Between invisibility and homonormativity: LGBT+ referents for spanish adolescents

Abstract

Studies show the importance of non-cis-heteronormative referents for LGBT+. The object of this paper is to explore LGBT+ referents for teenagers on the basis of the results of the “Survey on Adolescence and Sexual Diversity,” which was distributed to Spanish high school students in the fourth grade of compulsory secondary education The sample was composed of 128 students aged 15–18. About 56.2% identified as girls, 43.8% identified as boys; none identified as non-binary or trans. The results of the quantitative analysis of the survey data highlight the invisibility of non-heteronormative identities and the role of the media as the main purveyor of these identities. Suggestions are offered for the transformation of communicative spaces to embrace diversity and inclusivity.

Keywords:

• LGBT
• +
• adolescence
• media
• Spain

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrea Francisco Amat

Andrea Francisco Amat PhD in Communication Sciences from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and PhD in Education from the Universitat Jaume I. She is currently a professor of the Degree in Social Education at the Psychology and Education Sciences Department of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya and is part of the IUDESP (Interuniversity Institute for Social Development and Peace). Her current lines of research include education for sexual diversity. She has coordinated projects and published articles related to this topic. Among them, stand out Aphrodite Life stories of lesbian and bisexual women (2012); El Banquete de Safo A dialogic discussion about the media discourses of love with lesbian and bisexual women (2013) and Appropriating our lives (2014-Present).

Beatriz González-de-Garay

Beatriz González de Garay Domínguez is Assistant Professor in Audiovisual Communication at the University of Salamanca and member of the Audiovisual Content Observatory (OCA). BA with an extraordinary prize at the Carlos III University of Madrid and European PhD at the Universidad Complutense. Her expertise focuses on the study of gender and sexual diversity in television fiction.

Lidón Moliner Miravet

Lidón Moliner Miravet PhD in Education Sciences from the Universitat Jaume I de Castelló. She is currently an associate professor at the Pedagogy Department of the Universitat Jaume I and is part of the IUDESP (Interuniversity Institute for Social Development and Peace) and coordinator of the research group EDARSO (Education, Art and Society). Her current lines of research include inclusive education, peer tutoring, education for sexual diversity and service learning. She has coordinated projects and published articles related to this topic. She has made research stays in different universities such as the Central University of Santiago de Chile, the University of Çukurova, the University of the Arts of Cuba or the Universidad Pedagógica de México.