A quantitative examination of intersectional discrimination, wellbeing, and resilience among diverse 2SLGBTQ+ people within 2SLGBTQ+ leisure spaces

Abstract

ABSTRACT 2SLGBTQ+ leisure spaces and activities can promote resilience and enable 2SLGBTQ+ individuals to escape heterosexism and cisgenderism in mainstream society. Yet, these spaces can be problematic for people with diverse identities, including transgender/gender nonconforming, racialized, and/or disabled individuals. This study reports findings from a cross-sectional survey that examined experiences of diverse 2SLGBTQ+ people in Canada and the United States within physical and virtual 2SLGBTQ+ leisure spaces most frequented in the past two years. Relationships between experiencing intersectional discrimination in these spaces, social wellbeing within the leisure space, mental health, and resilience-promoting factors were explored. The results suggest disabled individuals were at increased risk for experiencing intersectional discrimination. Additionally, intersectional discrimination was negatively associated with mental health, and this association was mediated by social wellbeing. These results suggest that more frequent experiences of intersectional discrimination were associated with lower social wellbeing within leisure spaces, which in turn was associated with poorer mental wellbeing. Antidiscrimination policies and inclusive leadership practices were shown to be significant moderators of the discrimination--social wellbeing and the discrimination--mental health relationships, meaning that these moderators could reduce the negative impact of intersectional discrimination on these outcomes, while social support from friends was found to be moderator for mental health. Further research is necessary to examine these relationships in a range of 2SLGBTQ+ leisure spaces, including those that are infrequently accessed, as well as explore additional moderators with larger samples and describe the ways diverse 2SLGBTQ+ people engage with 2SLGBTQ+ leisure spaces.