Sonja J. Ellis

Attitudes towards lesbians and gay men and support for lesbian and gay human rights among psychology students

Abstract A questionnaire comprising two scales, the short form of the Attitudes Towards Lesbians and Gay Men Scale (ATLG-S; Herek, 1984) and the newly devised Support for Lesbian and Gay Human Rights Scale (SLGHR) were administered to 226 students taking undergraduate psychology courses at universities in the United Kingdom, to assess their attitudes towards lesbians and gay men, and their level of support for lesbian and gay human rights. The results indicated that whilst only a small percentage of respondents expressed negative attitudes towards lesbians and gay men on the ATLG-S, the sample as a whole did not overwhelmingly support lesbian and gay human rights. The lack of support for lesbian and gay human rights is discussed in relation to its implications for psychology students as future practitioners and policymakers.

Trans People's Experiences of Mental Health and Gender Identity Services: A UK Study

Drawing on survey data from a UK study of trans people and mental health, the study presented here reports on the experiences of trans people in two health care settings: mental health services and gender identity clinics. An analysis of the primarily qualitative data indicates that in these settings practitioners tend to be poorly informed about trans issues and the realities of trans peoples lives. The key observations of this study are that untreated gender dysphoria (due to delays or refusals of treatment), unnecessary and intrusive questioning/tests, prejudicial attitudes by service providers, and restrictive treatment pathways, all contribute to minority stress which is detrimental to the mental health and well-being of trans people.

“We Don’t Get Into All That”: An Analysis of How Teachers Uphold Heteronormative Sex and Relationship Education

Legislation that applies to UK SRE currently advocates inclusive provision. Given the nonstatutory status of SRE, however, it is unclear how teachers incorporate sexual inclusivity, especially as research has shown that teachers’ discursive practices can promote a heteronormative SRE climate (Renn, 2010). Using a discursive psychological approach to analyze interview data, this study examined how teachers account for their provision as inclusive. It was revealed that even when promoting their inclusivity, teachers’ SRE provision upholds heteronormativity. In doing this, they positioned LGB and same-sex practices outside of the classroom, potentially leaving these young people without a sufficient sex education.

Gender, stage of transition and situational avoidance: a UK study of trans people's experiences

Most societies are heavily organised around a dichotomous model of gender, and individuals are heavily policed on their conformity (or otherwise) to gender norms. This scrutinisation of gender has a profound impact on the identities and lived experiences of trans people, especially for those whose gender identity (or presentation) does not appear to match social expectations for that gender; or where someones physical body in some way does not match the body conventionally associated with that gender. This might result in trans people avoiding certain situations to reduce the risk of being exposed. Based on a sample of 889 UK-based participants who self-defined as trans, the current paper explores situational avoidance with particular reference to gender identity and stage of transition. A key finding of this study concerned statistically significant associations between group (gender identity and stage of transition) and avoidance (or not) of certain situations, namely clothing shops, gyms, and public toilets. The implications of these findings for supporting trans people through transition – in particular, the real life experience – are also discussed.

Suicide risk in the UK trans population and the role of gender transition in decreasing suicidal ideation and suicide attempt

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present findings from the Trans Mental Health Study (McNeil et al., 2012) – the largest survey of the UK trans population to date and the first to explore trans mental health and well-being within a UK context. Findings around suicidal ideation and suicide attempt are presented and the impact of gender dysphoria, minority stress and medical delay, in particular, are highlighted. Design/methodology/approach – This represents a narrative analysis of qualitative sections of a survey that utilised both open and closed questions. The study drew on a non-random sample (n=889), obtained via a range of UK-based support organisations and services. Findings – The study revealed high rates of suicidal ideation (84 per cent lifetime prevalence) and attempted suicide (48 per cent lifetime prevalence) within this sample. A supportive environment for social transition and timely access to gender reassignment, for those who required it, emerged as key protective factors. Subseque...

Lesbian feminisms: historical and present possibilities

Lesbian feminism was a dominant ideology of politicized (white, middle class, North American, Western European, and Australasian) lesbians during the 1970s and 1980s. Prior to the rise of lesbian feminism, lesbianism was commonly theorized and talked about as illness and deviance, and subsequently as a personal sexual preference. Lesbian feminism offered women a new political language for thinking about sexuality. According to a key lesbian feminist writer, Sheila Jeffreys (2003: 22) ‘lesbian feminism is distinguished from other varieties of lesbian politics by its emphasis on the need for some degree of separation from the politics, institutions and culture of men’. Drawing on the principles of radical feminism, lesbian feminism centred on the notion that ‘the personal is political’ and, therefore, that lesbianism was fundamentally about woman-loving, separatism, eroticizing equality, choice, and resistance. In particular, lesbian feminists argued that because lesbianism was invisible, invalidated, and punished as a way of controlling women under patriarchy, accepting the label ‘lesbian’ was ‘an assertion of refusal of the heteropatriarchal order, and a commitment to women and other lesbians’ (Wilkinson and Kitzinger, 1994: 313). Therefore, lesbianism was conceived as a political act. To this end, the introduction by Adrienne Rich (1997) of the construct of a lesbian continuum (i.e. women’s connection with other women socially, spiritually, and/or sexually) introduced the notion that any woman could be a lesbian. (Political) lesbianism therefore became a way of living out feminist politics. Although there was broad agreement among lesbian feminists about the principles that united them, they sometimes differed in their views on certain issues (Douglas, 1990; Kitzinger and Perkins, 1993). Perhaps the greatest source of debate was about the extent to which separatism was important to the project of dismantling

Moral Reasoning and Homosexuality: The Acceptability of Arguments about Lesbian and Gay Issues.

