Leisure in the Identity Formation of Lesbian/Gay Youth: Personal, but Not Social

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative, retrospective study was to examine leisure as a context for identity formation among young people (aged 18?22) who self-identified as lesbian/gay while in high school. Phenomenology was the theoretical framework that guided the conceptualization, interviews, and data analysis for this study. Ten participants from the southeastern United States were asked to reflect on their experiences of leisure and the ways in which leisure contexts helped them to negotiate their understanding of themselves and their relationships with others. Although the purpose of the study was not to develop a global, explanatory model about lesbian/gay youth, leisure, and identity, we did, nevertheless, develop overarching themes that describe and grounded theory that explains the role of leisure in the process of identity formation in the lives of these participants. The four themes?reading myself, seeing myself: media consumption; playing myself: sports; and expressing myself: music?led to the conclusion that the influence of leisure contexts in terms of the integration of personal and social identity formation was mitigated by the extent to which young people felt the need to conceal their sexual identity.