Reseach invitation: You are invited to participate in an ‘LGBTIAQ+ Breakup Zine Workshop’
You are invited to take part in a study titled, ‘Where the rainbow ends: The becoming of LGBTIAQ+ separations’. This study seeks to gain a deeper understanding of how lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, intersex, asexual and queer (LGBTIAQ+) people experience separations, the nature of their life situations after a separation and the kinds of support they received and/or wish they had received during a separation.
As part of the data collection for the study, we are holding an ‘LGBTIAQ+ Breakup Zine Workshop’ for separated LGBTIAQ+ people. Zine (small magazine) making is a creative way of processing, sharing and reflecting upon your breakup experiences with others. Themes of the zines will be innovated together in the workshop (e.g. what is easy/challenging/specific to an LGBTIAQ+ breakup). You can choose whether you want to participate in the making of a collective zine or do your own. Drawing ability is not important. You can work with stick figures; if you do not want to draw, you can make your piece/pages as a collage (clippings from newspapers, for example). The collaboratively crafted zines will be photocopied for all participants at the end of the workshop. At the end of the workshop, participants will decide if they want to show their own zines to the other workshop participants and whether they want to contribute their zines as research material. The zines and zine pages, which contribute to the research data, will be marked with a sticker.
The zine workshop will be conducted in a classroom at the University of Brighton. The workshop will last approximately 2.5 hours and will be audio recorded if the participants give their consent. If consent for audio recording is not obtained, the researcher will make field notes during the workshop. The focus is on LGBTIAQ+ people’s breakup processes in general, not on any participant’s individual breakup story. Dr Laura Harvey, who mentors Annukka Lahti’s work during her data collection in the Brighton area, will be assisting the workshop. Before the workshop, Annukka Lahti will send you a background information form and a participant consent form, which you can return to the workshop. If anything is unclear to you, you can request further information from Annukka. Participation in this study will involve no cost to you. You will receive a £20 shopping voucher for taking part.
We are committed to the ethical principles of research involving human participants. All information shared in the workshop will remain confidential. Participation in the study is entirely voluntary and you can withdraw from the study at any time.
Best regards,
Annukka Lahti
Postdoctoral researcher, University of Eastern Finland
Email: annukka.lahti@uef.fi
Annukka Lahti’s university profile: https://uefconnect.uef.fi/en/person/annukka.lahti/
Project’s home page: https://www.wheretherainbowends.info/home