In the political arena, lesbian and gay issues have been contested typically on grounds of human rights, but with variable success. Using a moral developmental framework, the purpose of this study was to explore preferences for different types of moral arguments when thinking about moral dilemmas around lesbian and gay issues. The analysis presented here comprised data collected from 545 students at UK universities who completed a questionnaire, part of which comprised a moral dilemma task. Findings of the study showed that respondents do not apply moral reasoning consistently, and do not (clearly) favour human rights reasoning when thinking about lesbian and gay issues. Respondents tended to favour reasoning supporting existing social structures and frameworks, therefore this study highlights the importance of structural change in effecting widespread attitude change in relation to lesbian and gay rights issues. The implications of the findings for moral education are also discussed.

Transphobic victimisation and perceptions of future risk : a large-scale study of the experiences of trans people in the UK

Due to perceived non-conformity to conventional constructions of gender, trans people may be subject to overt victimisation (e.g. physical or sexual violence; verbal abuse) and as a result of those experiences (actual or ‘witnessed’) may fear future victimisation. While some existing works report levels of transphobic victimisation, there is a dearth of research on perceived risk; and more importantly, exploring group differences in actual victimisation and perceived risk. Drawing on survey responses from 660 trans people, the current study sets out to explore levels of victimisation, perceived risk of victimisation, and group differences (gender identity; stage of transition) in both these phenomena. Findings show that congruent with work on systematic oppression and minority stress, perceived risk of victimisation outstrips actual experiences. Almost no group differences were found on a basis of gender identity. Conversely, those currently undergoing a process (or part of a process) of gender reassignment or transition were significantly more likely to report having been victimised, and to perceive themselves at risk of future victimisation than those at any other stage of transition. That levels of perceived risk outstripped actual experiences of victimisation suggests that, in a culture that privileges cis-gender experiences, isolated experiences of victimisation invoke a heightened sense of fear in members of the wider trans community. These findings suggest that there is a pressing need for dedicated support services for trans people; especially those who are going through a process of transitioning.

II. Difference and Indifference Reflections on the Process of Planning a Lesbian `Marriage'

Since the run-up to the institution of the UK Civil Partnerships Act (CPA) in December 2005, there have been many papers published highlighting issues around same-sex marriages versus civil partnerships (e.g. see Feminism & Psychology special issue on marriage (2), 14(1), 2004 and in particular Lewin, 2004; Peel and Harding, 2004; Wilkinson and Kitzinger, 2005). As Peel and Harding (2004) highlight, the discourse of rights features prominently in these debates, and indeed the fact that civil partnerships give same-sex couples access to a range of rights that until now have been denied is the main reason why many lesbian and gay male couples are contemplating entering into such partnerships. My partner, Michelle, and I have recently entered a civil partnership, and this article explores some of our experiences in the early stages of preparing for this. As feminists, we agree with Kitzinger and Wilkinson (Kitzinger and Wilkinson, 2004; Wilkinson and Kitzinger, 2005) that the UK government’s offer of civil partnership for same-sex couples rather than marriage is morally wrong and a denial of our civil human rights, in that it sets up a two-tier (or apartheid) system, which institutionally positions lesbians and gay men as unequal and inferior to heterosexuals. Initially, we both differed in what we saw as the best way of responding to this. My original feelings were that we should not buy into a system that is essentially discriminatory and therefore we should not take up the offer of a civil partnership but hold out for (equal) marriage. Michelle, on the other hand, believes that it is better to fight from the inside. That is, to accept civil partnership and secure what rights we can but to continue to argue for change. Whilst our position as feminists is very important in how we – as a couple – respond to issues such as this, at the end of the day, we also believe that it is important to consider the personal implications of what we choose to do. Although this might appear as if we are selling out on our feminist politics, in the face of the very real discrimination and marginalization we, as lesbians, face in society, we need to ensure that as much as possible our rights are protected. Since it is very unlikely that the UK government will change its position any time soon (as evidenced recently through the failure of the High Court in the UK to legally

Ego-Identity Development and the Well-Adjusted Lesbian: Reclaiming Marcia’s Identity Status Model

Although the view of homosexuality as pathology is much less common in psychology now than it was a decade or two ago (see Kitzinger, 1990), this view is still widely espoused in society (evident in the recent reports, and letters to the editor, in the UK’s major newspapers in relation to the age of consent debate), and by psychoanalysts (e.g. see Charles Socarides, in NARTH, 1998). It can be argued that focusing our time and energy on whether or not lesbians are or are not as well adjusted as heterosexuals is diversionary. Many feminists would agree that it is like arguing whether women are or are not as good at maths as men (see Kitzinger, 1994), or similarly, whether blacks are or are not as intelligent as whites: it focuses our attention away from other more important issues, such as heterosexism, oppression, discrimination and human rights. On the other hand, apart from the nice irony of using standard psychological models to show that we (lesbians) are better adjusted than heterosexuals, employing psychological models in this way has wider implications. In this short commentary, I want to suggest that Marcia’s model of identity development might be used to challenge the view of lesbianism as pathology. In doing so, I am not advocating that we uncritically reclaim mainstream positivist models in practice, but merely to illustrate how a model such as Marcia’s might be used to provide a counter-argument against those who would pathologize us.