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By considering examples of representations of AIDS from across the cultural spectrum the thesis addresses the processes by which a popular understanding of the condition in this country has been constructed. Whilst many of the representations do not originate in the UK the increasing level of communicative interaction of global culture mean that there is a constant exchange across national boundaries, as there is across many other discourses, but which at particular moments have a local impact which can be considered in itself. In the light of this, the thesis considers representations circulating within the realms of: advertising and photography centred on the photograph of David Kirby taken by Therese Frare, newspaper coverage of the death of Freddie Mercury, Hollywood film including Philadelphia, health education advertisements, and art through a series of paintings by Derek Jarman. The starting point for this process in each chapter is the analysis 'of specific iconic images positioned within particular discursive frames. AIDS, as a socially significant locus of meaning around issues of disease and sexuality rather than just a strictly medical syndrome of opportunistic diseases, has so far been largely confined to the mediated realm of representation for many people in this country. Because the constituency most affected in this country is that of Gay men these representations have been continuously shaped by broader ideological concerns relating to issues of power, sexuality and legitimacy. To develop a useful sense of the implications of this across the cultural spectrum and to offer a contribution to the field of knowledge the thesis addresses the primary sites of media culture that people engage with on a regular basis to offer a reading not confined to one discursive order. From such an analysis an assessment is made of those factors that can be seen to articulate an understanding of the condition beyond the limits of anyone cultural formation working within the matrix of the dominant cultural order

The present research is concerned with the development of an instrument, the Sexual Risk Cognitions Questionnaire (SRCQ). It is designed to measure automatic thoughts related to unsafe sexual behaviour. A number of instruments already exist However, none met the specific needs of the Riverside HIV Sexual Risk Reduction project2, or specifically measured automatic cognitions related to unsafe sexual behaviour. The current research is not intended to test a single theory of HIV risk taking behaviour. The measure was developed to tap into one facet, automatic thoughts related to unsafe sexual behaviour. It is derived from contemporary social cognitive models applied to HIV risk (e.g. Gold, et al. 1992; Tallis, 1995; Bandura, 1986; Catania et al., 1990; Fisher and Fisher, 1992). It is anticipated that the instrument will measure automatic thoughts related to condom use and this will be associated with actual risk behaviour levels. Initially epidemiological evidence on the spread of HIV, emphasising the role of sexual behaviour is presented. This is followed by a review of the current literature on factors related to unsafe sexual behaviour and the theoretical models applied to unsafe sexual behaviour. The review will show that little work has been conducted on specific cognitive factors, in particular the automatic thoughts activated during sexual arousal. This is followed by a description of the development of the SRCQ and its implications for further research.

Introduction: African American, gay, cisgender men (AAGM) experience unique forms of minority stress which are associated with psychosocial pressure to engage in behaviors which they believe may reduce their exposure to negative evaluations, discrimination, and violence. However, behavioral management of stigma-related stressors has not been operationalized or measured in an intersectional manner. Cultural Consensus Modeling (CCM) is a rigorous, mixed-methodological, multiphase approach to develop a bottom-up, culturally-informed understanding of a set of behaviors shared by a cultural group. Thus, this study sought to elucidate intersectional identity management behaviors among AAGM using Phase 1 free listing data. Method: Participants were 50 AAGM (Mage = 27.9) who completed Phase 1 of a CCM study. Participants identified intersectional identity management behaviors common among similar peers using a free listing format, and responses were submitted to thematic content analyses. Results: There were 137 total valid response items, and the majority of responses (51.82%) were framed in an intersectional manner. Three major themes related to the interpersonal interaction target emerged and there were 15 sub-themes which varied in content, range, and valence. Conclusions: Responses highlighted within group heterogeneity among AAGM’s behavioral management strategies and provided preliminary evidence in support of the CCM methodology to inform the development of theory and a novel measurement tool to examine intersectional identity management in this population.

As social media use increases, so does the incidence of homophobic rhetoric on online platforms that were once meant to be safe spaces for gay men (Auxier & Anderson, 2021; Alichie, 2022). The increasing prevalence of homophobic social media has led to an increase in psychological distress among gay men; however, many mental health professions have developed ethical codes to help ensure the safe treatment of this population. Likewise, counselors advocate for systemic change to increase societal acceptance and legal protection for sexual minority people. As the fight for equality continues, so does the search for treatment interventions specifically targeted to promote cultural healing within the gay community.

This qualitative study aims to explore the unique experiences and challenges faced by Latino Caribbean cisgender gay men within their cultural and social contexts. Using focus group and thematic analysis, the researcher examines the narratives and perspectives of a diverse sample of Latino Caribbean cisgender gay men (n = 6) to gain insights into their sexual identity process, cultural influences, family dynamics, and support systems utilizing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as the methodological framework. The researcher’s findings highlight the themes of Awareness of Sexual Identity, Visibility Management, Spanish Caribbean Families' Influences, Being True to Oneself, and Positive Experiences & Role Models as key factors influencing the participants' experiences. These findings underscore the importance of understanding the intersections between sexual and cultural identities for Latino Caribbean cisgender gay men. The participants navigate the complex process of self-acceptance and disclosure while balancing cultural expectations and societal norms. The role of family and community support emerges as both a source of strength and potential challenge in their journeys of self-exploration and acceptance. The findings shed light on the need to research the sexual identity process for Caribbean LGBTQ+ individuals, couples, and families within a social justice framework. These findings highlight the importance of creating inclusive spaces, promoting visibility, and providing culturally sensitive support services to address the unique needs of this population. And contribute to the existing literature on sexual identity development, cultural diversity, and family dynamics, and provide insights that can inform interventions, policies, and practices aimed at promoting the well-being and empowerment of Latino Caribbean LGBTQ+ individuals.

This work examines the surprisingly negative reactions among gay men to the introduction of pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP. PrEP refers to a medical regimen where HIV negative people take a drug designed to treat HIV to prevent the transmission of HIV. PrEP has proven to be at least as effective as condoms in preventing HIV transmission (if not more so), but those who take PrEP and engage in more condomless sex (commonly referred to as barebacking) are still viewed by some as dangerous and immoral. Although some scholars have claimed that the negative reactions to PrEP comprise a sex panic (a type of moral panic), I argue that sex panics are those that occur among a general population and this panic is limited to gay men. Drawing on Cathy Cohen’s concept of indigenous panics (2009), I argue that the negative reactions to PrEP among gay men is an intracommunity panic, but not a sex panic among the general population. Given the centrality of the public sphere to moral panics, I support this claim with a qualitative content analysis of 76 mainstream news articles and 294 queer news articles that focus on PrEP or barebacking. I also conducted interviews with 43 gay men regarding their experiences with and attitudes towards PrEP and its users. I found that there was not a general sex panic due to the relative dearth of mainstream articles on PrEP along with its framing as a medical tool rather than a sexual one and the framing of PrEP controversy as an intracommunity issue relevant only to gay men. Queer media produced a similarly medical framing of PrEP which helped limit the extent of the panic. However, moral shocks that set off the panic came from and were targeted against gay men, and queer news media produced a plethora of articles repeating these claims, concerns over increased barebacking, and framings of bareback sex as inherently problematic. Interview data revealed some gay men who embraced the bareback pleasures made possible by PrEP, but others reified the demonization of barebacking, even while claiming they did not intend to do so or glossing over their own barebacking. I argue that the main ways in which this panic was perpetuated are more subtle than other panics in the literature and that this may make the panic harder to resist. I conclude by arguing that the US is on the verge of a widespread sex panic over PrEP and barebacking which could be particularly dangerous given the current vitriolic anti-queer climate.

