This article focuses on two collaborative projects selected by the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee to partner in the US Department of State's Diplomacy Lab program that engages college students and faculty to study foreign policy challenges. The projects allowed information science graduate students to…

Schools play an integral role in creating safe, supportive environments for students, especially for sexual minority youth (SMY). Using 2016 questionnaire data from seven high schools in a Florida school district, we obtained a sample of 1,364 SMY. Logistic regressions controlling for sex (as applicable), age, grade, race/ethnicity, and school…

This case study examined the sources of resilience utilized by staff and faculty grassroots leaders at a Jesuit, Catholic university addressing the LGBT campus climate. Interviews with 31 grassroots leaders uncovered how self-authorship helped participants reconcile tensions between Church teachings and LGBT concerns, self-efficacy to make a…

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) young people's identity management impacts their well-being, yet little is known about how distinctive social environments shape their identity management strategies. We qualitatively examined how 46 LGBTQ young adults ages 19-26, who are either homeless or attending college, manage their…

This exploratory study examines measures of one drop-in center's efforts to improve health outcomes of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) youth by facilitating out-group secondary social ties. "Hatch Youth," located in Houston, Texas, aims to increase self-esteem and decrease negative health outcomes by encouraging GLBT youth…

Leadership experiences of lesbian, gay male, and bisexual (LGB) school superintendents of Color were explored in this dissertation. All LGB superintendents in recent research were White; this finding, along with literature on LGB identity, race and ethnicity, discrimination, and educational leadership, provided context for two research questions…

The Latino male experience in higher education often assumes a heteronormative masculinity framework without critically considering the experiences of gay Latino men as they negotiate heteronormative and heterosexist spaces within the institutional environment. Internalized masculinity constructs that begin within the familial space, and are…

From a social constructivist paradigm I explored the experiences of 7 openly gay engineering students to understand how, if at all, they made sense of the intersections between their engineering and sexual orientation identities. By eliciting stories through individual and focus group interviews, a narrative approach allowed me to capture the…

Owing to a variety of complex historical and socio-cultural factors, the Irish education system remains heavily influenced by denominational mores and values [Ferriter, D. 2012. "Occasions of Sin: Sex & Society in Modern Ireland." London: Profile Books], particularly those of the Roman Catholic Church [O'Toole, B. 2015.…

The current qualitative study examines how parents' sexual orientation, gender, and other social locations intersect to shape their experiences with and connection to their children's school communities. We applied thematic analysis to interview data from 90 adoptive parents in 45 couples (15 lesbian, 15 gay, 15 heterosexual) in the USA, whose…

Outside the immediate classroom setting, efforts within other school spaces also can shape school climate, address inequality, and affect student performance. Nevertheless, in this respect there has been little research on school-based extracurricular groups focused on issues of social inclusion and justice. An exception to this lack of focus has…

Although the notion of queer kinship has been well discussed within literature on queer individuals, it has not been used as a lens to make sense of how trans* college students successfully navigate rigidly gender dichotomous collegiate environments. Using interview data from the National Study of LGBTQ Student Success, this study explores the…

HIV disproportionately impacts young African American men who have sex with men (MSM). In this study, we sought to understand how previous relationship experiences and expectations for romantic relationships influence condom use among young African American MSM. Twenty African American MSM aged 16 to 24 years completed a semi-structured interview…

Lesbian and gay individuals have been reported to show more interest in other-sex, and/or less interest in same-sex, toys, playmates, and activities in childhood than heterosexual counterparts. Yet, most of the relevant evidence comes from retrospective studies or from prospective studies of clinically referred, extremely gender nonconforming…

This study explores the perceived barriers and supports identified by school staff in tackling homophobic and transphobic bullying, using Bronfenbrenner's ecological model as a framework. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants from five separate second-level/high schools (two designated disadvantaged schools, and three…