Melbourne School of Population and Global Health - Theses

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End date: 2021 × Start date: 2021 × Type: PhD thesis × Subject: Aboriginal Australians ×

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    A Desire to Flourish: The Social and Cultural Factors Shaping the Health and Identity of Queer Indigenous Australians
    Fernando, Todd James ( 2021)
    This thesis is an investigation of the perceptions of gay Aboriginal men in Victoria of their experiences in the health system with the aim of understanding their situation and improving their life outcomes. The research was conducted between 2015 to 2019 and involved qualitative interviews, focus groups and other research engagements such as participant observation. Employing methodologies of medical anthropology, and research approaches from the health social sciences and history, the research has resulted in a detailed picture of the encounters of queer Indigenous Australians in their efforts to be healthy and thrive. Racism and homophobia emerged as critical obstacles they faced. A multifactorial analysis of these and other themes were developed to model an approach based on social and cultural determinants of health to broaden our understandings of the health status of queer Indigenous Australians. Overall, the factors that shape the health and identity of queer Indigenous Australians are complex and dynamic because of the impact of colonisation and heteronormative imperialistic strategies. The social, cultural, and historical factors resulting from these impacts have shaped the identities of queer Indigenous people in Australia and has contributed to a significant shift in the socio-cultural practices of gender and sexual identities within this Indigenous population. This thesis provides an analysis of these factors and how a heteronormative dominant culture continues to impact queer Indigenous people’s equity to services and their health and wellbeing. Despite the discrimination faced by the queer Indigenous people interviewed in this thesis project, the findings of this thesis suggest they are health literate and proactively seek equity in health services as a desire to flourish.