Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans And Queer Research Articles

Under Construction: Toward a Theory and Praxis of Queer Peacebuilding

This article explores what queer as a concept brings to peacebuilding, presenting a guiding framework and introduction for a special issue on queer peacebuilding. It offers an initial approach to the topic, which means to center queer and trans perspectives of peace and bring queer epistemologies to bear on how peace is constituted so as to rearticulate the concept both in theory and praxis. In doing so, it addresses an unexamined gap in peacebuilding efforts to achieve gender justice and inclusive security in conflict-affected societies, namely the unique experiences of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer) individuals and their collective efforts to achieve social justice in these contexts. The authors approach the topic of queer peacebuilding through three questions: What is queer peacebuilding?, ‘Why is queer peacebuilding important? and What can queer peacebuilding contribute? While the impacts of queer peacebuilding in sites of contentious politics around the globe are visible, it remains an emergent and somewhat elusive concept, still under construction within peace and security scholarship and practice. By presenting a conceptualization of the notion of queer peacebuiling, the authors seek to further academic efforts to construct and analyze queer peace.

“People with faith-based objections might display homophobic behaviour or transphobic behaviour”: older LGBTQ people’s fears about religious organisations and staff providing long-term care

ABSTRACT Older lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) people are concerned that their needs will not be recognised, understood or met in older age care spaces. Some are especially worried about care provided by religious care organisations and/or staff with negative beliefs about LGBTQ people and their lives. While these issues have been raised at the margins of previous research, there has not, until now, been a study which has focussed upon them. This article reports on a recent UK preliminary scoping consultation research project, which explored older LGBTQ people’s views about possible care from religious organisations and/or carers. The findings highlight four key fears about: 1) inferior care quality; 2) a lack of affirmative, anti-oppressive care; 3) religious-based prejudice and discrimination; 4) religious conversion attempts. Each theme is considered in relation to social justice, i.e., equality of resources, recognition, representation, and relationality. The need for open dialogue and debate is highlighted and a research agenda is proposed. There is an urgent need to understand what happens in the delivery of care to LGBTQ people by religious care organisations and/or staff, place the concerns identified here in their proper context and determine the appropriate responses.

Can religious social workers practice affirmatively with LGBTQ service recipients? An exploration within the regulatory context

ABSTRACT Tensions between religious freedoms and lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) rights have evolved from debates about sinful deviance to competing equality claims. There is a growing debate, originally in the US, but emerging in the UK, about whether religious social workers, particularly those holding fundamentalist Christian beliefs, can deliver affirmative, anti-oppressive services to LGBTQ people. This is important because over two-fifths of social workers identify as Christian and almost a quarter of UK charities, including those running community and residential care services for older people, are religious organisations. These concerns have been highlighted in a recent judicial review involving a social work student, Felix Ngole, who was expelled by the University of Sheffield for making homophobic comments on his Facebook page. The Court of Appeal ruled the University’s decision was procedurally flawed and had conflated religious prejudice with discrimination. This paper considers 70 online responses to a Community Care article written by Ngole, which highlight divided opinions within the social work profession. It critically interrogates, within regulatory contexts, whether it is possible to be both deeply opposed to LGBTQ people’s lives and yet work affirmatively and anti-oppressively with them. An urgent research agenda is proposed.

Queering the kinship story: constructing connection through LGBTQ family narratives

Recent research into LGBTQ kinship has suggested that reproductive technology might stabilise and/or disrupt dominant ideals about the importance of biogenetic relatedness in family formation. This article examines the way adults raised in lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) households are interested in tracing queer family histories, rather than solely their biological relations. Data comes from biographical narrative interviews with twenty-two adult children raised by LGBTQ parents. The article examines how participants’ kinship stories relate to parents’ identities and journeys to, and through, LGBTQ parenthood. Knowledge of queer kinship was pivotal in the process of self-making and enabled participants to produce and express connections between themselves and their LGBTQ parents. Furthermore, queer social histories allowed them to articulate their affinity to LGBTQ communities and culture more widely, particularly noting their knowledge and experience of socio-legal discrimination against LGBTQ people. Thus, kinship narratives of people raised by LGBTQ parents highlight that the desire to ‘know where we come from’ is not rooted exclusively in biogenetics. In this case, kinship stories disrupted the established biogenetic narrative, stressing the importance of LGBTQ culture and history for constructing a connection between collective and individual identity.

