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This article uses a rhetorically informed thematic analysis to critically examine conservative arguments against same-sex marriage, as articulated in the British press at the time of a public consultation on marriage equality. Seven opposition arguments were identified: (1) marriage is by definition and tradition a union between a man and a woman; (2) marriage is designed as a framework for raising children; (3) if you allow gay marriage now, it will be polygamous and incestuous marriage next; (4) same-sex marriage would threaten the right to religious freedom; (5) same-sex couples already have equal rights; (6) changing the law to allow same-sex marriage would be undemocratic and (7) the government should focus on bigger priorities. Many of these arguments were a reworking of arguments previously used to oppose other forms of equality, although there was a notable absence of arguments explicitly based on assertions that homosexuality is immoral.

This article explores how lesbian identity construction is facilitated and constrained by the raced, classed, gendered, familial, and geographical spaces that women occupy. We present a narrative-discursive analysis of eight lesbians’ stories of sexuality, told within a historically white university in South Africa. Three interpretative repertoires that emerged in the narratives are discussed. The ‘disallowance of lesbian identity in particular racialised and class-based spaces’ repertoire, deployed by black lesbians only, was used to account for their de-emphasis of a lesbian identity through the invocation of a threat of danger and stereotyping. The ‘disjuncture of the (heterosexual) family and lesbian identity’ repertoire emphasised how the expectation of support and care within a family does not necessarily extend to acceptance of a lesbian identity. This repertoire was used to justify emphasis on familial rather than lesbian identity and how participants managed their emotions in relation to the family and timing their disclosure to relatives. The ‘expectation of routinisation of homosexuality within a liberal university’ repertoire emphasised the support and acceptance of lesbian identity within the university in which the study was conducted, while simultaneously rendering heteronormative policies and heterosexism visible.

Courses in women’s studies and gender studies within US contexts have long prioritized content that critically examines the social construction of bodies and sexualities, consciousness-raising about how social identities interface with disciplinary and institutional practices, and the notion that ‘the personal is political.’ This article examines the social and pedagogical implications of an extra-credit assignment where I asked women to grow out their body hair and men to remove their body hair for 10 weeks in several upper-division women’s studies courses. Students’ response papers and weekly logs from 87 students over four semesters highlighted the social policing of gender and sexual identity, pervasive disgust and misinformation about body hair, raced and classed dimensions of students’ experiences, configurations of masculinity as agentic and powerful, and postexperiential reflections on challenging social norms. This assignment showed how temporary excursions into rebelling against body norms can generate sociopolitical awareness, particularly for living as Other (e.g. queerness, fatness, disability). I also consider implications for ‘ripple effect pedagogy’ and ‘peer generated pedagogy,’ along with pedagogical reflections about using the assignment as a consciousness-raising tool in feminist classrooms.

In this short piece I hope to draw attention to the location of class within debates over lesbian feminism and queer theory, acknowledging some intellectual legacies, departures and points of intersection. My thoughts in constructing this paper on the relevancies – or otherwise – of lesbian feminism today, and the potential erasures and enduring legacies of and within this, were one of panic and inspiration: could I effectively capture a moment then? An endurance now? And a possible gap in-between the past and the present, embodied in the generations of older and younger lesbian feminists? Rather uncomfortably, I realized my own hesitancy itself relied on various caricatures of feminism, often depicted as naively universal, exclusionary and rather dated – the ‘in-fighting’ between ‘branches’ of feminism represented as fractious, immature and unsophisticated, to be moved away from via more advanced and complex theorization. In relation to sexuality, queer theory now sets much of the agenda, frequently positioned as grappling with such complexity while sidelining feminist concerns with the materiality of sexuality and the continued structucturing presence of heterosexism. The ‘battles’ between queer and lesbian feminism are marked by key contestations and where some have declared the ‘queer disappearance’ of lesbians as a political erasure (Jeffreys, 2003), others have pointed to the opening up of possibilities, queer or otherwise (Roseneil, 2000). Again, however, the risk in easy replacement is the dismissal of complications (both ‘past’ and ‘present’) where gains and intersections are lost in invested struggles and misrepresentation, in declaring whose side you are on (Jagose, 2009; Taylor et al., 2010).

