But Am I a Woman? Dimensions of Sexual and Gender Fluidity among LGBTQ+ Millennials

• In Event: 1268 - Trans and Non-Binary Sexualities

Abstract

This article seeks to understand how LGBTQ+ young millennials form their sexual and gender identities as they come of age in a cultural moment marked by recent political achievements and social integration. This study draws upon semi-structured interviews with 41 LGBTQ+ young millennials (18-29 years old) in two locations in the U.S. southeast. This study presents three main findings. First, LGBTQ+ young millennials embody three major dimensions of fluidity relevant to their sexual and gender identities. These dimensions include multi-sexuality and non-binary genders, multi-term identities, and alternative sexual practices (e.g. kink and polyamory). LBGTQ+ young millennials who embrace one form of fluidity are likely to embrace another, demonstrating the connectedness of these dimensions. Second, the internet serves an integral role in shaping LGBTQ+ young millennial identities by providing access to information and terminology largely unavailable in local physical environments or, more broadly, a heteronormative public sphere. Finally, by simultaneously embracing fluid gender and sexual identities, navigating the constraints of the situational closet, and selectively adopting integrationist logics, LGBTQ+ young millennials embrace middle-ground imaginaries in constructing their life trajectories. These middle-ground imaginaries highlight the affordances and constraints that shape LGBTQ+ young millennial identities, experiences, and imagined futures.

Author

• Bailey Troia