Suchergebnisse

Evidence from numerous studies suggests that homophobia and heterosexism remain common on university campuses. Since the 1970s LGBT academics have been encouraged to 'put themselves on the line' and 'come out' in the classroom, and in so doing empower LGBT students and provide them with positive role models. Wearing gay pride badges and t-shirts has been discussed as one way in which gay lecturers can come out and challenge homophobia. This paper explores psychology students' reactions to a gay slogan t-shirt I wore in an undergraduate lecture, and considers whether wearing such t-shirts is an effective and productive way of challenging heterosexism and coming out in the classroom.

The argument that children require role models of both sexes is a central theme in opposition to lesbian parenting. Challenges to this opposition have emphasised the ways in which children in lesbian families are compensated for the alleged deficit of a father. In this paper I provide an antidote to gender normalising discussions of male role models by exploring critical accounts of 'gays as role models'. The first half of the paper examines the deployment of traditional, liberal and critical discourse on male role models in relation to lesbian families. The second half provides a discourse analysis of excerpts from an interview with a lesbian couple raising three children, examining tensions in claiming gay men as positive role models for children in a lesbian family. I conclude by considering the costs and benefits of liberal and critical responses to claims about the necessity of male role models.