In this article we contribute to the expansion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) health psychology beyond the confines of sexual health by examining the experiences of lesbian, gay and bisexual people living with non-HIV related chronic illness. Using a (predominantly) qualitative online survey, the perspectives of 190 LGB people with 52 different chronic illnesses from eight countries were collected. The five most commonly reported physical conditions were arthritis, hypertension, diabetes, asthma and chronic fatigue syndrome. Our analysis focuses on four themes within participants’ written comments: (1) ableism within LGBT communities; (2) isolation from LGBT communities and other LGB people living with chronic illness; (3) heteronormativity within sources of information and support and; (4) homophobia from healthcare professionals. We conclude by suggesting that LGBTQ psychology could usefully draw on critical health psychology principles and frameworks to explore non-heterosexual’s lived experiences of chronic illness, and also that there remains a need for specifically targeted support groups and services for LGB people with chronic illnesses.

As reproductive health clinics both within Australia and internationally continue to face a shortfall in the number of available sperm donors, so there exists a growing demand for men willing to donate to clinics. At the same time, and where an increasing number of countries move toward legislating for the release of identifying information about donors to children conceived of their sperm, fewer men report a willingness to act as donors. This article suggests that this is at least in part caused by the considerable ‘emotion work’ involved in sperm donation. Drawing on 21 interviews conducted with gay Australian sperm donors, the article provides a thematic analysis of instances of such emotion work and explores the implications of this for the health and well-being of gay men who donate sperm both to clinics and in private arrangements.

This study examines the short- and long-term psychological, physical and social health implications associated with pre-1992 investigations and eventual discharge of Canadian military servicewomen for reasons of homosexuality. Theoretically, it sheds light on the impact of the intersection between sexism and heterosexism. The feminist psycho-social ethnography of the commonplace methodology was utilized. The study draws on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 13 former military personnel who self-identified as lesbian. While in the military, study participants were persecuted and forced to adopt various cognitive and behavioural coping strategies to avoid being found out and discharged by the military’s Special Investigative Unit. Women reported that the relentless military surveillance, ongoing risk evaluation, and identity hiding contributed to psychological, physical and social health effects, including high stress, physical exhaustion, depression, substance abuse and social isolation. The criminal code’s definition of torture and the literature regarding the effects of stalking on victims provide context for the results. The discussion presents policy recommendations aimed at repairing the psychological damage that discharged lesbian service members suffered.

In this article, I will discuss the ways in which strong women characters are constituted in the 2005 film The Descent (Marshall, 2005). In doing so, I will unpack representations of these fictional women with a view to articulating the implications that they have for challenging both problematic feminine positionings and heterosexism(s). While the film The Descent can be read as falling short of offering a challenge to heterosexist understandings of femininity, it will be argued that viewing horror films as monolithically problematic for women may overlook the subversive potential of this genre. I will begin by outlining the plot of the film and then explain why the film became of interest to me as a feminist psychologist.

Although the heterosexism and discrimination encountered by lesbian women who are mothers can have negative practical, financial, social and psychological consequences, lesbian women and their families frequently thrive. Based on in-depth interviews from the Australian Conceiving the Family: Lesbian Mothers’ Decisions, Experiences and Well-being, and the Current Legal, Public Policy, and Discursive Context project, this article identifies the importance of legislative change in promoting the well-being of lesbian women who are mothers, and presents resources and strategies that some use to live well, resist heterosexism and discrimination and minimise its effects.

Interviews are reported in which heterosexual women construct unmarried status as a temporary stage, preparatory to marriage, or the consequence of failure to maintain heterosexual relationships. Remaining single in later life is constructed as a threat, and older single women are constructed as lonely and isolated. Women construct themselves as responsible for the ending of past relationships, and report having been held to account in this way by significant others. It is argued that these accounts reflect the discourses of heterosexual romantic quest, and the gendered division of emotional labour in marriage. Participants' accounts are characterized by heterosexism and ageism, and the authors discuss issues of collusion with these in the collection of data.

This study examined how internalized heterosexism is related to feminist attitudes and coping resources in a sample of 210 female participants living in the United States. Respondents completed a demographic questionnaire and measures assessing lesbian internalized heterosexism, self-identification as feminist, attitudes towards feminism, involvement in feminist activities, and coping resources. Results indicated that internalized heterosexism correlated moderately with each of the feminist variables and had a low correlation with coping resources. Hierarchical regression analysis, controlling for age and income, identified attitudes toward feminism, involvement in feminist activities, and coping resources as unique predictors of internalized heterosexism, accounting for 31 percent of the variance. Research and practice implications are discussed.