New Voices, New Visions: Toward A Lesbian/Gay Paradigm for Psychology

Abstract

This article proposes an alternative model for psychological inquiry based in the experiences of lesbians and gay men. I propose that there are three elements that cross-situationally define a lesbian and gay reality: biculturalism, marginality, and normative creativity. Each of these elements is explored with examples of how these perspectives might alter the way that certain dominant notions about human relationships are understood. The article closes with questions regarding the application of this lesbian and gay paradigm to methodologies for inquiry. The relationship between a lesbianlgay paradigm for psychology and feminist questions regarding epistemology i s also explored.

A stone in the soup? Changes in sexual prejudice and essentialist beliefs among British students in a class on LGBT psychology

“…Readings introduced students early on to the view that the experiences of sexual and gender minorities provided a basis for theory (e.g., Brown, 1989;Hale, n.d.), while psychological science about sexual and gender minorities was often heterosexist (Herek, Kimmel, Amaro, & Melton, 1991) and often shaped by politics and history (Kitzinger, 1997;Minton, 1997). Nature-nurture debates about sexual orientation were represented on the reading list primarily through a discursive psychology paper on biology in the first year the class was taught (Hegarty, 1997), and a paper integrating biological and constructionist approaches to the development of sexual orientation in the second year that the class was taught (Hammack, 2005).…”

Lesbian and gay parents on talk shows: resistance or collusion in heterosexism?

“…Heterosexual parents can also raise their children to be tolerant and open minded. What is being hinted at, but is not explicitly stated (the claims are rather vague and opaque), is that lesbian and gay parents have a unique perspective on reality and a firsthand experience of marginality because of their position in the larger society (Brown, 1989). Some authors have claimed that this perspective enables lesbians and gay men to liberate their children from oppressive patriarchal values and to act as role models for unconventional gender identities (Riddle, 1978).…”

Sexual Orientation Beliefs

“…Laner and Laner (1980) argued that beliefs in psychological differences between gay and straight persons are homophobic in general. However, some psychologists argue that gay men and lesbians lead exceptional lives because they overcome prejudice (D'Augelli, 1994) or live in both gay and straight contexts (Brown, 1989).…”