Diversity Monitoring in the Library

The collection of data about the identity characteristics of library users is the latest development in a long history of contested categorisation practices. In this article, I highlight how the collection of data about lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) people has implications for the undertaking of diversity monitoring exercises in academic and public libraries. Based on experiences in the United Kingdom, I argue that recuperative efforts to ‘fix’ categorisation practices are not enough and overlook how categories of gender, sex and sexuality are constructed through the practice of diversity monitoring, how categories are positioned in time and space, and who is involved in decision-making about who to include and exclude from the category of ‘LGBTQ’.

Facilitators and Barriers of HPV Vaccine Acceptance, Initiation, and Completion among LGBTQ Community in the U.S.: A Systematic Review

Objective: This study aims to identify facilitators and barriers of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine acceptance, initiation, and completion among LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer) individuals. Method: A systematic review of qualitative and quantitative studies on HPV vaccine acceptance, initiation, and completion from 2006 to June 15, 2020 was performed in each database. Results: Twenty-six studies focusing on HPV vaccination among LGBTQ individuals were reviewed. Conclusions: Knowledge of HPV vaccine and healthcare providers’ recommendations were identified as facilitators to receive HPV vaccinate, while high co-pay cost and concerns of the effectiveness and safety were identified as barriers.

Teaching for LGBTQ inclusion in online settings

This teaching case focuses on how online instructors can be inclusive of sexual and gender diversity in their courses. Drawing on feminist pedagogical principles and queer pedagogy, I suggest three starting points for online instructors to engage an LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer) inclusive pedagogy: (1) openness and respect for diversity, (2) queer storytelling, and (3) social media engagement. I argue that online learning offers a useful location for queer identities and queer knowledge to grow, especially for students who live in socially restrictive spaces. Instructors will need to become advocates and challenge heterosexualizing discourses and hetero/cisnormativity in online learning.

More than happiness: Aliveness and struggle in lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer lives

Happiness is often seen as the product of a good life, and can be attached to normative institutions such as marriage. The pursuit of happiness has been critically scrutinised, including by queer theorists and particularly Sara Ahmed who proposes a concept of aliveness. This article explores what it means to put liveability into conversation with critical engagements with happiness. Using transnational empirical material regarding what makes lives liveable for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) people in India and the UK, we argue that this dialogue not only expands upon the existing critiques of happiness, but also rethinks liveability as a form of struggle between ‘living’ and ‘surviving’. Challenge and struggle can be central to feeling alive. This emerges most prominently when LGBTQ people feel part of a collective struggle, or when they feel others are supporting them in their individual struggle. Delinking a normative understanding of happiness from liveability brings us closer to everyday struggles as a way to chart out paths through hegemonic orders and normativities. A good life can have ‘flowers and sunshine’ but it is not necessarily, or always, happy.

Transcript of A Keynote from “Kings & Queens 7” (2018): Researching and Interpreting Gender and Sexuality at Historic Royal Palaces

Historic Royal Palaces researches and interprets histories of gender and sexuality in the palaces it cares for. Work on LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer) histories and identities has increased in museums and heritage sites recently. There is a pressing social need for this work, as LGBTQ people continue to experience various kinds of discrimination and prejudice. Evidence suggests that the work of museums and heritage organisations can have a positive impact on LGBTQ lives and rights. There are many examples of queer lives and identities in British royal history, but this paper shows that beyond the ‘usual suspects’ (such as James VI & I and Queen Anne), the histories of courtiers, servants, artists, and designers around the royal court are rewarding areas of study. This paper suggests that material culture studies could be used more effectively, and histories of creative queering of monarchy can inform perceptions of the institution itself.

