This qualitative investigation studies the impact of belonging to a high school Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA or Alliance) on the lives of seven students in a Salt Lake City (Utah) high school. Individual and focus group interviews were conducted over a 2-year period. The researcher/author used voices of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and straight students…

Sexual minority youth (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning) function in a society that condones homophobia. Results of a research study conducted by J. Sears (1991) indicated that teachers often expressed that they should be more proactive, supportive, and committed to the welfare of all their students, but the realities of…

Gay youth enter high school with the knowledge that they are different and with the belief that heterosexuality is normal and that homosexuality is not normal. Also, gay youth enter high school with the belief that honesty and integrity are important personal values. Additionally, the gay youth enter high school without family knowledge of their…

Building on an earlier study, this paper presents the findings of a series of studies that asked senior newspaper editors throughout the United States how they view newspaper coverage of issues of concern to gays and lesbians. The paper presents detailed findings reported in four earlier papers analyzing data from the survey: "Daily Newspaper…

Few therapists are trained to provide affirmative, effective therapy for clients who are sexually nontraditional and from various multicultural backgrounds. The author explores several models that can be used to increase students' understanding of such clients. Pederson's Triad model uses the theory of three conversations at work in the counseling…

This study hypothesized that male counselors whose sexual orientation and physical characteristics do not conform to conventional notions of masculinity (those who have had homosexual experiences and who do not fit the mesomorphic ideal) will be less traditional in their gender role attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs than those who adhere to more…

Stereotyped impressions of male homosexuals and the underlying importance of sexuality in social attraction and perceptions were investigated. Male (N=80) and female (N=80) college students responded to either an attractive or an unattractive photo of a male stimulus person, who was identified to half of the subjects as a homosexual. Compared to…

This research investigates the development of conflict between sexual minority identity and religious identity in sexual minority youth, examining religion as both a risk factor and a protective factor. Intrinsic religion was expected to predict self reported conflict between religious and sexual minority identity. Retrospectively reported…

In an attempt to create interdisciplinary study at one college, a gender and communications class was created by professors from psychology and communications. Although the class was made-up of students who were white, middle-class, and heterosexual, the class attempted to discuss issues about race, class, ability, and sexual preference…

This paper presents personal thoughts about addressing a seventh-grade civics class on the gay civil rights movement, a subject generally considered an adult issue. The situation manifests the dilemma as to whether talking to young adolescents about gay issues is in fact recruiting them, or planting dangerous thoughts in their minds. In…

A study examined to what extent journalism/mass communication education is attempting to sensitize students to covering people with disabilities in comparison to what it is doing in regard to addressing diversity issues concerning race, gender and sexual orientation. Two hypotheses were proposed: (1) that academic institutions accredited by the…

In addressing the subject of lesbian athletes, this paper discusses some ways in which sport psychologists, researchers and clinicians may constructively approach the issues. These include: (1) understand one's own homophobia and how it affects clinical work as a sport psychologist by studying the growing body of literature on the topic; (2)…

Two university professors investigated whether or not specific pedagogy contributes to raising students' self-awareness and development of critical thinking regarding issues of social justice. This paper describes two pedagogical tools used in the study: the Roundtable and the GRECSO model. The Roundtable is a whole-class activity that explores…

This study attempted to develop psychometric properties of the Sexual Orientation Counselor Competency Scale (SOCCS), an instrument used to assess the awareness, skills, and knowledge of counselors working with the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) population. A sample of 287 undergraduates, master-level and doctoral-level students, and counseling…

This paper, via a collection of personal stories, describes two educators' experiences of homophobia in the world of education. The paper uses stories from their experiences as students, teacher candidates, professional teachers, and graduate students. According to the paper, this work is unique in educational research in that it seeks to…