This qualitative research sought to answer two questions: (a) how do gay men experience objectification; and (b) what are the effects of this objectification on the lives of these men? These questions were answered through the use of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA).Seven men who identified as gay participated in the interviews. The focus of these interviews was to gain a better understanding of how objectification is experienced by gay men as well as exploring the impact that perceived or experienced objectification has on their lives. Using the steps of data analysis in IPA (J. A. Smith et al., 2009), two main themes and four subthemes emerged. The first theme to emerge was that gay men view objectification as part of being in gay culture. Two subthemes supporting this theme are that groups or categories arise based on objectification and objectification is rarely, if ever, challenged within the gay community. The second theme was that there are social and emotional repercussions that come out of the objectification. The subthemes that emerged here were that the men interviewed had specific concerns for themselves and also had concerns for the community as a whole.

Individuals are social actors whose behaviours are both guided and constrained by an overarching social structure—gender norms. Gender norms provide prescriptions of what gender-typical behaviour ought to be (e.g., men ought to be strong). However, there exists a rigidity in masculine gender norms, as compared to feminine gender norms, whereby social trends favour divergences from traditional gender norms for women but not for men. Furthermore, heteronormative masculinity can be defined by the exclusion and oppression of its outgroup actors—women and gay men—who threaten its very essence. This thesis, therefore, draws particular attention to the masculine-heteronormative gender norms—specifically, what is perceived to be masculine, how non-heteronormative men relate to masculinity, and its attributing role in the lives of non-heteronormative men. To address the research aim, the study asks: 1) How are masculine norms constructed and experienced amongst gender and sexuality diverse men; 2) How is gender and sexual identity experienced in relation to masculine norms amongst gender and sexuality diverse men; 3) To what degree does conformity to masculine norms create distress amongst gender and sexuality diverse men; and 4) Can a new scale be developed that is reliable, valid, multi-dimensional, and non-heteronormative than currently published scales? The study employs a mixed methods approach whereby three key methodologies are undertaken. From the amalgamation of the results in all the phases of the project, the present study resulted in the development of a multi-dimensional measurement tool which takes on a socioecological framework to identify key areas within men’s lives which are impacted by gender and sexuality-related distress. By developing a scale that distinctly measures both gender and sexuality-related distress, it is hoped that future research and healthcare can accurately assess and address these two distinct experiences. Furthermore, by providing a measurement tool that can examine interactions at each level of the socioecological environment, future research and practice may gain understanding in the unique gendered strains experienced by non-heteronormative men and how to ameliorate such strain. Future studies are recommended to further test and validate the GSRDI prior to its mainstream use.

Gay men in agricultural education do not have comprehensive support within the agricultural education profession. When gay men decide to become agriculture educators, they often keep their identity private. This national mixed methods study aims to seek if gay agriculture educators are resilient and thrive in rural communities. The thriving elements of spiritual influence, personal competence, peer support, and family cohesion were surveyed and analyzed using a resiliency lens. Findings include gay male agricultural educators thriving in a heteronormative profession. Recommendations include ensuring LGBTQIA+ teachers have a voice in agricultural education.

The purpose of this study was to examine Chinese parents’ reactions and attitudes towards their child’s same-sex sexual orientation after their child’s coming out. It aimed to amplify the voices from a marginalised and socially oppressed group—Chinese parents of a gay or lesbian child. However, due to Chinese parents of a same-sex attracted adult child being a hard-to-reach population, I endeavoured to gain more information about their experiences by also talking with adult same-sex attracted children and seeking their reflections on their parents’ reactions and attitudes. This research is the first, to my knowledge, to comprehensively explore Chinese parents’ reactions towards their gay or lesbian child’s coming out through a feminist post-structuralist lens by interviewing groups of both Chinese parents and adult child participants. Findings from this work point to the connection between increased societal visibility and recognition of sexuality diversity and an increase in parents’ uncertainty, fear and disappointment within the parent/same-sex attracted adult child relationship. While some narratives communicated stagnant and negative relationships that seemed as if they could not be repaired, others highlighted the growth and change that were possible with increased exposure to affirming information about sexuality diversity. Accordingly, a number of recommendations emerge from this work. First, exposure to and visibility of sexuality diversity in educational institutions should be increased, such as including knowledge of sexuality diversity in school curriculums and textbooks; this will not only improve individuals’ recognition of sexuality diversity, but will also help prevent homophobic language and behaviour. Second, all types of gay “conversion” therapies in the medical and clinical service system should be banned, to clearly address the point that same-sex attraction is neither a disease nor a psychological problem that can be cured. Third, there should be an increase in affirming content related to sexuality diversity in the media. Finally, relevant legislation and policies should be established to acknowledge and protect the social rights of same-sex attracted people within society. Such moves could not only help to normalise same-sex attracted individuals and reduce homophobic discrimination and stigma, but also could improve the well-being and self-esteem of both same-sex attracted individuals and their parents.

This study sought to understand the role sexual orientation has on gay males’ health journey with type 2 diabetes in the Australian context, and the extent to which it informs diabetes management and education. A diagnosis of type 2 diabetes increases the amount of health care related tasks a person must perform to maintain their health. The literature identified some unique issues that may affect a gay man’s journey with diabetes, including homophobia in sports, amyl usage, increased smoking, and increased stress. Further issues explored were binge eating disorders related to rejection by family, work, church, and the gay community. There is also an increase in erectile dysfunction and decreased engagement with the diabetes teams leading to increase complications and blood glucose levels. Gay men living alone exacerbated the feeling of a lack of support when facing the increased demands of living with type 2 diabetes. This was a mixed methods study consisting of two phases of data collection. The first phase was the collection of quantitative data consisting of social media posts and an online survey. The study was advertised using social media posts, where people were invited to comment or ask questions. The survey focused on 83 gay men with type 2 diabetes with no HIV; however, 82 gay men without type 2 diabetes and 13 gay men with both type 2 diabetes and HIV were included using separate questions to act as a possible benchmark. From the first phase, 12 gay men with type 2 diabetes volunteered to participate in interviews, and the qualitative data collected became the second phase of data collection, which also included two diabetes educators. The interviews were taped, transcribed, and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Three main themes were identified that affected a gay man’s journey with type 2 diabetes. The first theme was the consultation which was influenced by seven areas that included the sexualisation of gay men, the decision to come out, not knowing who has a negative attitude, disregard for the psychosocial, centrality versus we are all the same, the power of language, and culturally appropriate information. These seven areas can disengage recipients of diabetes education, blunting its potential effect in areas such as increased blood glucose monitoring, reducing complications, and escalation of insulin when required. The second theme included being uniquely gay, which described the effect of rejection experienced in areas such as the gay community, work, church, and family on eating (binge eating disorder) and exercise. The third theme centred around support, identifying areas where support can be different or challenged, such as the shift from a biological family to friends, living alone, marriage, barriers to discussing support, and children. The distillation of the findings was informed by Antonovsky’s Salutogenic model (1979) and the Bio-Medical Model and led to the development of Pascoe’s Journey of Life model. It contains five areas of departure or clarification from the Salutogenic model (1979) and brings into focus the quality of life and psychosocial issues for gay men with type 2 diabetes. As such, the Pascoe Journey of Life model will enable diabetes educators to tailor diabetes management that is personcentred focussed for the gay man and promote better health outcomes and associated quality of life.

