Search Results (6)

In a society that advocates for human rights, a moralistic, needs-based approach is incompatible with policies and practices that ensure educational inclusion for all individuals regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. This study analyses the perspectives of members of the educational community on sex–gender diversity. Specifically, it presents the views of 32 individuals from four primary schools located in southern Andalusia. A qualitative methodology based on interviews and content analysis was employed, supported by NVIVO12 software. The findings reveal differing understandings of sex–gender diversity; the school’s stance on such diversity and, particularly, on LGBTIQ+phobia; as well as the role of initial teacher training in this area. Full article

In Chile, same-sex couples have faced legal and social barriers that limit their equitable access to the adoption process. Objective: To explore the experiences of three same-sex couples who completed the adoption process in the Chilean public system before implementing the equal marriage law in 2022. Method: A qualitative phenomenological approach was employed, using semi-structured interviews to collect narratives from adoptive families. The information was analyzed using qualitative content analysis, identifying patterns and emerging themes. Results: It was revealed that families identified a market-driven logic within the adoption process, where personal preferences and prejudices influence the adoption decisions of traditional families, from which same-sex couples try to distance themselves. Additionally, significant challenges related to emotional bonding and family adaptation post-adoption were identified. Same-sex couples reported being clearly in a different position compared to traditional families and faced additional difficulties due to a lack of institutional support and insufficient post-adoption follow-up. Discussion and Conclusions: The need for structural reforms in the Chilean adoption system is highlighted to ensure equity and fair treatment for all families, regardless of their composition. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of implementing inclusive policies that recognize and support family diversity, promoting a fairer and more equitable adoption system that ensures the well-being of all children involved. Full article

Since 2015, religious freedom has become a heated and divisive political and public policy issue in Australia. While rarely defined or interrogated, ‘religious freedom’ does not exist as a value-neutral principle with a single meaning. Rather, its discursive constructions are varied and serve to promote certain interests at the expense of others. Offering a new perspective on the politics of religious freedom, this paper draws together four separate studies of the public discourse of religious freedom in Australia (spanning 35 years from 1984 to 2019) to chart how its framing has changed over time and to explore the implications of these changes. This analysis reveals three major discourses of religious freedom emerging over three phases: ‘religious diversity’; ‘balancing rights’; and ‘freedom of belief’. This paper demonstrates how, once used to promote a progressive social agenda, religious freedom has become weaponised by the Christian Right and culture warriors in their battle to entrench in law the ongoing acceptability of discrimination against LGBTIQ+ people. Full article

Research on LGBTIQ+ families has focused on the effects of being in a diverse family on the development of children. We seek to show the experience of parenthood from the perspective of LGBTIQ+ people, considering its particularities and the role that health care services play as a potential support network. We used the biographical method through open-ended interviews, participants were LGBT people, and key informants from Chile, Colombia, and Mexico were selected based on a sociostructural sampling. We found that internalized stigma impacts LGBTIQ+ parenting in five ways: the impossibility of thinking of oneself as a parent, fear of violating children’s rights, fear of passing on the stigma, fear of introducing their LGBTIQ+ partner, and the greater discrimination that trans and intersex people suffer. We identified gaps in health care perceptions: the need to guarantee universal access to health care, the need to include a gender perspective and inclusive treatment by health personnel, mental health programs with a community approach, access to assisted fertilization programs, and the generation of collaborative alliances between health services, civil society organizations, and the LGBTIQ+ community. We conclude that the health system is a crucial space from which to enable guarantees for the exercise of rights and overcome internalized stigma. Full article

Australia is the only western democracy without a comprehensive human rights instrument and has only limited protection for religious freedom in its constitution. It was Australia’s growing religious diversity—the result of robust political support for multiculturalism and pro-immigration policies in the post-war period—that led to the first public inquiry into religious freedom by an Australian statutory body in 1984. Responding to evidence of discrimination against Indigenous Australians and minority religious groups, the report detailed the need for stronger legal protections. By 2019, Australia’s religious freedom ‘problem’ was focused almost solely on the extent to which religious organizations should be allowed to discriminate against LGBTIQ people. Using the What’s the Problem Represented To Be? approach to policy analysis, this paper explores the changing representation of the ‘problem’ of religious freedom by examining all public, parliamentary and statutory body reports of inquiries into religious freedom from 1984 to 2019. In their framing of the problem of religious freedom, these reports have contributed to a discourse of religious freedom which marginalises the needs of both those who suffer discrimination because of their religion and those who suffer discrimination as a result of the religious beliefs of others. Full article

Protecting the rights of the lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, intersex, and queers (LGBTIQ) population requires, first and foremost, a proper understanding of their sexual orientation and gender identity. This study highlights a severe misunderstanding and lack of knowledge among health professionals in Vietnam with regard to the men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgenders. This study uses (i) a survey based on the convenience sampling method among 150 health workers that covered 61 questions and (ii) 12 in-depth interviews in two metropolitan centres in Vietnam, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city. Three main topics are explored: (i) the general knowledge of healthcare workers about MSM and transgenders; (ii) their knowledge about the sexual reproductive health and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) risks of MSM and transgenders; and (iii) their attitudes and behaviors towards MSM and transgenders. One of the notable findings is how prevalent the misperceptions are across the board, namely, in staff of both sexes, in both cities, at various kinds of medical facilities, at different work positions and educational levels. Half of the respondents consider transgenders to have a curable mental problem while 45% say MSM only have sex with males. Most remarkably, 12.7% state if they have any choice, they want nothing to do with MSM and transgenders. The study finds there is a considerable percentage of health professionals who lack knowledge about the diversity of sexual orientation, gender identity, and health issues related to the sexual minorities and gender non-conforming population. To improve the clinical process for serving these at-risk groups, the study suggests the continual education for the health workers needs to be added to their formal as well as in-job training. Full article