LGBTQ youth activism and school: challenging sexuality and gender norms

PurposePrevious research examining the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) youth in schools suggests that schools are not inclusive places for non-heterosexual students. Some scholars, however, suggest that a continued focus on how these young people are marginalised is itself a problem, and that research should also focus on strengths and what is working. The purpose of this paper is to examine the activities of a group of LGBTQ students in one school in Auckland, New Zealand.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed a critical ethnographic approach in a diverse co-educational, public high school in Auckland, New Zealand. The researcher spent 3-5 days per week at the school throughout three terms (32 weeks) of the 2016 school year and participated, observed and interviewed students and teachers. Post-structural theory was used to analyse the ethnographic materials.FindingsThe study found that LGBTQ students actively challenged the heteronorms of their school. They met regularly to discuss issues, support each other and to plan activist initiatives. These initiatives, in turn, impacted the environment of the school and made LGBTQ students more visible. This visibility, however, also created tensions as students grappled with their identities and the public space of school.Originality/valueDespite a wealth of research in education on the exclusion of young people at the intersection of gender, sexuality and other identity positions, there is very little research that reports on school-wide health promotion initiatives that both engage young people as leaders and participants in their schools, and work towards creating safe and empowering spaces for LGBTQ youth.

Literature Review of Social Justice in Music Education: Acknowledging Oppression and Privilege

Within the past few years the notions of a postracial America and achieved equality have been topics of discussion in various public and social circles. The visibility of racial and ethnic minorities, women, those in the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer) community, and individuals with disabilities feeds a narrative of equality within a postracial America. However, the aforementioned groups still face discrimination. Social justice offers equity within social spaces by challenging injustices inflicted on disfranchised groups. Given the complex nature of injustices against disfranchised people, how can music educators address these issues that appear to be extramusical and beyond our control? This literature review defines social justice and explores social justice issues in (a) music education, (b) higher education, and (c) pathways toward more socially just practices.

Critical perspectives on the diversity of research into sexualities and health in Aotearoa/New Zealand: Thinking outside the boxes

In this article we provide a critical narrative review of the diverse contemporary research into sexualities and health in Aotearoa/New Zealand. We outline the specific colonial context of Aotearoa/New Zealand and the implications of this context for health research with lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) communities. The review draws on examples from our own experience carrying out LGBTQ health psychology research and wider research outside the boxes of psychology as a discipline, outside sexualities as simple identity categories, and outside HIV/AIDS as focus of much LGBTQ health research in recent decades and at present. We review existing LGBTQ health research from Aotearoa/New Zealand with regards to three central themes: (1) holistic approaches to health and healthcare for LGBTQ communities; (2) challenges in working towards health equalities for LGBTQ communities; and (3) theorisation of the impact of discrimination on the health of members of LGBTQ communities. Throughout the review we emphasise critical perspectives on research into sexualities and health and the importance of considering whether LGBTQ communities benefit from research. We also make suggestions for enhancing the criticality of LGBTQ health research in Aotearoa/New Zealand and illustrate how research into sexualities and health in Aotearoa/New Zealand provides useful examples for LGBTQ health researchers in other contexts.

Does quality matter? Health information behaviors of LGBTQ youth in Prince George, Canada

ABSTRACTA large proportion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) health information behavior scholarship emphasizes sexual health topics. This project, however, concerned LGBTQ youth information behaviors on everyday health topics. We asked youth to map where they prefer to go for health information and when in those places, how they find health information. The most commonly discussed topic by participants was either how to find or what is quality information. Interestingly, participants had varying opinions on what is associated with both how to find or what is quality information. This paper describes the opinions of the youth on the significance and characteristics of quality information.

Not Only Little Monsters: Diversity in Music Fandom in LGBTQ Lives

This paper challenges common representations of LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans* and Queer) music fans, broadening the scope by considering a variety of LGBTQ individuals and fandoms. With this aim, we discuss the narratives on “being a fan” in six life stories of self-identified LGBTQ individuals, who have participated in an oral history project on the role of music in LGBTQ lives. The analysis discloses a great diversity of what being a fan means, covering various intensities of fandom, how narrators conceptualize the topic in their own words, within their daily lives, and in relation to their sexual and gender identifications. These accounts further explore and move beyond established stereotypes of LGBTQ fandom, often focusing on extreme fans and specific fan objects,1 and instead indicate diversity on a number of continuums: from active to more passive fandom, from diva worship to participating in DIY cultures, from listening to making music, and from theoretical to emotional involvement. Keywords: fandom, LGBTQ, oral history interviews, identity, sexuality, everyday life

Searching for my palm tree: Epistemological journeying of a child welfare doctoral student

This article explores a social work doctoral student’s self-reflexive journey in search of a suitable epistemology for her qualitative social work doctoral research with lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) youth in child welfare. It will highlight the deep influence that colonialism and imperialism can have on embodied knowledge and the importance of pushing against these paradigms to help bring forward the voices from the margins.

