Youth, homosexuality and vulnerability: homosexual youths and their process of revealing their homosexuality

Abstract

Sexuality is developed in articulation with a series of social, historical and cultural constructions, inasmuch as each society establishes behaviors, patterns, and sexual norms. Heterosexuality is seen as natural and standard, making other forms of sexuality be seen as unnatural, peculiar or abnormal. Homosexuality is included in this set of questions so that homosexual individuals are subject to processes of discrimination and social vulnerability. This research aims at studying the perceptions and representations of gay and lesbian young people about the process of assuming their homosexuality and the potential impacts on their daily life, particularly with regard to autonomy, inclusion and social participation. This project seeks to understand the perception they have about the facilitating or hindering factors for the process and reflect about the social and cultural production of their discourses. The research will be conducted with 2 gays and 2 lesbians from 18 to 24 years who are engaged in a support project developed by a nongovernmental organization. The methodology to be used is a technique called Body Mapping, whereby a panel is accomplished with the body design of the research subject, decorated by the person with symbols relating to the topic discussed. The narratives in the making of the statement will be recorded and used as research material along with the field notes of the researcher. The Body Mapping will be studied on their themes and symbol sand narratives will be analyzed and coded to identify the structure of relevance. After the encoding of thematic material and understanding and streamlining of the main meanings, the researchers will verify the convergence, divergence, trends and regularities presented in the material collected. (AU)