Coming-out Experiences Research Articles

Gender socialisation and perception of gender by non-heteronormative people

The submitted report focuses on the results of research carried out for a bachelor’s thesis titled “gender socialisation and perception of gender by non-heteronormative people”, in which the author focuses on gender socialisation of interviewees of non-heteronormative gender and/or sexual identity, their narrative about gender identity (in general, as well as personal sense) and gender expression, social roles expected of them as a result of their gender assigned at birth and restrictions they face in their daily life due to their gender identity. Social constructivism points out that masculinity and femininity are not constant but able-to-be-modified fluid products of everyday interactions. The process of constructing one’s gender connotates strictly with domineering discourse defining norms of masculine and feminine behaviour, which become overwhelmingly restrictive in regards to an individual’s thinking and actions. For this research, data was gathered from nine individual in-depth interviews supported by a script. During those interviews, interlocutors shared their personal stories about their gendered upbringing, explained what it means to identify with gender on a spectrum, indicated it through appearance and described their coming-out experiences.

Nonbinary people in the family context: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background The present systematic review and meta-analysis explores the family context of nonbinary individuals. Aim The present systematic review and meta-analysis aim to summarize the studies investigating the life experiences of nonbinary people in their family context. Methods The articles included were systematically searched in four scientific databases (i.e. PsychInfo, Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science) from March to October 2023. The inclusion criteria encompassed original articles with solely nonbinary participants or studies where nonbinary people were distinguished from the overall sample. We excluded studies with participants identifying outside binary gender without specifying as nonbinary and articles lacking original data. Of the 2837 records identified, 37 articles were included. Results We identified five research themes: (a) family support (n = 16), (b) family reactions (n = 14), (c) disclosure (n = 8), (d) violence and victimization (n = 7), and (e) family functioning, well-being, and mental health (n = 4). In most studies on family reactions to nonbinary gender identity, family members’ negative feelings were prevalent. We used a meta-analytic procedure to compare family support received by nonbinary individuals to both binary transgender people and cisgender people. Findings suggested that nonbinary people perceived less support than both binary (d = 0.18; 6 studies) and cisgender people (d = 0.61; 5 studies). Conclusion Numerous studies indicated positive relationships with siblings who provided significant support. Coming-out experiences exhibited varying results: Some studies reported positive interactions with family members, while others highlighted negative experiences or decisions to hide gender identity in the family context. Most studies indicated a higher incidence of violence and victimization from family members. The present review and meta-analysis underscore the family’s pivotal role in interventions and emphasize the relevance of collaborating with families to promote the well-being and affirmation of nonbinary people.

Making friends with the family: A fresh look at coming out

There is limited in-depth theorisation of positive coming-out experiences within families of origin. This is especially true for diasporic South Asian communities living in majority Anglophone contexts. The article draws on a study of 15 gay men of South Asian descent, in Australia, to analyse how coming out can lead to positive developments in family relations, even if they exist alongside negativity about one's sexuality. Coming out can introduce greater intimacy into family attachments, which at times turns family members into friends, and intimacy and friendship might serve as a reason for coming out in the first place. These processes strengthen familial ties, and data illustrates that concepts such as intimacy, friendship, and suffusion, can be used to conceptualise positive outcomes. We recommend further exploration of such stories in diasporic South Asian communities, to challenge the negativity often associated with this group in relation to their same-sex-attracted kin.

Treating Family Members of Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming People: An Interview With Eric Yarbrough, M.D.

Treating Family Members of Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming People: An Interview With Eric Yarbrough, M.D.

Latinx LGBQ Young Adults’ Coming-Out Experiences

Marriage and family therapists (MFTs) must be culturally competent and sensitive to serve the growing Latinx population in the United States (US). To understand the sexual orientation disclosure experiences of Latinx LGBQ individuals, we interviewed 10 individuals. Using Moustakas’ (1994) phenomenology, we identified six themes: disclosure impacts family closeness, family members experience disbelief, control over the disclosure influences young adults’ perception of their coming-out experience, the coming-out experience is influenced by religion, the coming-out experience is influenced by traditional gender roles, and disclosure of sexual identity is a continuous process. We discuss clinical implications and areas for future research.

