Research conducted on heterosexual women has been generalized to lesbians. However, the question remains whether lesbians differ in their adult development from heterosexual men and women. This article reviews results of 10 one-on-one life story interviews conducted with self-identified lesbians between the ages of 35 and 45. Information from…

It is clear that internalized heterosexism (IH) is a core variable to which counseling psychologists must attend when working with lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals in research, clinical, and training settings. The content in this Major Contribution provides a compelling argument that IH is related to negative well-being in LGB…

The purpose of this study was to explore how heterosexual college students understand and make meaning of their life experiences and how they incorporate those into their sexual orientation consciousness. We interviewed 14 undergraduate and graduate self-identified heterosexual students, ten women and four men, ranging in age from 20 to 24.…

Teenagers, and many preteens, can't get away from their hormone-filled bodies; therefore, they spend lots of time during school contending with issues of sexuality--from profound questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to more mundane issues such as whom a particularly cute classmate will choose to sit next to in English. Like it or…

Over the past three decades educational research has provided an exciting and dynamic theoretical engagement with gender and sexuality. While acknowledging this contribution, this article is a conceptually-led exploration of a number of theoretical and methodological tensions contained within this research. More specifically, it argues that…

A qualitative study was conducted in Butterworth, in the rural Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, to explore sources of distress for young people. Semi-structured, individual in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 men and 24 women aged 16-22 years. The findings revealed interconnections between structural factors such as death, poverty,…

This paper is concerned with expanding knowledge of how femininity/sexuality intersections are constituted in secondary schools. Existing studies have drawn upon Judith Butler's notion of a "heterosexual matrix" in order to understand how intersections of femininity/sexuality are produced in schools through normative discourses of…

This article seeks to examine the ways in which a heteronormative discourse dominates the practice and policies of schools in respect of sexualities. Such heteronormativity produces discrimination both direct and indirect against those who fall outside a narrow descriptive band. However, there is increasing evidence of teachers, trainees and…

Using a representative national sample (N = 20,745), this article explores health and mental health needs, service use, and barriers to services among sexual minority youths (SMYs) and heterosexual peers. SMYs were defined by ever having a same-sex romantic attraction or having a recent same-sex romantic relationship or sexual partner. SMYs…

Dialogue on religion and sexuality is difficult because these topics consist of deeply seated concepts of self, as well as one's relationship to other selves in the world. This chapter offers practical steps for creating and navigating difficult dialogues with respect to sexuality and religion. It suggests that partnership with departments,…

"Valuing People Now" is for all adults with learning disabilities and their families. This means it should be fair for everyone: (1) young people and older people; (2) people of any race or culture; (3) people of any religion or belief; (4) gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual and transgender people; (5) men and women; (6) people with…

Objectives: This article addresses the potential role for psychiatrists in teaching sexuality to other medical disciplines. Methods: The authors searched PsycNet and PubMed/MEDLINE for pertinent articles and studies from the period between 1990 and 2009 using the terms human sexuality; teaching human sexuality; teaching methods; education and…

This review examines two texts that relate to youth, sexuality, and education. The first is James Sears' "Youth, Education and Sexualities: An International Encyclopedia" (2005) and the second is "Youth and Sexualities: Pleasure, Subversion and Insubordination In and Out of Schools" (2004) edited by Mary Louise Rasmussen, Eric Rofes, and Susan…

This report summarizes data contributed to Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) during the 2012-2013 academic year, closing on June 30, 2013. Data was contributed by 132 college and university counseling centers describing more than 95,00 unique college students seeking mental health treatment, 3,000 clinicians, and over 500,000…

Heteronormativity creates heterosexuality as the quintessential ideal of sexuality, as the most natural state of being. This normalization, in turn, marginalizes homosexuality so that it becomes viewed as unnatural and immoral. Berlant and Warner (1998) go on to argue that one way heteronormative forms of intimacy get reinscribed is through love…