Psychology of Sexualities: Past, present and future directions

Professor Elizabeth Peel, the Chair of the Psychology of Sexualities Section, has been involved in the Section since its inception. She was the Editor of the Section’s previous publication, the Lesbian and Gay Psychology Review, and has gone on to publish prolifically in the field. Liz has published three books in the psychology of sexualities field including Out in Psychology (Clarke & Peel, 2007) which won a distinguished book award in 2012 from the American Psychological Association’s Division 44 and the first undergraduate textbook in lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) psychology (Clarke et al., 2010) which won a British Psychological Society book prize in 2013. She has also won several prizes from the Section including the 2012 research prize. Her latest book focuses on ageing and sexualities with Rosie Harding (Peel & Harding, 2016). In March 2015, I interviewed Elizabeth about her role as Chair of the Section and her views on the current state of the field. What follows is an edited version of our conversation.

Letter from Toronto: Post-World Pride 2014 Reflections on LGBTQ Art and Activism

LGBTQ-themed exhibitions mounted by some of Toronto's key art institutions in conjunction with World Pride 2014 offered a significant opportunity to think about what (if anything specific) it is that we want or expect LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer) art to communicate directly about human community, human diversity and human dignity in the twenty-first century. In critiquing some of the work on display in these exhibitions, this practice note suggests a need for more LGBTQ-themed art that does full justice to formative individual experience but also moves outward from a preoccupation with self to remind spectators of worlds elsewhere. The work of South African photographer, Zanele Muholi, and of Moroccan novelist and film-maker, Abdellah Taïa, suggest fresh possibilities for a less parochial approach to exploring LGBTQ identities through various forms of cultural production.

Using interactive theatre to help fertility providers better understand sexual and gender minority patients

ObjectiveTo determine the effectiveness of interactive theatre as a knowledge translation and exchange (KTE) method to educate assisted human reproduction (AHR) service providers about lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer...

The Ellen DeGeneration: nudging bias in the creative arts classroom

Research in the areas of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) issues in education has been growing steadily over the past 10 years with the help of Fine and Weis (Silenced voices and extraordinary conversations: re-imagining schools, 2003), Rasmussen (Becoming subjects: sexualities and secondary schooling, 2006), Tolman (Dilemmas of Desire: Teenage girls talk about sexuality, 2002) and others. Simultaneously, LGBT figures in popular media such as Ellen DeGeneres have influenced the rhizomatic growth of communities of difference (Fine et al. Harvard Educational Review, 67(2):247–285, 1997), significantly influencing classroom intersubjectivities in both spoken and unspoken ways. Creative arts industries and classrooms offer new possibilities for expression of alternate positionalities and new vistas of difference (including similarity), and this article argues the value of holding these difficult conversations toward liberatory pedagogies. The classroom encounter described in this article stresses the urgent need for continuing sexualities diversity dialogue in schools, highlighting its compatibilities with antiracist, anticlassist and antipatriarchal narratives.

Guidelines for Researching and Writing About Bisexuality

The authors are a group of researchers and writers who work on bisexuality, organize bisexual research conferences, and take part in discussions on many bisexual and lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) academic forums. The authors have noticed, over the years, many problematic tendencies in research that focuses on, or includes, bisexuals. The authors therefore felt that it would be useful to come up with a list of ‘good practice’ guidelines for people researching and writing in this area. These should be particularly useful to those new to the area when they send out their calls for participants, to avoid alienating those participants or finding themselves ‘reinventing the wheel’ with their studies. Hopefully, the guidelines will also be helpful for experienced researchers to reflect on their research practices.