“The Light at the End of the Tunnel”: Experiences of LGBTQ+ Adults in Portuguese Healthcare

This work analyses experiences of LGBTQ+ people accessing healthcare in Portugal. A total of 32 semi-structured interviews were conducted with queer adults (18–59 years old). The thematic analysis and thematic networks brought to light how structural cis-heteronorms are compliant with the maintenance of invisibility regarding sexual and gender diversity. As a consequence, experiences of direct and indirect discrimination show us how crucial it is to have well prepared healthcare providers, capable of embracing diversity and creating safe spaces that allow us to shorten the path between Portugal’s progressive legal frame and the people lived experiences.

Semi-Private Spheres as Safe Spaces for Young Social Media Users' Political Conversation

The incorporation of social media as spaces for political participation performances—especially among youth—has brought various issues into debate, including the formats of these practices and, at the same time, the significances of these repertoires for public conversation. In order to address this topic, this chapter explores the digital practices of political participation among young people in Argentina. Based on a qualitative approach in which 30 in-depth interviews to people from 18 to 24 years old were carried out, the findings of this research note that these segments of the population join the discussion of issues on the public agenda using emojis and hashtags and prefer reduced digital spaces to talk with their close contacts about polarized issues in order to avoid the aggression and violence that they say they observe in the digital space.

Building Resilient Smart Cities for Sustainable Urban Tourism in Africa Post-COVID-19 Pandemic

This paper contributes to the knowledge by examining the role of smart tourism technologies in destination resilience amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering tourism in the COVID-19 crisis as an emerging stream of research, the study also explores how African cities deployed smart tourism technologies and how effective it has been in creating resilient and safe destinations. Data were collected through a semi-structured online interview from destination managers in Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa. The findings pose critical lessons for city destinations and how they need to transition into smartness to create safe spaces for travellers during and post-COVID-19. Our study makes novel contributions to literature and practice. Theoretically, our study fills the void identified in the relationship between STTs and COVID-19. Our study also offers practical recommendations that will accelerate African destination reset strategies.

Personas mayores, participación y cambio social antes y después del COVID-19

Social participation is closely linked to well-being and healthy aging, generating physical and psychological benefits. However, older people tend to lower levels of participation and social interaction after retirement although many others continue to militate and participate in non-profit organisations and social movements.The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has had a strong impact at the social and health level, with the elderly being the main victims, not only due to the high mortality rates but because the social distancing measures imposed for their protection have led to a worsening of social isolation and the feeling of loneliness of our elders. It is urgent to create safe spaces to increase levels of social participation. La participación social está estrechamente ligada al bienestar y un envejecimiento saludable generando beneficios físicos y psicológicos. Sin embargo, las personas mayores tienen tendencia a bajar los niveles de participación e interacción social tras la jubilación, aunque otros muchos continúan militando y participando en entidades y movimientos sociales. La pandemia provocada por la COVID-19 ha tenido un fuerte impacto a nivel social y sanitario siendo los principales perjudicados las personas mayores, no solo por las elevadas tasas de mortalidad sino porque las medidas de distanciamiento social impuestas para su protección, han dado lugar a un agravamiento del aislamiento social y el sentimiento de soledad de nuestros mayores. Es urgente generar espacios seguros para aumentar los niveles de participación social.

Commentary on: “Lost in the literature”. People with intellectual disabilities who identify as trans: a narrative review

Purpose This paper aims to discuss the barriers that people with intellectual disabilities face to come out as transgender in the context of a paucity of research with or about this group. Design/methodology/approach The commentary and brief overview of trans participation in literature on people with intellectual disabilities presented in this paper is informed by a Queer Theory and Critical disabilities Studies approach. Findings Researchers in this area are correct that there is insufficient literature that addressed the experiences of trans people with intellectual disabilities; however, for trans people with intellectual disabilities to be involved in research they must first be safe to self-identify and come out in their communities and services. Existing research suggests that people with intellectual disabilities may face additional barriers to self-identifying as LGTBQ, and that for those who have claimed a trans identity, it is not safe to come out. Social implications There is a need for researchers and professional and lived experience experts to be engaged in policy and social research with the aim of creating safe spaces and communities for people with intellectual disabilities to explore and affirm their gender. Originality/value There are no published papers that redirect focus from a paucity of research into the experiences of trans people with intellectual disabilities towards addressing why trans people with intellectual disabilities may choose not to come out in a context of hostility towards transgender identity in disabilities services.