Prior studies regarding outness among gay men have often focused on internalized homophobia as a barrier to coming out for gay men, while less emphasis has been placed on external homophobia. Drawing upon social construction theory and Connell’s hierarchy of masculinity, I utilize data from the 2010 Social Justice Sexuality Project to complete an ordinary least square regression to examine the impact of external homophobia on the level of outness among the 987 gay men in this study. In this study, I find that gay men who were exposed to external homophobia reported decreased levels of outness. Further, I find race impacted the level of outness among the gay men. Drawing from prior research on race, masculinity, and sexuality, I suggest that men with intersecting identities are not only held accountable to the White, heteronormative definition of hegemonic masculinity, but to other non-hegemonic forms of masculinity as well.

Sexuality research in psychology has historically taken a pathologizing view of sex. Recently, a growing body of sex-positive literature has provided a counter-narrative that positions sex as something that is fundamentally good and healthy. However, the perspectives and experiences of sexual minority men have been critically absent from this discourse. Grounded in empowerment theory and using a critical queer lens, this qualitative study aimed to extend sex-positive research to the topic of sexual minority men’s sexual empowerment. The present study used interviews with sex workers, activists, educators, therapists, and sexual assault survivors with a range of intersecting identities to shed light on the ways in which these sexual minority men understand and experience sexual empowerment. Results of these interviews indicated that participants understood sexual empowerment to include elements of sexual self-humanization, sexual liberation, sexual sovereignty, and belonging to a sexually empowering community. These results are presented along with specific recommendations and implications that are written specifically for sexual minority male psychologists conducting research, training, practice, and advocacy for sexual minority men’s sexual empowerment.

This theoretical dissertation uses self psychology, Lacanian theory, and neuropsychoanalysis to explore shame in gay men and formulate an integrative understanding for how this master affect effects self and psyche for same-sex attracted men. Brief introductions to the theories used are provided with links to existing scholarship that informs theoretical leanings. A scholarly case is made for the significance of understanding the origin and lifecycle of shame, as well the importance of differentiating between early relational trauma shame (understood as an “inside out” experience), and a later, socially informed “outside in” experience. An argument is made for how shame “attaches” to emerging sexuality, and a review of relevant literature is woven throughout the project. Conversations with two shame theorists and reflection on my subjective life experience support the thought process and formulation of the model that emerged.

This thesis explores how Australian gay men negotiate their regular relationships, specifically in reference to coupled monogamy and non-monogamy and enacting HIV prevention strategies. The data on which this thesis is based were collected during a period of change in the socio-political and HIV prevention landscapes in Australia. Same-sex marriage was under consideration politically and biomedical HIV prevention was becoming more widely available and used among gay men. In consideration of these changes, it has become increasingly important to rethink understandings of gay men’s regular relationships and the contexts in which they are negotiated and experienced. This thesis draws on three data sets. The first utilises semi-structured interviews with Australian gay men to explore their understandings of the enactment of monogamy in relationships. The second utilises semi-structured interviews with men in serodiscordant relationships (those of mixed HIV status) to explore how understandings of HIV and risk affect practices within relationships. The third was a cross-sectional survey exploring understandings and beliefs about relationships among Australian gay men. The findings show that gay men’s relationships are unique and complex, both mirroring and departing from broad normative understandings of relationships. In particular, non-monogamy is common among gay men’s relationships and gay men may at some point be challenged to consider alternatives to monogamy, potentially reshaping their values regarding relationships. Such challenges present tensions and opportunities regarding how men negotiate fidelity and intimacy with relationship partners. In the context of these negotiations, biomedical prevention provides opportunities for gay serodiscordant couples to reconsider the meaning of the HIV to their lives, including how they practice HIV prevention. The findings also demonstrate diversity in relationship types that have implications for how research captures data about relationships. This thesis contributes a renewed understanding of how gay men understand and negotiate regular relationships in the context of substantial changes in Australia, both in how their relationships are perceived socially and politically, and in how HIV prevention is enacted.

This dissertation examines the process of parental acceptance for gay men in India and the US. In academic literature and public discourse, parental acceptance of gay men is often seen as a linear, albeit often gradual, process. However, interviews with gay men conducted for this study show that this acceptance waxes and wanes in patterned ways. It is found that gay men often experience *contextual* parental acceptance. Acceptance becomes weaker or stronger at different points and stages in the life course and in different interactional settings. Parental acceptance becomes stronger or diminished in these contexts depending on how gay men’s parents respond to the forces of heteronormativity and homonormativity, and whether gay men align with the racial normativity while experiencing their sexuality, in these time and spatial contexts. This study also explicates the role of parents’ agency, and the idiosyncrasies in how spatial contexts unfold, to explain how the forces of heteronormativity in spatial contexts produce behavioral outcomes on acceptance differently from different parents. Finally, this study incorporates the experiences of queer gay men from India to show that the understanding of parental acceptance through the lenses of homonormativity is more exclusive to American national culture. Parental acceptance in the Indian national culture is better understood through how queerness, in addition to homonormativity, shapes gay men’s perceptions of parental acceptance.

The purpose of this research was to determine relationships among depression, anxiety, self-rated physical and mental health, self-advocacy, internalized homophobia, and quality of patient-provider communication to satisfaction with health care interactions. These were measured while controlling for select demographic variables: age; ethnicity; urban or rural domicile; relationship status; household income; highest educational attainment; health insurance; disclosure to health care provider as a gay man; reason for last healthcare visit; and, general health self-rating. The specific aims of this study were to: 1) identify general characteristics of gay men in this sample; 2) examine how levels of satisfaction with health care differed by each characteristic; 3) assess relationships between each potential predictor of satisfaction and the level of satisfaction; and, 4) determine the relationship between each predictor and satisfaction after controlling for the most significant covariate(s). A quantitative study was conducted in which 42 adult gay men participated. The author hypothesized that gay men who reported lower levels of depression, higher self-rated physical and mental health, lower levels of anxiety, higher self-advocacy scores, lower levels of internalized homophobia, and stronger evaluations of patient-provider communication would report more positive satisfaction with health care interactions. The hypothesis was supported by results of this research. This research established that variables with the strongest effect on gay men’s satisfaction with health care interactions were whether the patient had revealed his sexual orientation to the provider, how he rated his anxiety, and how he rated the quality of communication with his provider. These results emphasize the importance of health care providers’ awareness of specific psychosocial factors that influence communication during care of gay men, who understand their sexual orientation places them at a disadvantage when receiving health care services. Despite the pursuit of equitable, high quality, and satisfying health care, its achievement has been hampered by barriers that gay men encounter. Understanding those barriers while addressing health related needs of gay men will be important for providers who seek to improve satisfaction with health care interactions.

