research on rural life has omitted the experiences of gay and lesbian residents. Either way, information about rural lesbian life remains mostly uncovered. This pilot study attempts to provide new information about the experiences of rural lesbians. Utilizing focus group interviews, the challenges of sustaining lesbian identity in a rural setting are explored. The data show that for this sample, although rural lesbians initially felt isolated and unsure of how to develop a sense of group identity, the opportunity to connect with a small informal network of friends and acquaintances helped alleviate these problems. Further, because these women have little access to information, public gathering space, or to local gay culture, this network was said to be crucial. Without it, the women feel invisible and isolated, that is, their identity remains unseen.     

A Decade of Microaggression Research and LGBTQ Communities: An Introduction to the Special Issue

ABSTRACT

Though the Supreme Court of the U.S. legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, heterosexism and transphobia has continued to manifest through many systems in the US — from lack of federal protection in employment non-discrimination laws to polices that prohibit transgender people from using bathroom and public facilities that match their gender identities. Heterosexist and transphobic discrimination have also persisted through interpersonal interactions — ranging from more overt forms (e.g., hate crimes, bullying) to more subtle forms of discrimination, otherwise known as microaggressions. Since 2008, there have been hundreds of articles written on microaggressions, with dozens focusing specifically on experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Qualitative and quantitative studies have revealed that LGBTQ people who experience microaggressions have reported negative outcomes like depression, low self-esteem, and trauma. This special issue aims to further Microaggression Theory by providing theoretical and empirical papers that focus on the manifestation and impact of microaggressions on LGBTQ people. Using an interdisciplinary approach, articles range in topic from intersectional identities, to health and psychological outcomes, to advancing research methods. Future studies regarding microaggressions and LGBTQ people are discussed- highlighting the influence of the changing landscape of heterosexism and transphobia within general society, as well as new dynamics that have formed and developed within LGBTQ communities.     

The Politics of Lesbian Specificity

ABSTRACT

The notion of lesbian specificity must be understood in the context of heteronormative society. Heterosexual norms affect negotiations of power and sexual desire in lesbian relationships. But this investigation into woman-to-woman sexual practices also views the possibility of lesbian specificity as potentially subversive, in the sense that it poses fundamental questions about conventional discourses on sexuality and eroticism.     

An Exploration of Public Attitudes Toward LGBTI Rights in the Gauteng City-Region of South Africa

ABSTRACT

South Africa’s legal framework on the rights of sexual minorities is one of the most progressive in the world. Despite this, discrimination and violence against gay and lesbian people continues to be a challenge. Using large-scale survey data gathered in the Gauteng City-Region, this study examines public attitudes related to homosexuality. Most respondents to the survey felt that sexual minorities should have equal rights. However, a considerable proportion of respondents also held negative views toward gay and lesbian individuals, with close to two fifths of respondents believing that homosexuality is against the values of their community, and over 12% of participants holding the view that it is acceptable to be violent toward gays and lesbians. Further analysis also consists of an examination of responses cross-tabulated with the variables of race, gender, age, and education, revealing that younger, well-educated South Africans tend to be the most tolerant, but also exhibiting large variances in attitudes within groups.     

Disappearing Dykes? Post-Lesbian Discourse and Shifting Identities and Communities

ABSTRACT

Researchers and activists have argued that the term “lesbian” has been disappearing, in decline for decades, and have focused on tensions around gender and sexual identities as the source of its decline. I identify “post-lesbian discourse” as key concept in the changing landscape of LGBTQ terminology, and I highlight four concerns that emerge in this discourse: shifting lesbian politics, a too-inclusive community, a loss of lesbian spaces, and the meaning of embodied lesbian identity. Rather than focusing solely on gender and sexuality, my aim is to explore the development of post-lesbian discourse and its effects on lesbian identities and communities.