Ideological Meaning-Making Among Israeli Gay Men: Politics, Public Discourse and Human Rights

Background: One of the basic aspects of a human social environment is meaning. Meanings are cognitive categories that make up a person's perception of reality and even dictate the actions one performs. Meaning making is a random process wherein a person's experiences are integrated into his/her life story, in order to explain how past events have affected aspects of the 'I' or led to other events. A key feature of a well-established life story is a coherent combination of past experiences with the 'I'. Ideological meaning consists of a system of beliefs and values that allows one to choose to behave in a way that feels right and to interpret behaviors of others. Previous studies have shown that the formation of ideological meaning occurs when the meaning derived from the socio-political sphere is reformulated by a person through a dialogue with the social environment and repositioned in the broader social context. The ideological meaning making processes that Israeli gay men go through, in view of the public discourse and political and legal changes affecting their lives, have not been explored so far.

Hypotheses: Our premise was that this population undergoes emotional and cognitive processes in response to changes occurring in social perceptions concerning same-sex relationships and the attitude of the political establishment towards them. The research used the meaning making model of Crystal L. Park, which distinguishes between global meaning, a system of subjective beliefs, goals, and feelings, through which the environment is interpreted, and situational meaning is given to a particular environmental encounter. Each of these meanings may change in the process of meaning making. The main hypothesis of this study was that dynamic changes in public and political discourse related to the LGBT rights may provoke a mismatch between the global meanings and the situational meanings held by Israeli gay men.

Study goal and questions: The study examined the process of ideological meaning making in this context among the participants through two research questions: (1) What is the ideological meaning making process that Israeli gay men go through in their perception, in light of the socio-political climate in Israel regarding the rights of the LGBT community? (2) How does the ideological meaning process that these men experience in their daily life vis-à-vis the family, the army, the Jewish religion, as well as national identity, sense of belonging and taking part in social frameworks?

Research method: The initial phase of the study included a review of Israel's constitutional and political policies toward the LGBT community and a review of research conducted so far in the context of ideological meaning making among gay men around the world. The study population included 15 Israeli gay men at the age of 24 to 45, who fully fulfilled their civic obligations to the state (such as military service and tax payments) and are in the process of building their personal identity as active citizens and family creators. We used the qualitative research methodology utilizing the phenomenological approach, seeking to examine the person's experience. The study was conducted using semi-structured in-depth interviews with the assistance of an interview guide. Participants' descriptions were analyzed according to the thematic method, wherein the material is read several times, while putting aside the investigators’ personal beliefs, identifying changes in meanings that are part of the phenomenon and categorizing them into themes that appear consistently in the interviews. This process led to the construction of a specific model for the ideological meaning making process that these men experience.

Findings: One of the key findings is that they perceive a contradiction between an ever-expanding social acceptance and the lingering political and constitutional changes required to meet the needs of this population matching the level of fulfillment of their civic duties. All study participants stressed that the lack of these basic rights constitutes a major problem for them. This results in anger, frustration, and disappointment feelings that, in many cases, bring into question their national identity and the sense of unconditional belonging to the Israeli nation. We have found different coping strategies that these men adopt, including accommodation that is a change in global meaning, according to which the person fulfilling duties is necessarily entitled to basic civil rights that include family rights. Also, the participants try to assimilate via a change of situational meaning, in which they perform their duties but do not receive their rights. This assimilation is achieved through a dialogue with the society by expanding "permissible spaces", where there is no discrimination, and activities aimed at changing societal attitudes that may lead to constitutional changes.

Conclusions and Research Significance: This study contributes to understanding of the ideological meaning making process of Israeli gay men, occurring in light of ongoing changes in social perceptions and political changes necessary to change the laws. The contribution of the study lies in expanding the limited theoretical knowledge in the field of ideological meaning making process in general and the building of ideological meaning specifically in this population. The practical value of this work is that it raises the awareness to these processes and may provide a framework for training therapists specializing in this population, a framework that may facilitate the development of models for treatment and focused therapeutic interventions specifically tailored to their needs.