Members of marginalized groups such as lesbian women and gay men are often at an increased risk of threat or harm compared to their heterosexual counterparts. They may experience prejudice in the form of discrimination and stigma related behaviors. Due to the stigma lesbian women and gay men face throughout various stages of their lives, it is important to examine and discover which factors increase more acceptance and empathy. Additionally, it is important to examine ways to increase positive regard and reduce discrimination in order to promote psychological and overall wellbeing for lesbians and gay men. Given what we know about stigma, the current study used a MANOVA to examine the impact of mood induction (i.e., happy, sad, and neutral mood groups) on participants’ empathy, openness to diversity, attitudes toward lesbian women and gay men, and stigma behavior following a passage about a lesbian woman overcoming adversity. The sample consisted of 67 undergraduate students. No differences were found on any dependent variable based on mood condition. In addition, there were no rural differences in reports of the dependent variables. The results of the two 2 x 3 factorial ANOVAs illustrated a main effect of time and a significant interaction between time and condition on positive affect. For negative affect, a main effect of time was not found, but there was a significant interaction between time and condition. Given these findings, more research needs to be done to explore other factors that may help in fostering more positive and accepting attitudes towards marginalized groups.

Migration of Chinese-identified people is an emerging area of enquiry. However, sexuality and health among the same-sex attracted ‘Chinese diaspora’ is still a highly under-research field. In the context of sexual health research, Chinese-identified people living outside the national border of China are often homogenised as part of the umbrella group ‘Asian’, and together are commonly stereotyped as the somewhat passive victims of racism and health inequalities. Few studies to date have taken into account the ripple effects of migration and globalisation in understanding the diverse sexual health experiences of Chinese diasporic people living in Western countries. To address this gap, an in-depth qualitative study was conducted in Sydney, Australia, to understand Chinese diasporic gay men’s health and sexual experiences. Two rounds of semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with twenty-two Chinese- and gay-identified men recruited to the study. In order to develop a better understanding of the implications of sociocultural, temporal and spatial factors on men’s lived experiences, insights from intersectionality theory, Mannheim’s concept of social generations, and assemblage theory were utilised. Data were analysed interpretatively and thematically to describe men’s lived experiences and to identify key issues focused upon in their accounts. This thesis provides original insights to the understanding of the complex experiences of Chinese diasporic gay men living in Australia. Study findings emphasise the importance of shifting the focus of attention from the racial oppression of diasporic subjects to a more dynamic and relative understanding of the intersection between race/ethnicity, migration, sexuality and health. In the contemporary context of migration, Chinese diasporic gay men’s lives are highly transnational, and their experiences are transgressive of existing racial and national boundaries. Moreover, there exists a strong generational aspect to men’s experiences with HIV and AIDS that is not only constituted by their experience in Australia, but also by the time of migration and their memories of the disease in their homeland. Most importantly, men’s experiences are constantly changing and transforming, and cannot be fully understood in terms of static conceptions of culture, sexuality, race/ethnicity and health. Theorisations of gay diasporic men’s health needs constantly to be revisited and refined.

Spaces for queer-identifying people have traditionally existed in secretive or underground locations, however, the digital age has led to more visible digital spaces which queer men may seek out for social practices. The existence of digital-physical spaces such as Grindr, where the app can function entirely within digital space but may extend to the physical through meet-ups and GPS data, allows queer men to use this space to engage with identity work. Grindr also provides a space for seeking a sense of community without users having to physically locate themselves within queer-designated spaces. In this thesis, I examine how queer men may navigate Grindr’s design and affordances through its intimate infrastructure to engage with identity work and seek a sense of community. Building on the work of Light, Burgess, and Duguay (2018), this project qualitatively examines Grindr using an expanded app walkthrough methodology, comprised of digital ethnography and semi-structured interviews with seven Australian Grindr users who volunteered for this study. My findings are presented in a temporal structure which reflects how a user may experience each part of Grindr’s intimate infrastructure over the course of their app usage. Through this research I found that Grindr was being used for trialling and exploring queer identities and intimacies within a space perceived as safe through its affordances for anonymity, and its location as a visible queer space. Additionally, I found that Grindr’s location as visible within mainstream society was providing an important access point, or gateway, to broader queer communities by affording a safe space for users to seek a sense of community. This research contributes to broader understandings of how digital spaces may be used to engage with identity work and seek a sense of community in an increasingly digital world.

Research indicates heterosexual students at faith-based universities often hold negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbian women. The factors that can influence these attitudes are complex. This study examines the relationship between attitudes toward gay men and lesbian women, religiosity and spirituality in students who are enrolled in a faith-based institution. A correlation was run to examine the relationship between these variables along with further statistical analyses to gather more information. There is a small positive relationship between higher levels of spirituality and positive attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. There is a medium positive relationship between high levels of religiosity and positive attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. On average, females had more positive attitudes toward both gay men and lesbian women. However, religiosity and spirituality are very low predictors of attitudes toward lesbians and gay men.

The thesis draws upon both quantitative and qualitative approaches to linguistic variation. Specifically, for the quantitative study, the thesis conducts a sociophonetic case study of an LGBT talk show in Taiwan, with a focus on one gay speaker’s variation in pitch range. In this quantitative approach, statistically significant differences are found across the subject’s various speaking situations. The subject, HY, exhibits a considerable cross-situational variation: When HY participates in the talk show both as a guest and as a host his average maximum f0 is higher than as an applicant. More crucially, when HY is attending the talk show as a guest, his f0 pitch range is significantly wider than as an applicant and a host. To explain the phonetic variation, the thesis proposes that the sociophonetic variation in pitch range is motivated by interactional personas that are subject to specific speaking situations. However, the sociophonetic variation observed in the talk show is just part of the story of HY's stylistic performance. In order to tell the entire story, the study also includes a qualitative study via the analysis of discourse to examine two conversational excerpts where HY participates in the talk show as a guest. HY uses some linguistic and gestural features that have been ideologically associated with Chinese women, such as the female term of reference laoniang 'old woman' or a typical feminine gesture, such as tucking hair behind the ears. In this thesis, I seek an explanation for the relationship between these semiotic features observed in the talk show and HY's gay identity. Adopting the social constructionist paradigm, the study demonstrates that the form-meaning relationship is not a one-to-one mapping, but is mediated through stance-taking. According to the notion of indexicality, the linguistic and gestural features take on their semiotic value through HY's stance in the LGBT talk show and these interactional stances are ideologically re-associated with, and reinterpreted as his gay identity. Throughout the online talk show, HY develops his persona and his own personal style through interactions on a micro level, which help him to construct his gay identity.

