Order and turbulence in a Swedish bathroom

‘Where are all the queers at the school?! I want to hug you’. Thus begins a conversation scrawled on the door to a Swedish high school’s student bathroom that will spark a debate among students on whether the word ‘queer’ should be considered a slur. In dialogue with work on linguistic citizenship and graffiti as a semiotic mode, this article analyses different stages of the unfolding debate. The analytical lens of turbulence captures the interplay of ordering and disordering in the students' efforts to define ‘queer’. Youths' linguistic agency works as a struggle for meaning across different indexical orders, illustrating the difficulty of sustaining mastery of identity labels as they travel through discourse.

What is NORML? Sedimented Meanings in Ambiguous Organizational Identities

Organizational identity scholarship has largely focused on the mutability of meanings ascribed to ambiguous identity labels. In contrast, we analyze a case study of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) to explore how leaders maintained a meaning ascribed to an ambiguous identity label amid successive identity threats. We found that heightened dissensus surrounding meanings attributed to the organization’s “reform group” label at three key points spurred theoretically similar manifestations of two processes. The first, meaning sedimentation, involved leaders invoking history to advocate for the importance of their preferred meaning while mulling the inclusion of others. The second, reconstructing the past, occurred as leaders and members alike offered narratives that obscured the history of disavowed meanings while sharing new memories of those they prioritized. Our work complements research on identity change by drawing attention to the processes by which meaning(s) underlying ambiguous identity labels might survive.

Gender and Sexual Identity in Adolescence: A Mixed-Methods Study of Labeling in Diverse Community Settings

Understandings of sexual and gender identity have expanded beyond traditional binaries, yet we know little about adolescents’ appropriation of identity labels across diverse communities. In a mixed-methods study of adolescents recruited from lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) spaces in communities differing in support of sexual and gender diversity, seven patterns emerged: (a) frequent use of nonbinary gender identity labels (23.9% of survey sample), especially in high-support communities; (b) greater comfort among adolescents assigned female at birth (AFAB) with diverse gender expression, which informants attributed to pressures to conform to compulsive masculinity for boys; (c) frequent use of plurisexual (60.8%) and asexual (9.9%) labels, especially among those AFAB, and discussion of online settings as a resource; (d) intersectional patterning of “queer” to describe sexual identity (12.4% of survey sample), with White youth in high-support communities signifying an intellectual/political stance and non-White youth in low-support communities using queer as an umbrella term; (e) resistance to labeling and ambivalence about labels due to intra-community dynamics; (f) labeling challenges among boys of color; and (g) challenges with stigma, sexualization, and violence for transgender and nonbinary youth. Findings highlight how contemporary adolescents engage with and challenge received conceptions of gender and sexuality and how this process is shaped by intersectional identities.

The “Foreigner” and the Eunuch: The Politics of Belonging in Isaiah 56:1–8

One important theme that has emerged recently in research concerning exile, migration, and return-migration is the concept of “belonging”, a concept that is quickly destabilising the emphasis on identity. This article will demonstrate the heuristic significance of research concerning belonging for Biblical scholars, focusing on the negative stereotypical identity labels, “the foreigner” and “the eunuch” in Isaiah 56:1–8. It will emphasise the crucial importance of using clear and differentiated analytical language and will illustrate how doing so enables us to perceive new nuances and shades of meaning in the Biblical text. We will emphasise the importance of elective attachment in Isaiah 56:1–8 and will emphasise the significance of recognising that identity labels such as “foreigner” are constructed and unstable. The article surveys material concerning belonging and demonstrates its significance for rethinking and reframing the polemic against ethnic entitlement and exclusionary language.

Specificity without identity: Articulating post-gender sexuality through the “non-binary lesbian”

This paper uses the paradigmatic pairing of non-binary and lesbian as identity labels to investigate changes in conceptualizations of sexual specificity as gender becomes divorced from its founding binaries. Contrary to the belief that lesbian is threatened by movement away from binary gender, this analysis postulates that it is not individual identities that are becoming problematic as gender identity becomes less binary; rather, it is the fundamental structure of identity which, for decades, has sanctioned identities built on exclusions. This cultural shift has the potential to liberate structures of desire, giving way to a model in which sexuality without gender is more redemptive than contentious.

Torchbearers Forging Indigenous Pathways: Transcending the Forces of Wétiko

Wétiko is a Cree term whose literal translation is cannibalism, an act of violent aggression. This term encapsulates the divisive forces that have infected the Americas for over 500 years, resulting in generational cultural trauma, and dehumanization of all who are subjected to its modern manifestations. It is analogous to an oppressive pandemic whose symptoms include racism, xenophobia, self-hatred, and despair. Despite the persistent forces of Wétiko that marginalize descendants of American Indigenous people, Xicanx are emerging in educational leadership roles and in professional positions that require the highest educational degree, the doctorate. The perseverance of these forerunners, which is fueled by a desire to promote equity, testifies to their will to overcome historically grounded subjugating forces. These forces include identity labels in which the Indigenous culture has been erased and extinguished, but is now reclaimed within the identity of the term Xicanx. Xicanx Torchbearer voices provide insight to the challenges they face as they enter, occupy, and engage within spaces in which they were previously excluded. Evident in the narratives of these Xicanx professionals who now hold highly regarded credentials is the resurgence of Indigenous orientations that counter the violence and aggression of Wétiko.

Best Practices in Ministry to Youth Navigating Sexual Identity and Faith

Sexual identity refers to the labels people use with respect to their sexual preferences. Sexual identity labels such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer are just a few sexual identity labels youth consider when they experience same-sex sexuality and are navigating various milestone events in the formation of identity. This article will place the experience of youth in a developmental context and provide recommendations for ministry to youth navigating sexual identity and Christian faith, including reframing care for youth under a stewardship model of ministry.