Coming-Out Experiences of a Gay Male Volleyball Player

A small but growing body of research has investigated the experience of gay male athletes “coming out” in sport, a historically homophobic environment. In this exploratory case study, the experiences of “Mark,” a male volleyball player who came out prior to a championship season, were examined using social identity perspective and athletic identity theory as the frameworks for analysis. Data sources included interviews with Mark, interviews with informants, and Mark’s social-media posts. A narrative of Mark’s coming-out experience was developed and explored in light of the theoretical frameworks, and 2 themes emerged from the data: gay athlete as a (dis)qualifier and “It’s not about the skills, it’s about the attitude,” which explores Mark’s psychological development and its relationship with athletic performance. Implications and strategies for sport psychology consultants working with gay male athletes are discussed.

Coming Out of the Closet in Japan: An Exploratory Sociological Study

ABSTRACTInvisibility is a major obstacle to the improvement of the lives of GLBT individuals in contemporary Japanese society. Japanese GLBT scholars and activists attest that it is extremely difficult to come out of the closet in Japan. There is little systematic research, however, as to why. Using online survey data from 136 GLBT individuals in Japan, this article examines some of the reasons Japanese GLBT individuals cannot come out, especially to their parents. A coming-out experience score was created to assess the difficulty or favorability of various coming-out experiences. The data suggest that: (1) the majority of Japanese individuals consider coming out a desirable choice; (2) it is considerably more difficult to come out to parents than to coworkers or schoolmates; (3) between parents, although it is considered more difficult to come out to a father than to a mother, the experience of coming out to a mother is significantly less favorable than the experience of coming out to a father; and (4) coming out to coworkers and schoolmates are only relatively easy. The findings are discussed in the context of various sociocultural configurations, including patriarchy, heteronormativity, and GLBT in popular culture, and homophobia in contemporary Japanese society.

Coming Out Experiences of Hispanic Sexual Minority Young Adults in South Florida

ABSTRACTSexual minority youth and young adults (SMYYA) have higher prevalence of mental and behavioral health problems potentially linked to experiences of discrimination, stigma, and rejection. Among Hispanics, the intersection of stressors related to being an ethnic and sexual minority may result in compounding adverse outcomes. Coming out may play an important role in experiencing discrimination, stigma, and rejection. However, limited research examines coming out among Hispanic SMYYA (HSMYYA). This qualitative study seeks to understand the coming-out experiences of HSMYYA living in South Florida. Twenty participants between 18 and 28 years old were interviewed. Qualitative content analysis generated codes, which were grouped into categories to generate themes. This study presents data highlighting reasons for disclosing and not disclosing sexual orientation and the perceived consequences of those decisions. Additionally, we discuss unique cultural elements that impact HSMYYA’s decisions to reveal sexual orientation.

Coming out of the Therapy Closet: Women’s Disclosure of Same-sex Attraction in Counselling

ABSTRACT“Coming out” is a process that same-sex attracted people undergo if they choose to acknowledge it to others. Minimal research exists examining the coming-out experience for same-sex attracted women in counselling settings. This qualitative study addressed the gaps in existing research by exploring counsellors’ perceptions of factors influencing same-sex attracted female clients to disclose their sexual orientation to a counsellor. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 counsellors from diverse clinical backgrounds. In their view, the main factors influencing disclosure were the perceived lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) friendliness of a service or counsellor; the presence of LGBQ symbols within services; using gender-neutral language; and the level of a client’s self-acceptance of their sexual orientation. These findings suggest that the utilisation of culturally affirming models by counsellors working with same-sex attracted female clients can create a safe environment for disclosure of sexual orientation.

Gay men's experiences coming out online: A qualitative study

ABSTRACTThe current study employed qualitative methodology to investigate the experiences of 12 gay men who came out online, using Facebook. Analysis of coding data yielded several key themes. First, gay men discussed a range of experiences that influenced their online disclosure, including homophobia, internalized homophobia, and previous salient sexual identity disclosures. Participants also commonly expressed a variety of goals and concerns about coming out online, including improving relationships and loss of friends, respectively. Finally, gay men identified several benefits to coming out on Facebook, including increased efficiency in coming out as compared to face-to-face disclosures, increased authenticity, and decreased ambiguity about their sexuality. Results are discussed within the context of literature on men's coming-out experiences and online identity management.