Heterophobia, or gay men’s fear or avoidance of straight men, is an overlooked phenomenon that may contribute to gay men’s social isolation and disconnectedness (Haldeman, 2006; Provence, Parent, Rochlen, & Chester, 2018). The present study explored heterophobia in two distinct phases. Phase one employed structural equation modeling to examine associations between heterophobia and constructs relevant to gay men’s experiences of minority stress in a sample of 356 self-identified gay men. Variables included in the model were age, race, education, developmental experiences of rejection from straight men, degree of outness, number of straight male friends, internalized homonegativity, gay-related rejection sensitivity, conformity to masculine norms, experiences of heterosexist harassment and discrimination, gay group identity, and perceived social support. Phase two of my study used qualitative methodologies to interview 11 gay men who scored highly on a heterophobia measure in phase one. My findings are exploratory in nature and contribute to an emerging body of empirical research that` examines gay men’s concerns, fear, or avoidance of straight men. Findings are discussed in context of existing theory and research on heterophobia.

Antiretroviral treatment pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective daily prevention medicine to reduce risks of HIV infections in high-risk populations. The current study examined PrEP uptake among gay men using the integrative model of behavioral prediction (IMBP) as the theoretical framework. Briefly, the IMBP states that attitude, norms, and behavioral control predict intention, which then predicts behavior. The intention-behavior relationship is moderated by actual control variables: skills and environmental constraints. To examine how IMBP variables affect PrEP uptake among gay men, I first conducted formative elicitation interviews with gay men; then I used the results from the interviews to construct the main survey. Then, the project recruited 500 gay men to participate in the survey, half of whom were PrEP takers and half of whom were not. The results of path modeling showed that attitudes and norms predicted behavioral intention, and intention predicted PrEP uptake among gay men. Results of moderation analyses testing the influence of skills and environmental constraints showed that HIV knowledge, lack of access to a doctor(s), and lack of health care system knowledge were significant moderators between intention and PrEP uptake. The practical implications, theoretical contributions, and empirical advancements were discussed.

Research indicates that infidelity is one of the primary reasons for relationship dissolution. There are several theories surrounding cheating behavior, but none around how one perceives these acts. Attachment theory and self-esteem have previously been used to explore infidelity in straight populations, but minimally in gay populations. Additionally, cheating behavior and perceptions of cheating have been extensively investigated in straight relationships, but have not been explored in gay relationships. The current study looked to develop a measure to assess perceptions of cheating in gay males, and examined how attachment and self-esteem impacted these perceptions. Participants were 150 males with a mean age of 26.75 (SD = 10.56), recruited from a national crowdsourcing pool and from a large southeastern university, who exclusively identified as gay. Results illuminated 5 factors in the Exploratory Factor Analysis of the cheating measure, including Physical, Unequivocal/Active, Equivocal/Passive, Honesty, and Technology-Related Acts. Comparisons of attachment and self-esteem to each factor found that there were no differences in perceptions of cheating with differing attachment styles, but increased self-esteem in conjunction with a secure attachment style lowered one’s tolerance for cheating. Additionally, exploratory analyses revealed that tolerance for physical acts of infidelity increased with age. Implications for how technology may relate to infidelity and perceptions of infidelity for gay men are examined. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

In Australia,cases of HIV by the year 2020 is encapsulated through the Ending HIV campaign, with the ambitious aim of the virtual elimination of HIV transmission in Australia. The experiences of individuals recently diagnosed with HIV offer unique insight into the contexts in which HIV is transmitted. In this thesis, I examined the experiences of gay men in Australia who had recently been diagnosed with HIV using a mixed method approach of online cross-sectional surveys and in-depth interviews. The technique of using an online platform to collect data from individuals newly diagnosed with HIV provided reliable and valuable results. Through the lens of their experiences, I reflect on how the Ending HIV community engagement platform addresses current challenges to HIV prevention. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the men in our sample did not appear to be applying non-condom based HIV risk reduction strategies prior to their diagnosis. Most men attributed their HIV infection to a partner with whom they had little prior acquaintance. Prior to their against HIV transmission. Initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) presented a difficult choice for some men, but those who were more connected to peers had greater faith in the benefits of early initiation of ART. Together, these analyses suggest that gay community, peer support, and the personal and social connections between gay men, remain essential components of HIV prevention in Australia.

Coming out—or disclosing one’s sexual orientation identity—is seen as a critical component in gay identity development (see Cass, 1979), and is most often conceptualized as an act of verbal disclosure. Indeed, research indicates that verbal disclosure has positive and adaptive benefits for the mental health of gay men (e.g., Vaughan & Waehler, 2010). However, given the Euro-centric focus of mainstream research on gay identity processes (e.g., Han, 2009), verbal disclosure may not be applicable to gay Latino men; being gay and an ethnic minority may produce a different experience concerning coming out. For example, Rust (2003) details how verbal disclosure may put gay men of color at odds with their ethnic community and familial support networks, producing a need for a nonverbal disclosure strategy to maintain harmony or as a sign of respect. This study examined how practicing early career psychologists (ECPs) rated the well-being of a fictional gay Latino client who utilized a nonverbal disclosure strategy when compared to a client utilizing a verbal disclosure strategy and a client actively concealing his gay identity. Relationships between training and clinical experiences and outcome ratings of a client utilizing a nonverbal disclosure strategy were also explored. Results demonstrated that clinicians endorsed issues related to coming out as significantly more salient for a client utilizing a nonverbal strategy than a verbal strategy. Additionally, there was no significant difference between ratings of a client utilizing a nonverbal strategy and actively concealing his gay identity. Further results indicated that among clinicians who read about a client utilizing a nonverbal strategy, self-reported feelings of preparedness to work with diverse clients and clinical experience with gay clients of color positively influenced endorsing issues related to coming out as salient for this client. More clinical experience with Latina/o clients and a graduate training environment receptive to multicultural concerns were related to less endorsement of coming out issues for a client practicing a nonverbal disclosure strategy. These results reflect the dominant narrative of gay identity disclosure as clinicians viewed nonverbal disclosure as more of an identity concealment strategy than a disclosure strategy. This may then lead clinicians to encourage a client who has nonverbally disclosed to verbally disclose without fully taking into account a client’s cultural context. Various factors related to clinical experience and training may also impact how clinicians conceptualize a nonverbal disclosure strategy, which allude to the need for more research on different intersections of identity and their incorporation into multicultural training. Future work may continue to expand in order to understand how other gay people of color communities disclose a gay identity.

