Humanity & Society

Civil society actors such as nongovernmental voluntary community group leaders as well as funding agency development officers have taken a leading role in implementing grassroots-level peacebuilding efforts in post peace accord Northern Ireland. It is important to map these civil society leaders’ direct experience and their perceptions to assess the impact of the funding in the overall peace process in Northern Ireland. This article captures the hopes and fears of 120 civil society leaders and funding agency development officers in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties whose projects are funded by the International Fund for Ireland and/or the European Union Peace III Fund. Many respondents concurred that both funds have genuinely contributed toward achieving the overall goals of peacebuilding (though mostly at the grassroots level) while some were skeptical about the future sustainability of the peace process. Their skepticism was evident, as few tangible changes at the macro political–economic level have occurred since 1998 as the funding draws to an end in 2013. However, the respondents also highlighted the uncertain future that now exists for the younger generation. There is also an absence of effective leadership in the wake of the recent trend of dissident violence, which has a denegrating effect on envisioning a peaceful and just society for all citizens in Northern Ireland.

This article explores sexual minority youth empowerment by examining the experiences of Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club members, advisors, and school administrators from four public high schools in the southeastern United States. Twelve GSA members, four GSA advisors, two high school principals, and two district administrators consented to be part of this study. Drawing on current research into heteronormativity and social stigma, the author applies Zimmerman’s three levels of empowerment—psychological, organizational, and community—to examine the ways in which GSA members are empowered (or not empowered) to challenge the heteronormative culture upon which their stigmatized sexual identity and the need for GSAs is based. The voices featured here suggest that GSAs successfully empower their members on a psychological level to “speak out” against antigay sentiments and behaviors but are limited by the fear of parental and community resistance in their ability to develop into fully empowered organizations or to strategically build substantive coalitions with community organizations beyond the school setting. Consequently, GSA’s efforts to engage in activist projects aimed at disrupting the heteronormative practices underlying lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender stigmatized sexual identities are constricted. The author considers the implications of these findings and concludes with questions for future research.

In early 2011, students at a Christian liberal arts university won a nearly two-year battle for the official university recognition of a faith-based student organization centered on fostering a spiritual dialogue regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) identity and student sexuality. This article utilizes in-depth personal stories of the founding group members to examine current gaps in the identity-based social movement literature. The author argues that individual and group identities are formed reflexively through interaction and self- and group-reflection. Additionally, the author examines respondent stories to shed light on the various collective action frames made possible through discursive opportunity structures. Unforeseen openings within repressive environments may ultimately open the door to social change formerly thought unattainable. Possible implications for future research, specifically that pertaining to LGBT populations and movements, are also discussed.