Craig T. Nagoshi

Correlates of Homophobia, Transphobia, and Internalized Homophobia in Gay or Lesbian and Heterosexual Samples

This research assessed the correlates of homophobia and transphobia in heterosexual and homosexual individuals, based on a theory of different sources of perceived symbolic threat to social status. Compared to 310 heterosexual college students, a sample of 30 gay male and 30 lesbian college students scored lower on homophobia, transphobia, and religious fundamentalism. Mean gender differences were smaller for gay men and lesbians for homophobia, aggressiveness, benevolent sexism, masculinity, and femininity. Fundamentalism, right-wing authoritarianism, and hostile and benevolent sexism were correlated only with homophobia in lesbians, whereas fundamentalism and authoritarianism were correlated only with transphobia in gay men. Correlates of internalized homophobia were different than those found for homophobia and transphobia, which was discussed in terms of gender differences in threats to status based on sexual orientation versus gender identity.

The Quantitative/Positivist Approach to Socially Constructed Identities

To challenge the social dominance of men, feminist theory challenged the assumptions that gender roles were inevitably tied to gender. Instead, feminist theorists argued that masculinity and femininity were social constructs, i.e., that traditionally defined gender roles were the result of historical and cultural forces and not necessarily inherent in being male versus being female. This immediately begs the questions of what other causal forces define gender roles and to what extent individuals can control their self-perceived and manifested social identities, questions which are addressed in other parts of this book.

Intersectionality and Narratives of Lived Experiences

The traditional heteronormative view of gender is that gender roles, gender identity, and sexual orientation/identity are all of one piece, such that an individual with a female gender identity is essentially predisposed to engage in predominantly feminine behaviors and appearances and to only be sexually attracted to those with a male gender identity, while an individual with a male gender identity is essentially predisposed to engage in predominantly masculine behaviors and appearances and to only be sexually attracted to those with a female gender identity.

Coalition Building Based on Socially Constructed Oppressed Identities Contributed by Robert Hess III

Within feminist, queer, and transgender theory there has been much debate and contention regarding the formation of multidisciplinary coalitions. This debate is due, in part, to the attempt to braid theoretical models with practice. While there is great value in theoretical discourses, in practice, these exchanges can create discord, which is counter-productive to the work of coalition building. It is possible that such theoretical discourses may be disconnected from the consciousness of the day-to-day practical tasks of coalition building.

Practice and Personal Empowerment

The trans-identity theory (Nagoshi and Brzuzy 2010) we have presented in this book emphasizes an all-encompassing theory of transgender and other gender and sexual identities. Many scholars have addressed these theoretical constructs over the last several decades but, for me, in order to get to the point where personal empowerment has been possible, I needed more than any one particular framework offers.

Feminist and Queer Theories: The Response to the Social Construction of Gender

One of the obvious trends seen in our interview study was that the responses regarding gender roles, gender identity, and sexuality became more nuanced and elaborated, as one moved from the straight to the gay/lesbian to the transgender interview participants. Gay/lesbian and transgender participants were more likely to have thought about the socially constructed and embodied aspects of gender and sexual identity, about the dynamic interactions between gender and sexuality, and about their own strategies for self-constructing their gender and sexual identities in the context of living in a social environment that defines and enforces norms of gender and sexual behaviors and appearances.

The Qualitative Approach to Socially Constructed Identities

As discussed in the previous chapter, quantitative research offers many advantages for addressing questions of interest to feminist scholars, including the promise of deriving free-standing, objective, and widely generalizable knowledge which identifies causal mechanisms that can be targeted for socially beneficial interventions.

Transgender and Trans-Identity Theory

As discussed in Chap. 2, among feminist theorists there has been considerable controversy over whether gender identity, as opposed to gender roles, is essential. Such an essentialist view of gender identity posits that being born physically male versus physically female immutably defines one’s membership and self-identification in one side or the other of the gender binary. While essentialism is not the same as embodiment, there is the implication that the bodily experiences of being a woman versus being a man create a sense of identity independent of socially constructed definitions of the expected physical and behavioral manifestations of gender.

Coalition Building with Intersectional Identities

As Nagoshi and Brzuzy (2010) note, “beyond empowerment, transgender theory provides an alternative to feminist and queer theories in addressing the thorny issue of coalition building for social activism in an intersectional world.” Unpacking the theoretical implications, as well as complex intersectionalities, in the lived experiences of people of the trans experience across the continuum paints a complex relational matrix contributing to both the need for and potential demise of organizing efforts. These complexities, combined with the prejudice and trans-phobic discrimination of the feminist and queer movements, lesbian, gay, and bisexual communities, and mainstream society create a perfect storm for which true social change remains a great need with few evidence based models to guide practice. This chapter will examine the implications of feminist, queer, and transgender/trans-identity conceptualizations of the nature of identity as they relate to social activism to oppose oppression. We will start by providing an introduction to the work of activism, then unpack theoretical concepts of public versus private identities, discuss oppression as it relates to coalition building among trans individuals, implications of coalition building as it relates to the risk of loss of individual identity, as well as implications for the greater transgender populations as a whole community. Discussions will emphasize the intersectionalities identities of trans individuals, empowerment, as well as building coalitions based on socially constructed oppressed identities.