Parenting intention plays a fundamental role in one’s decision to become a parent. Higher levels of parenting intention indicate a higher likelihood of becoming a parent. For gay men, this process can be increasingly complex. There are a substantial number of factors that could play a role in a gay man’s decision to parent. Gay identity might play a role in the parenting intentions of gay men, as it has been found that loosely related constructs such as internalized heterosexism or outness do impact this decision. Perceived social support has been found to have both positive and deleterious effects on this decision-making process for gay men. More broadly, many gay men fear that becoming a father could reduce their individuality from the heterosexual community (Mallon, 2004). Furthermore, gender-role conflict has been found to impact parenting motivation in this population. This study measured the relationships between gay identity, perceived social support, and gender-role conflict on parenting intention in childless gay men. It was hypothesized that there would be a difference in gay men’s stated intention to parent depending on their stage of gay identity development when associated with perceived social support and gender-role conflict. A sample size of 165 gay men determined that significant results were found only with gender-role conflict. Men who suffer consequences associated with non-erotic touch with other men such as hugging were associated with being unsure of having children or intending to have children. Additionally, when gender-role conflict scores and gay identity were included in the model, having a gay identity in lower stages was associated with decreased odds of intending to have a child, compared to those in stage 6. The findings of this study suggest that the decision to become a parent is a complex process for gay men, and that gender-role conflict does explain some of that complexity.

Research has shown that the risk of mental health problems among gay men is disproportionately high, and may be linked to decreased social connectedness. The phenomenon of gay male heterophobia (gay men’s fear and avoidance of heterosexual men), may partially contribute to this social disconnection. The theoretical basis for heterophobia stems from prior research on sexual stigma, minority stress, male gender role socialization, gay identity development, and trauma in gay men. The following study presents initial validation efforts towards a much-needed heterophobia scale. A mixed methodology, including focus groups, pilot tests, and online survey administration, was used to develop a 20-item self-report measure. Using exploratory factor analysis, three factors of heterophobia (disconnectedness, expected rejection, and unease/avoidance) were identified and described. Each of these factors was found to be valid and reliable within accepted ranges. Implications for future research and clinical practice, along with limitations, are provided.

In the United States, young Black men who have sex with men (MSM), between the ages of 13 and 29 years have the highest rates of new HIV infections. The prevalence of HIV among this population is three to four times higher than their White MSM counterparts. Research indicates substance use is strongly associated with HIV infection among young Black MSM. Twelve HIV-negative and HIV-positive participants from the Bay Area were recruited for this qualitative narrative study to explore the following three aims: (a) describe the role substance use plays in the lives of young Black MSM, (b) describe their perceived risks for acquiring HIV, and (c) explore the historical and social contextual experiences that have influenced their lives. The four major findings include: (1) “there was a lot going on in the homes of these participants.” Almost all of the young Black MSM discussed early substance use exposure in their family, including parents who were also drugs. The young men shared about broken family structures, including abuse and neglect, (2) thirty years into the AIDS epidemic, stigma and homophobia continue to be an issue for young Black MSM. Most of the participants were either kicked out of their family homes, asked to leave by their family, or wanted to get away from their family so that they could be themselves, (3) with the prevalence and exposure to methamphetamine in the San Francisco, young Black MSM discover the benefits of this drug for numbing, masking, and coping with everything from being gay, gay sex, dealing with peer pressure, and for sexual enhancement and survival sex, and (4) once under the influence of methamphetamine, the participants don’t care about condoms, nor do they have the ability to negotiate condom usage with their partners. There is a sense of anticipation, resignation and acceptance about acquiring HIV; HIV risk reduction apathy. Implications of this study highlight the need for young Black MSM to have earlier substance use and HIV prevention education that include condom negotiation skills, safe spaces for empowerment and community, and increased reduction of stigma and homophobia within the Black community.

This qualitative study sought to examine gay men and lesbians experiences of dividing household labor when going from a cohabitating heterosexual relationship to their first cohabitating same-sex relationship. Criterion sampling and snowball sampling were used to recruit participants across the United Sates. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants: two men and four women. The data was analyzed using Moustakas' transcendental phenomenology and codes were organized into themes. The data suggested four categories that described participants experiences of division of household labor when going from a heterosexual relationship to a same-sex relationship: Heterosexual Relationship, Adjustment, Same-Sex Relationship and Benefits and Challenges. Participants described how division of household labor was decided in both relationships, any adjustment regarding division of household labor when going from a heterosexual cohabitating relationship to their first same-sex relationship, how division of household labor was decided in their same-sex relationship, and any benefits and challenges faced from this experience. Overall, participants reported certain expectations regarding who should do the majority of tasks in their heterosexual relationship that were not present in their same-sex relationship. Any adjustment was attributed to getting used to having more help with household tasks in their same-sex relationship. Even though most participants reported no challenges faced from their experience, some participants felt the biggest benefit was having more help with household tasks in their same-sex relationship. Limitations, clinical implications, and future directions for research are discussed.

The lives of college students who are HIV positive in the United States have received little attention. This study addressed this lack by inquiring into the self-cultivation and institutional experiences of gay college men living with HIV. Informed by AIDS activism and queer theory, I used narrative and arts-based methods to explore participants’ self-cultivation I placed particular focus on participants’ discourse given that American sociopolitical discourse associates HIV/AIDS with gay men. I conducted over sixty hours of in-depth interviews with nine gay college men of various ages, races, geographic locations, and institutional settings. Six of the nine participants created artwork to express their relationship to HIV/AIDS. Using poststructural narrative analysis, the major findings of this study include: higher educational silence about HIV/AIDS; an affective structure to participants’ discourse; and an askesis of shame. Most participants encountered a silence or lack of discourse around HIV/AIDS in their institutions. Institutional silence complicated participants’ ability to discern whether to seek support or to disclose their HIV status on campus. Although participants called upon distinct discourses, they shared a common affective structure. Having an affective structure means that these men represented and discussed HIV/AIDS as driving the way they live, although differently at different times and with various intensities determined by different events, objects and people. Like affect, their relationship with HIV varied, often unpredictably, except for its constant presence.While these men felt differently about having HIV, I describe their common affective structure as an askesis of shame. Askesis, or self-cultivation, is a response to social contempt for gay men with HIV/AIDS and homonormative discourses of compulsory happiness. Shame is an affect involving investment in the self and others along with covering discredited aspects of the self. Therefore, an askesis of shame describes how participants covered the discrediting aspects of HIV while still investing in themselves and others.This study carries implications for using affect theory in conceptualizing college students’ lives and implications for queer social science methodology. I explore the complexities and difficulty of supporting this student population for institutions and faculty. Participants also supply their own recommendations for faculty and students.

Gay men experience, internalize, and expect more stigma than do their lesbian and bisexual men/women peers (Herek, 2009; Balsam & Mohr, 2007). Subsequently, it is important to investigate gay men's beliefs about themselves, such as the stereotypical assumption of gay men's inability to have or maintain romantic relationships (Meyer & Dean, 1998; Peplau, 1991). Using a combination of the minority stress model (specifically, experienced discrimination, stigma consciousness, internalized heterosexism and self-concealment) and self-efficacy theory, two path models were constructed to explore this association with the novel relationship constructs of relationship self-efficacy and optimism. The investigation improved past research by the measurement of the minority stress variables, the use of a sample of only gay men, and the use of social media data collection. To test these models, 522 participants were collected. Although both models were outright rejected, three surprising findings emerged. First, the self-efficacy mediation model was supported after a slight alteration to include a direct path from internalized heterosexism to relationship optimism. Secondly, a positive path emerged from experiences of discrimination to relationship self-efficacy. Thirdly, support was found for using an exploratory feminist model which included experiences of discrimination as antecedents to proximal stress processes of minority stress. The findings are discussed in terms of contributions to and future directions for the minority stress model and the inclusion of feminist theory in the exploration of gay men's concerns regarding relationships. Limitations, future directions, and contributions to the field of Counseling Psychology are discussed.

