Keywords

Gay/straight alliance, sexual minority youth, adolescents, gay, lesbian, gender, frame analysis, social movements

Abstract

Gay/Straight Alliances aimed at providing sexual minority youth and their allies with support, social events, and activism and education opportunities have proliferated in high schools in the United States over the past two decades. This study employs a qualitative, grounded theory approach to examine how sexual minority youth and their allies navigate gender, sexuality, and social movement participation. A year and a half of observation and 16 semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with Gay/Straight Alliance members in a high school setting in the southeastern United States. The study reveals that, through the lens of frame analysis, the G/SA is analogous to larger and more organized social movement organizations. The findings also suggest members often struggle and engage with issues surrounding sexuality, including its origins, coming out as a process, and judgments and evaluations surrounding sex and desire. Additionally, the findings address elements of gender conformity and nonconformity

Notes

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Graduation Date

2012

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Grauerholz, Elizabeth

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Sociology

Degree Program

Sociology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0004228

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0004228

Language

English

Release Date

May 2012

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Sciences, Sciences -- Dissertations, Academic

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Included in

Sociology Commons

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