Psychological Effects of Conservative Families on LGBTQ+ Teenagers in China

Abstract

With China’s LGBTQ population being the largest in the world, many worry about the cultural and political sentiments toward LGBTQ. Although public opinions on LGBTQ communities are headed toward a more inclusive direction, there has been no real substantial change yet. As a result, the stress of being born into a conservative unaccepting family as a homosexual has become almost a collective narrative within the Chinese LGBTQ communities. This research attempts to inquire into the psychological effect of growing up in a sexually conservative family as an LGBTQ member. By taking a qualitative approach and interviewing six LGBTQ teenagers who claim to live in a conservative family, the researcher shares these rarely public narratives. Most respondents describe the experience as an overwhelmingly difficult and stressful journey.