‘IN ANY CASE WE ARE SUFIS’: THE CREATION OF HIJRA SPIRITUAL IDENTITY IN SOUTH ASIA

Providing spiritual ‘safe spaces’, the Sufi shrine-world throughout the Indian Subcontinent is generally open to those who do not identify with conventional gender categories. Ajmer Sharif Shrine (dargāh) in the northern Indian town of Ajmer in Rajasthan is renowned for being particularly ‘inclusive’. It accepts all pilgrims without discrimination, including the so-called ‘third gender’, often referred to as hijras or kinnars, terms that transgress the socially-defined binary gender divide. Marginalized, and often socially stigmatized, these groups are naturally drawn towards liminal spaces such as Sufi dargāhs which encourage the transcendence of socio-religious boundaries. This paper explores certain typological aspects of traditional Sufi ritual and belief that make it particularly receptive to hijras, and the way in which hijras in turn appropriate and reconfigure Sufi religious belief to negotiate the tension between the liminality of their lived experience and the exclusive duality of the society around them. As well as utilizing fieldwork undertaken at the 808th

Communicating allyship according to college students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

Given the stress that college students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) experience and their minoritized status, some colleges have offered allyship training that informs campus personnel of the unique experiences of DACA and DACA-ineligible students. Although such trainings are promising, limited research has explored what actions communicate allyship to undocumented college students, including those with DACA. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 40 DACA college students and identified six themes: (a) allyship as an action-oriented, lifelong learning process, (b) allyship through supportive communication, (c) allyship without judgment or abnormal treatment, (d) visible allyship through the creation of safe spaces, (e) allyship as advocacy, and (f) allyship without self-promotion. Academics and activists have conceptualized and critiqued allyship. Nevertheless, this study extends past work by considering how DACA college students view the communication of allyship, which is important if allyship is to be encouraged or challenged in higher education and elsewhere.

A Critical Examination of Senior Housing: Promoting Equity Through Ensuring Safe Spaces

As affordable senior housing communities aimed to address the health and well-being concerns of residents in the COVID-19 pandemic, special attention to safety during renovation had to be addressed. This paper offers case studies from members of a city-wide advocacy group, Senior Housing Preservation-Detroit. Eighty one percent of covid deaths in the City of Detroit are those 60 and above; 81.2% of deaths have been among African Americans (Detroit Health Department, 2021). With the grief and challenge in a city hit early on in the 2020 pandemic, these case studies will highlight how Covid-19 affected planned projects in senior buildings, how stakeholders such as developers, staff and residents responded and key considerations for future emergencies affecting senior housing communities. This paper offers critical perspectives applicable to many urban landscapes in order to raise awareness to policy makers, and practitioners.

Drivers' Cycling Experiences and Acceptability of Micromobility Use among Children in Ghana

Apart from their potential environmental benefits, micromobility modes of transport can afford their users enormous health benefits. This notwithstanding, their adoption is very low or non-existent in most African cities including Ghana. The paucity of research on micromobility in Ghana restricts any objective discussions on the factors that contribute to its low adoption. However, data from elsewhere flag the lack of safe spaces as an important factor. The creation of safe spaces and a micromobility supportive environment will have to be premised on the nuanced understanding of existing intermodal interactions and con flicts. Although micromobility vehicles like e-bikes and e-scooters are not common in Ghana, bicycles are, and they offer a window of opportunity to study intermodal interactions between cyclists (micromobility proxy) and other road users. Using a mixed methods approach, this study investigates the interactions and con flicts that arise between child cyclists and informal-sector commercial vehicle drivers in two Ghanaian cities (Cape Coast and Kumasi) and attempt to predict micromobility acceptability based on drivers' attitudes towards child cyclists and drivers cycling experiences. The results show a low acceptability of micromobility by drivers. They also had several negative stereotypes about cyclists and considered them illegitimate road users. Educational attainment, employment status, and priority access emerged as the best predictors of acceptability of micromobility use by informal-sector commercial drivers. Taken together, the low acceptability of micromobility and the negative perceptions drivers have of cyclists might present significant stumbling blocks to adoption of micromobility in the study areas. Further studies on the suitability of the built environment, intention-to-use, policy development as well as the development of a business model for micromobility will go a long way in shaping the next steps.