Chinese gay men’s coming out narratives: Connecting social relationship to co-cultural theory

ABSTRACTTheorizing the intersection of queer identity and culture values, this study examines Chinese gay men’s coming-out experiences through a narrative analysis of 60 self-reported stories online. It finds that Chinese gay men’s decision to come out, their communication orientations, and the outcomes of their coming out are influenced by traditional Chinese cultural values such as family, marriage, and duty. Assertive assimilation, assertive accommodation, and nonassertive accommodation are the most used communication orientations. The study adds to co-cultural theory by demonstrating that types of social relationships affect the communication orientations adopted, at least in the context of China.

‘Putting a face on a community’: Genre, identity, and institutional regulation in the telling (and retelling) of oral coming-out narratives

AbstractPublic and scholarly discourse has established the ‘coming-out story’ as a culturally significant narrative genre for gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer-identifying (LGBTQ) individuals. Yet what happens when this genre is disciplined and managed for institutional ends? This study examines the process of how several LGBTQ individuals learn to narrate their coming-out experiences through trainings for a university's LGBTQ-themed speaker panels. Data include ethnographic observations and audio recordings related to training activities such as practice tellings and peer feedback sessions. Analysis focuses on the discursive practices through which training participants manage a pair of narrative dilemmas that stem from an institutional variation of the coming-out genre. This article contributes to literature on narrative and genre by demonstrating how a regulated form of personal narrative is learned and enforced to achieve the larger ideological aims of an institution. It also contributes to knowledge about identity as a fluid concept. (Coming-out story, genre, narrative, identity, ideology, performance, LGBTQ)*

Coming Out and the Potential for Growth in Sexual Minorities: The Role of Social Reactions and Internalized Homonegativity

Coming out is a significant and sometimes difficult process in the lives of sexual minorities, but disclosure can also affect wellbeing in positive ways, including reduced distress and greater relationship satisfaction. This study investigates the possibility of stress-related growth and depreciation following coming out. To obtain a diverse sample with varying coming-out experiences, data were collected from undergraduate students as well as from online sources, including lesbian, gay, and bisexual support groups and Pride groups. Regression analyses indicated that negative social reactions to coming out predicted both growth and depreciation, although they more strongly predicted depreciation. Positive social reactions were positively related to stress-related growth, while internalized homonegativity was inversely associated with growth. Although the two sample sources (online and campus) differed in some ways, sample source was not a significant predictor in the regressions, nor was it indicated as a moderator in exploratory ANOVA analyses.

Coming-Out Narratives Across Generations

This study is a thematic analysis of narratives about the coming-out process. Participants (N = 30) were part of a stratified random sample of a large data set generated from a research project investigating changes in the coming-out process over time. Participants were 15 women and 15 men from 5 age cohorts (ages 18 to 74) who self-identified as members of the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) communities. Themes related to the struggles and rewards of going through the coming-out process are explored in these narratives. Organizing themes of those who figured it out in their heads and those who figured it out in their hearts emerged from this analysis and suggest two paths to coming out. Generational themes are also explored in this analysis. This study aims to provide contextualization to the diverse experiences of LGB people in the coming-out experience.

Coming Out to Dad: Young Gay and Bisexual Men's Experiences Disclosing Same-Sex Attraction to Their Fathers.

Few studies have examined the relationship between young gay and bisexual men (YGBM) and their fathers. Based on a phenomenological framework, this study investigated the role of fathers in YGBM's coming-out experience, focusing on how fathers responded to disclosure of same-sex attraction, how fathers' responses compared with sons' expectations, and what sons perceived as having influenced their fathers' responses. Semistructured in-depth interviews with 30 gay and bisexual men aged 18 to 24 years were conducted as part of a larger study; topics explored in the interview included experiences coming out to family and others. Nineteen participants' narratives included discussion about their fathers and were included in the current analyses. The YGBM who were interviewed perceived a complex range of responses upon coming out to their fathers, ranging from enthusiastic acceptance to physical violence. Participants spoke of fathers who were accepting in different manners and who often held contradictory attitudes about same-sex attraction. Fathers' responses commonly differed from sons' expectations, which were informed by homophobic talk and gendered expectations. Sons spoke about what informed their expectations as well as what they perceived as influencing their fathers' responses, including gender norms, beliefs regarding the cause of same-sex attraction, religious and sociopolitical views, and concerns about HIV/AIDS. Particularly striking was the pervasive influence of hegemonic masculinity throughout the YGBM's stories. The implications of these findings for future research and intervention development are discussed, as well as study strengths and limitations.