For many gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, the Internet is a central aspect of their sexual and romantic lives. Although often trumpeted as a convenient way to meet people, online sex and dating present unique challenges for those looking to connect. Among these is how racial concepts are used to define desire or disinterest, which in Australia is a contentious issue among men who look for sex or dates online. Although recent media attention has propelled what is sometimes called online sexual racism into mainstream debates, very little is known about this concept, its potential impact or men s perceptions of it. This thesis addresses that gap by exploring concepts of race and racism on sex and dating webservices for same-sex attracted men. A mixed methods approach was adopted, which consisted of a content analysis of sex and dating profiles posted online, a national online survey of gay and bisexual men in Australia, and in-depth interviews with gay men who use sex and dating webservices. The findings across these methods suggest a diversity of attitudes exists towards race online, accompanied by individual and often situationally-dependent understandings and expressions of racism and online etiquette. The ways in which men talk about race and their online practices differ among racial groups and reflect broader Australian discourses of race. There seems to be, however, interest among some of the gay men who use these webservices to approach concepts of race (and racism) from a critical position. Nevertheless, widely differing opinions and experiences related to race remain, as does the need for further work to engage men and ask important questions about the role and impact of race among these online communities. Although many men are troubled or conflicted about ideas of race and racism as they intersect with their search for sex or romance, the overwhelming response to this as an issue was one of resignation. This thesis provides a first analysis of the complex tension between ideals of sexual liberty, the normalisation of racial prejudice, and the increasingly important online social spaces that are negotiated by gay and bisexual men.

This thesis explores how kinship is enacted in the context of gay men pursuing parenthood through surrogacy. These men represent an important first generation to access assisted reproductive technologies for this purpose and also make up an increasing proportion of gay men becoming parents outside a heterosexual relationship. Data were collected from three sources: surrogacy stories in the print media; websites of surrogacy agencies; and in-depth interviews with 30 gay men living in Australia and the United States, who had achieved or were pursuing parenthood through surrogacy. The analytic approach is influenced by insights from the field of science and technology studies (STS). The main findings relate to parenthood desire, biogenetic connection, and value. These gay men ‘enacted’ parenthood and family life in ways that both challenged and reinforced dominant notions of kinship and masculinity. Like most people, they had grown up with parenthood expectations, although these had been challenged when they assumed a gay identity. Parenthood desires were re-animated by social discourses that emphasised the prospect of parenthood and procreation for gay men as a conceptual and material reality through the influence of partners, media, peers, and in particular, the promotional activities of surrogacy agencies. The men also reworked the symbols of Western kinship—such as bilateral genetic inheritance—to create a family structure that felt meaningful. A range of inventive strategies was employed in this process both to instantiate and obscure conventional ideas about biology and kinship. The findings demonstrate that parenthood desire is socially produced: men come to experience parenthood desire largely because of the new narratives and opportunities being made available to them today. The creative and strategic negotiation strategies of gay men in family formation also demonstrate that biogenetic connection is an important and potentially flexible fact to be negotiated. The study contributes to the growing field of international research on the many complex and unexpected ways in which parenthood desires are informed by contemporary understandings of gender and sexual identity, but also the multiple ways in which the social construction of kinship influences the experience of desiring and conceiving a ‘child of one’s own.’

This multi-sited ethnographic study explores U.S. gay men's interactional usages of camp, a queer aesthetic and sociopolitical mode of expressivity that reframes and transforms dominant, heterosexual-constrained communicative conventions and reality through queer forms of experience. Differing from earlier work on camp, which primarily explored the subject from the perspective of cultural studies, the current analyses are premised upon the examination of camp as a product of talk-in-interaction, looking specifically at its role as an interactive resource with the capacity to aid in the construction of queer personhood and community, while also challenging the heteronormative communities that render this queer coalescence subjugated within larger social structures and hierarchies. Drawing from audio-video ethnographic data collected over a one and one half year period in four different U.S. cities (New York, New York; Atlanta, Georgia, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Los Angeles, California), the talk is analyzed from a methodologically conversation analytic perspective, wherein detailed transcriptions are used to explore the systematic and sequential nature of talk. In this way, participants themselves, and by extension the talk of said participants, are taken as the primary sources for understanding social structures and courses of interactional action. As the research is conducted from a participant-observer perspective, follow up interview and survey materials are also used as an additional means for substantiating and grounding the analyses, and in some cases, adding layers of in-group understanding that might be overlooked using etic observational approaches alone. With regard to the analyses, the usage of camp as an interactive practice within queer friendship groups is explored not only for its ability to transform mundane everyday life events into discursively queer interactional spaces, but also for its ability to act as a type of covert code through which queer identity is systematically recognized and performed, to varying degrees. This code, which emerges as a product of explicit usages of queer-identified forms of camp humor, queer associative fields of imagery and pop cultural iconicity, and referential invocations of camp identified media and texts, is shown to in turn discursively reconstruct heterosexual normalcy, resulting in a form of critical subversion of the concept of heteronormative behavior. As a result, the study, in addition, explores both the usage of camp within micro-level social contexts that comprise the daily lives of queer social actors, and within the macro-level contexts wherein resides an ever-present interface between marginalized sexual identities and heterosexually defined institutions and hegemony. This critical subversion, in turn, is argued for as a means to understand queer subjectivity by way of understanding what it is not (as seen through a backdrop of heterosexual conventions that constrain interactive practices). The research culminates in a call for further explorations of camp as an interactive practice, and for alternative forms of queer expressivity as potential loci for understanding queer experience and social organization.

This thesis is an exploration of the relationship between religion and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (GLBTQ) identity in the United States as revealed and complicated through popular music. It is based upon three case studiesconsisting of the 2011 Chicago Gay Pride Parade, the musical voice of the GLBTQ community as portrayed through gay anthems and historical gay icons, and pop star Lady Gaga’s music and concert “The Monster Ball.” These three case studies build upon oneanother in order to further contextualize each other: the Chicago Gay Pride Parade uses music in order to redefine spaces in Chicago, the musical voice builds upon the conceptof “gay” anthems by female singers, and Lady Gaga is one of the most popular contemporary gay icons. I completed much of the research for this project through ethnographic methods of participant observation and several interviews with communityinsiders.I examine the 2011 Chicago Gay Pride Parade as a ritualesque event that allows for personal and societal transformations needed in order to promote acceptance of GLBTQ individuals within the United States and as a celebration of a range of identities.By reflecting on my own and others’ experiences as parade attendees and participants, I analyze music’s role in the creation of a safe space that is necessary for these transformations. This study also reveals how the GLBTQ rights movement’s aims and goals draw extensively on narratives of the American Dream, with its focus on narratives of transformation, since the movement’s aims are on transforming the GLBTQ community’s role in the United States.Next, to show certain strategic, political aims of the GLBTQ community, I explore the musical voices with which it has identified. More often than not, GLBTQ individuals do not turn to their own voices in choosing their musical anthems but rather the voices of non-GLBTQ individuals, in a manner that I understand as strategic identification. I detail how examining the chosen voices can provide insights into the GLBTQ community. I reveal the way that black musical practices influence popular music now and historically, influencing the current gay anthems. I suggest that gay men identify with voices influenced by these black musical practices in to strategically connect the GLBTQ rights movement with the African American civil rights movement.Finally, I explore Lady Gaga’s use of Christian-inspired language in her support of her GLBTQ fans and detail the political implications of this language. Her language reveals the importance of religious rhetoric in the United States and connects her to a larger history where religion becomes a key component of American identity and reinserts GLBTQ individuals into this discursive framework.

