“It’s like an elephant in the room with my family”: LGBTQ+ College Students’ Identity Expression During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic led many college campuses to close and transition to remote learning. For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, or otherwise non-heterosexual or cisgender (LGBTQ+) college students, these disruptions may have affected their ability to express their sexual ori...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of adolescent research 2023-01, p.74355842211493
Main Authors: Hanna-Walker, Veronica, Lawrence, Samantha E., Clark, Alyssa N., Walters, Tracy L., Lefkowitz, Eva S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The COVID-19 pandemic led many college campuses to close and transition to remote learning. For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, or otherwise non-heterosexual or cisgender (LGBTQ+) college students, these disruptions may have affected their ability to express their sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). We used a developmental assets framework and minority stress theory with open-ended survey responses to examine LGBTQ+ students’ (N = 411, Mage = 20.5; 38.4% bisexual; 48.7% women) perceptions of whether and how their SOGI expression changed due to the pandemic. We found the majority of LGBTQ+ students described their SOGI expression as restricted. However, some students perceived no change or improvements in their SOGI expression. We also examined whether perceived change in expression differed by gender identity (transgender and gender non-conforming [TGNC] compared to cisgender), and whether students lived with family. TGNC students and students who lived with family were more likely than their peers to report restricted expression and TGNC students were more likely than cisgender students to perceive improvements in their expression. Our findings highlight the internal and external assets that promote positive developmental outcomes for adolescents with minoritized identities and how universities might support LGBTQ+ students.
ISSN:0743-5584
1552-6895
DOI:10.1177/07435584221149372