“I Didn’t Know Ace Was a Thing”: Bisexuality and Pansexuality as Identity Pathways in Asexual Identity Formation

Identity formation for asexual people can be complicated by limited societal awareness of asexualities. Consequently, people who eventually identify as asexual often adopt other sexual identities in their early lives. In this paper, we extend sexual identity development theory by analyzing the identity trajectories of asexual people who once identified as bisexual or pansexual. Quantitative data suggests that about half of asexual respondents once identified as bisexual or pansexual and a third closely associate with bisexual or pansexual terminology. Qualitative data supports these findings, revealing that bisexuality, pansexuality, and asexuality are not always seen as mutually exclusive categories by asexual individuals. We argue that the intelligibility of bi-/pansexuality positions them as identity pathways for many asexual individuals who experience equal (albeit little to no) attractions toward men and women.

Overview of the Gay Characters in the New Cinema of Turkey

Similar to the worldwide perceptions, gay characters in Turkish cinema are mostly perceived and used as elements of humor and comedy. They are also used as standards for measuring the masculinity of other male characters in some Turkish movies. And what about Today? What are the differences between the past and now? It is possible to say that Turkish cinema in 2000s involve more visible sexual identities apart from heteronormative understanding. This study will focus on the reflections and portrayals of only gay characters in New Turkish cinema.

Loneliness in Gender-Diverse and Sexual Orientation–Diverse Adolescents: Measurement Invariance Analyses and Between-Group Comparisons

Youth loneliness is a risk factor for myriad adverse psychosocial outcomes, making it a potentially informative construct for assessment and treatment research. Minority stressors may place LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) youths at high risk of loneliness. However, the prevalence of loneliness across gender and sexual identities cannot be precisely estimated or compared without establishing that common measures assess the construct equivalently across groups. In a preregistered study, we determined the optimal structure of the UCLA Loneliness Scale and investigated whether it showed invariance across gender and sexual identities in a national U.S. sample of adolescents with elevated depressive symptoms ( N = 2,431; https://osf.io/52ctd ). Results supported strict invariance, indicating that loneliness scores can be meaningfully compared across groups in this sample. Exploratory analyses indicated that loneliness levels and LGBTQ+ identity predicted levels of depression and anxiety. We discuss implications for research on loneliness, health disparities, and psychopathology in high-symptom youths.

COVID-19 Stress and Sexual Identities

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted lives and resulted in high levels of stress. While the evidence at the societal level is clear, there have been no population-based studies of pandemic-based stress focusing on individuals who identify as sexual minorities. Drawing on representative data collected during the pandemic, National Couples’ Health and Time Use Study, we find that partnered (cohabiting or married) individuals who identified as sexual minorities experienced higher levels of stress than individuals who identified as heterosexual. However, variation exists observed among sexual minority adults. Although economic resources, discrimination, social and community support and health conditions are tied to reported stress levels they do not explain differentials according to sexual identity. These results provide evidence that sexual minority adults faced greater stress during the pandemic and the importance of recognizing that sexual minorities are not a monolithic group with varying stress responses to the pandemic.

Don Juan in Search of Identity in the Play "La Nuit de Valognes" by Éric-Emanuel Schmitt

The first play by the contemporary French writer Éric-Emanuel Schmitt, The Night in Valognes (La Nuit de Valognes, 1989), represents a completely new interpretation of the myth originating from the 17th century, and celebrated in the writings of many subsequent authors, from Tirso de Molina, over Molière and Mozart, to Ballester and Handke. The play is situated in a castle in northern France, taking place some thirty years after the well-known adventures of Don Juan, and represents a trial organized by five women, his former lovers. However, the penalty – to marry his last victim, is not executed. The aim of the paper is to argue that in this humorous philosophical play, written by the end of the 20th century, Schmitt is not interested in the problem of seduction, represented in the classical myth, but in the quest of the main character for his identity. His hero does not give the answer to the key question: “Who am I?”, but instead poses the question if our sexual identities are solid and unchangeable. The hero’s search for identity is presented as the quality of contemporary man, re-examining his sexuality through search for love, as well as homosexuality, hinted at in the play as one possible modern identity of Don Juan.

Following a straight path? The social locations and sexual identity trajectories of emerging adult women

The sexual identities of today's young women are more fluid and less consistently heterosexual than those of their predecessors – a trend that can be attributed to shifts in the socio-cultural context over time. However, this cannot explain within-cohort differences in women's identity trajectories. In this article, I draw from critical heterosexuality studies and test how young women's social locations are associated with their propensities to change towards or away from claiming a straight identity. Consistent with expectations, I find that women who occupy a position on the sexual landscape characterised by lower levels of heteronormativity, or who indicate a willingness to break with heteronormative expectations in the future, are more likely to change away from claiming a straight identity over time. My findings suggest that heteronormative ideology continues to structure women's lives to degrees that vary according to their social locations.

Customer Abuse and Aggression as Labour Control Among LGBT Workers in Low-Wage Services

This study examines the relation between customer abuse and aggression, the gender and sexual expression of workers, and labour control in low-wage services. In-depth interviews with 30 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)1 low-wage service sector workers reveal how customer abuse and aggression works in consort with management strategies to reproduce cis- and heteronormativity. Customer abuse and aggression disciplined worker expressions of non-normative gender and sexual identities, leading to concealment and self-policing. Management was complicit in this dynamic, placing profitability and customer satisfaction over the safety of LGBT workers, only intervening in instances of customer abuse and aggression when it had a limited economic impact. It is posited that customer abuse and aggression is not only a response to unmet expectations emanating from the labour process but is also a mechanism of labour control that disciplines worker behaviour and aesthetics, directly and indirectly, by influencing management prerogatives.