What forms of resistance are gay men in France and North America enacting against heteronormativity and homophobia? And why are they enacting these particular forms of resistance? To answer these questions, this thesis aims to draw connections between gay men's resistance strategies and larger socio-political phenomena in both France and North American cultures. First I focus on the discursive construction of citizens, both heterosexual and homosexual, in order to illustrate how gay men are relegated to second-class citizenship based on their sexual identities and practices. My focus, here, is cultural citizenship and sexual citizenship, two themes that run throughout this thesis. Next, I use Foucault's theories of knowledge-power to reveal how power relations in society discursively create subject positions, such as 'homosexuals' and 'heterosexuals', utilizing structures of control, norms, rewards, and punishments in order to champion heterosexuality to the detriment of homosexuality. In order to contest exercises of power, gay men engage in acts of resistance. i examine scholarly debates centered on resistance, and create a list of criterion for overt resistance, which I dub A AVOIR Resistance on account that it includes the characteristics of Action, Alternatives, Visibility, Opposition, Intent, and Recognition. Utilizing my rubric for overt resistance, as well as Foucault's notions of power, I analyze interview transcripts from a sample of gay men in North America and France to reveal that some gay men, living outside of large metropolitan areas, are rejecting hegemonic ideals of 'gayness' and integrating into mainstream heteronormative society. These men are creating what I call 'authentic communities' where many individuals from various backgrounds and lifestyles live together harmoniously based primarily on access to resources rather than identity markers such as sexual identity. this research shows a split between the ways that urban and suburban gay men embody their homosexuality. Since research on gay men focuses on those living in urban areas, my research calls, instead, for focus on suburban gay men and their resistance to homo-normative ideologies of what it means to me gay.

Recent queer scholarship challenges the academy’s longstanding urban and adult oriented trajectory, pointing to the way such studies ignore rural and heartland regions of the country as well as the experiences of youth. In this thesis, I craft a limited ethnographic methodological approach together with a textual analysis of The Oprah Winfrey Show to deliver portraits of gay men living in various rural or heartland areas who use their television sets to encounter and identify with LGBTQ people across the nation. The overarching aim of this project is to explore the ways in which religion, rurality, and Oprah coalesce in the process of identity creation to form rural gay men’s conceptual selves and how they are then informed by that identity formation. I will focus my textual analyses through the frames of six of Oprah Winfrey’s “ultimate viewers” to elucidate how they receive and interact with her star text, how they use television sets in the public rooms of their homes to create boundary public spheres, and how they are impacted by the show’s various uses of the coming out paradigm. In so doing, this thesis seeks to contribute to the scholarship of rural queer studies, television studies, and Oprah studies.

Since the mid-twentieth century, a shift in demographics of those attending higher education institutions has resulted in increased attention to underrepresented students and their development, specifically their social identities, including race (Cross, 1991), gender (Gilligan, 1982), and sexual orientation (Cass, 1979; D'Augelli, 1994; Fassinger, 1998). However, many theories have compartmentalized aspects of one's overall identity with little understanding of how one's social identity may influence the development of other identities. In the past decade, the concept of intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1995), which explores the interplay between one's multiple identities and the larger systems of power and privilege within society, has been applied to understanding the holistic development of college students' multiple social identities (Abes, Jones, & McEwen, 2007; Jones & McEwen, 2000). The purpose of this study was to understand how traditionally-aged gay men in college come to make meaning of the intersections of their gender and sexuality. The research questions for this study included: (a) how do gay men make meaning of their masculinity and sexuality during their college years, (b) in what ways do gender, sexuality, and other dimensions of identity intersect for gay men in college, and (c) what are the critical influences during college on their meaning-making process? Seventeen gay men attending three universities in a metropolitan city in Southern California participated in this constructivist grounded theory study (Charmaz, 2006). Data collection included two in-depth interviews for each participant as well as journaling and an activity using the Model of Multiple Dimensions of Identity as a methodological tool for identity salience. A focus group was held also to discuss the theoretical model and the major themes that emerged. The findings are represented in a theoretical model, depicted as a labyrinth that represents a nested system between the Individual and Societal Contexts. The Individual Context includes five main themes: (1) Sense of Sameness Disappears; (2) Compartmentalizing Identit(ies); (3) Seeking Community; (4) Questioning Allegiances; and (5) Living in the Nexus. The Societal Context includes two main themes: (1) Socialization of Hegemonic Masculinity and the Inherent Tensions and (2) Heteronormativity and Homophobia as Internal and External Influences.

Sex in public: public performances of gay sex examines how (re)presentations of gay sex in the theater challenge, complicate, and interrogate the concepts of public and private in contemporary culture. Specifically, Sex In public argues that (re)presentations of gay sex in the public forum of the theater forces audiences to confront how the concepts of public and private circumscribe, influence, and control the lives and bodies and queer white men. Employing the queer theoretical works of Michael Warner (Publics and counterpublics and The trouble with normal), Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (Epistemology of the closet) and Michel Foucault (The history of sexuality volume I) Sex In public specifically considers how (re)presentations of white gay male sexuality and sexual activity are particularly effective sites of analysis when confronting hetero-normative hegemonic divisions of public and private. Through in-depth performance and textual analyses of Tim Miller's seminal queer solo performance piece My queer body and Peter Carpenter's dance theater piece Bareback into the sunset, Sex in public illustrates how sex and sexuality performed in public, which provoke both the participants and a witnessing audience to feel shame, can construct community and build coalitions across social identity categories. In Sex in public, I claim that gay male performance in the forum of the public space of the theater is a "space of circulation in which it is hoped that the poesis of scene making will be transformative, not replicative" (122) and which carries with it "the original hope of transforming not just policy but the space of public life itself" (124).

Lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender young people face a landscape of prejudice and intolerance when first coming to terms with their identities. In these moments of confusion, they often turn to their parents for support, yet parents often lack the information and resources necessary to support their LGBT child. The outcomes project interviews LGBT people about their "coming out" experience, and presents their video interviews a multi-platform website. The interviews appear alongside written accounts that highlight common themes encountered in research. The website also links to well-sourced resources for parents coming to terms with a child's disclosure. By telling these stories in a context that encourages an empathetic response, The outcomes project aims to give parents the information and understanding they need to support their LGBT child.