Coming Out Again: Exploring GLBQ Individuals’ Communication with Their Parents After the First Coming Out

The present study investigates individuals’ experiences coming out to their parents as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer (GLBQ) and how these first coming-out experiences may relate to future parent-child communication regarding individuals’ sexual orientation. Specifically, this study explores whether some individuals feel the need to come out to their parents a second time, and if so, the reasons for coming out again and the strategies used to do so. One hundred six GLBQ individuals (ages 18 to 55) completed surveys about their experiences coming out to their parents the first time and a potential second time. Approximately one-quarter of participants reported coming out to their parents a second time. An inductive analysis revealed three reasons for doing so: to reinforce their sexual orientation, to clarify aspects of their identity, and to share more information about their GLBQ lifestyle. In addition, the more individuals perceived their parents to react to their first coming out with denial and the lower their reported relationship satisfaction with their parents after their first coming out, the more likely they were to come out again. Finally, strategies used to come out both the first and second times are explored.

Familiarising the Gay, Queering the Family: Coming Out and Resilience in Mambo italiano

This article explores how two Italian-Canadian families negotiate the coming out of their sons in the film Mambo italiano, a comedy/ drama released in 2003 and set in Montreal, Canada. The Italian-Canadian protagonist, Angelo, after years of living in the closet, decides to tell his parents he is gay, outing at the same time his Italian-Canadian lover, Nino, and provoking initially strong and vexed reactions in their respective families. Although full of stereotypes and clichés on ethnicity and gender identities, and following closely the so-called coming-out films’ genre, arguably concerned with positive representations of gay coming-out experiences, the film portrays the ironic, creative, and interesting ways in which these Italian-Canadian families negotiate a coming out despite the homophobic prejudices they are imbued with. Moving from studies of family resilience, this article argues that the major strategies used for integrating gayness into the family are drawn from the resources available to (post)migrant families. These are the use of rituals and the adaptation of ethnic schemata to new realities in order to cope with the unfamiliar, and the ability to envision family as an evolving and changeable reality, as this capability and the hope for a better future is what had sustained the survival of migrants in a hostile land. These considerations are backed up with reference to Italian-Canadian and Italian-North/American gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) writers, whose concerns are similar to those found in Mambo italiano.

Stress-Related Growth, Coming Out, and Internalized Homonegativity in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth. An Examination of Stress-Related Growth Within the Minority Stress Model

This study investigates how young lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals deal with coming out and how perceived personal growth may result from that experience. We considered stress-related growth as a mediator between coming-out experiences and internalized homonegativity (IH). Our sample was taken from an online survey and is comprised of 502 LGBs aged 14–30. The social environment's acceptance of an individual's sexual orientation and the individual's social identification influence stress-related growth. Several coming-out indicators influence internalized homonegativity and, although growth perception does not function as a mediator between coming out and internalized homonegativity, it has a direct effect on IH.

The Coming-Out Process of Gay Grandfathers: Perceptions of Their Adult Children's Influence

The coming-out process of adolescent and adult gay and lesbian individuals has been examined; however, individuals in late adulthood who come out to family members have been largely overlooked. Specifically, the coming-out process of grandparents to their grandchildren has received scant attention. Guided by the life-course perspective, a qualitative study was conducted to examine the coming-out experiences of gay grandfathers to their grandchildren. Face-to-face, one-time, semi-structured interviews lasting 35 to 90 minutes with 11 grandfathers were conducted to examine their coming-out experiences to grandchildren. Grandfathers reported that their adult children played a profound role in their coming-out process to grandchildren. Adult children were viewed as being a positive force during this process, and grandfathers reported that coming out to their grandchildren was easier than coming out to their own children. Future research would benefit from understanding the grandparent-grandchild relationship from the perspectives of adult children and grandchildren.

Identity Management Strategies Among Lesbians of African Ancestry

ABSTRACT The authors present the results from a study investigating identity management strategies among African-ancestral lesbians within their families of origin. The researchers collected qualitative data from 16 African-ancestral lesbians, which were analyzed using the CQR method. From these responses we examined themes relating to the coming-out experiences, familial support patterns, and the integration and management of lesbian identities within African-ancestral families. We found that participants typically reported positive feelings and attitudes about themselves and their lesbian identities. Although levels of distress experienced during the coming-out process were mixed, our participants consistently endorsed the importance of relationships with family members as a means of more effectively managing their lesbian identities.