Feelings of LGBTQ+ Community Belonging among Youth with LGBTQ+ Parents

• In Event: Gender and Sexuality in Context: Families, Communities, and Media

Abstract

Youth with LGBTQ+ parents face stigma associated with their parents’ identity (Farr et al., 2016), and researchers have investigated factors that may support this population such as community belonging. Individuals with LGBTQ+ parents describe the LGBTQ+ community as a source of safety and support (Cashen, 2022; Kuvalanka & Goldberg, 2008). However, this research generally has been conducted with adults, not adolescents (Patterson et al., 2021). This represents a gap in the literature given that creating community connections is vital during adolescence and emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2015). Additionally, LGBTQ+ research has involved primarily white, middle-upper class samples living in coastal/urban U.S. regions (Stone, 2018). This study aims to fill gaps by qualitatively examining community belonging among diverse youth with LGBTQ+ parents, which could reveal insights about mechanisms underpinning the development and maintenance of feelings of belonging broadly and among this population (Cashen, 2022; Goldberg et al., 2012).
Participants were 50 youth (12-25 years) with at least one LGBTQ+ parent (see Table 1 for demographics). Youth are diverse in racial/ethnic, sexual, and gender identities, and live primarily in the Southern and Midwestern U.S. Remote audio-recorded, semi-structured interviews were conducted December 2018-February 2020, including questions about LGBTQ+ event participation, individual identity, belongingness, and perceived support for LGBTQ+ people where they live. Using inductive thematic analysis, a four-person team coded responses from transcribed interviews (Braun & Clarke, 2013), showing moderate interrater reliability (κ =.76-.78; Table 2; McHugh, 2012).
Four themes were identified (see Table 2 for frequencies and examples). Themes 1 (conceptual relationship with the LGBTQ+ community) and 2 (belonging to local LGBTQ+ community) characterized nearly half of the transcripts and provide insight into internal (e.g., participants’ identities) and external factors (e.g., parents’ coming out experiences) linked with belonging. Theme 1 represents identification and belonging to the larger LGBTQ+ community (e.g., via personal identities or LGBTQ+ national organizations and events). Theme 2 signifies feelings of belonging to local LGBTQ+ individuals and communities. The least frequent theme was Theme 3 (overlap between the LGBTQ+ community and other communities), which describes instances of intersection between belonging to the LGBTQ+ community and other communities (e.g., racial/ethnic and religious communities). Results also reveal obstacles that limit community belonging (e.g., stigma, geographic location) in the most frequent theme, Theme 4 (barriers to belonging).
Consistent with previous research (e.g., Cashen, 2022), youth with LGBTQ+ parents do often experience belongingness to the LGBTQ+ community, particularly local ones (Theme 2). Despite barriers, youth describe positive feelings and memories related to the LGBTQ+ community and their place within it. Contributions to the literature are the perspectives from youth, and the distinction between a conceptual relationship to the community (Theme 1) and local community belonging (Theme 2). Future research should investigate the impact of this distinction and its implications on the well-being of youth with LGBTQ+ parents. Findings have implications for clinical settings and can inform law and policy relevant to this population (i.e., LGBTQ+ visibility in schools and public settings).

Authors

• Madi T. Diomede, University of Kentucky
  Presenting Author

• Kay A. Simon, University of Connecticut

• Winifred Durant

• Rachel H. Farr, University of Kentucky