Identity Threat and Coping Among British South Asian Gay Men During the COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

This study focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on identity, relationships and psychological wellbeing among British South Asian gay men (BSAGM). Interview data from 15 BSAGM were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis and identity process theory. The analysis yielded the following three themes: (1) Fear of involuntary disclosure of gay identity; (2) Anxiety about relationships; and (3) Coping and casual sexual encounters. BSAGM who returned to the family home during the lockdown reported fear of involuntary disclosure of their sexual identity, exposure to stigma in relation to their sexuality, and anxiety about their relationships with significant others. In order to cope with the resultant threats to identity, some individuals concealed their sexual identity, which could undermine their sense of identity authenticity, and some reported engaging in casual sexual encounters as a means of coping with identity threat. BSAGM may be at high risk of identity threat during the COVID-19 outbreak with limited access to social and psychological support in relation to their sexuality. This in turn may lead to a reliance on ineffective coping strategies, such as sexual risk-taking.

Exploring Understandings of Sexuality Among “Gay” Migrant Filipinos Living in New Zealand

“…A common response to the disclosure of sexual/gender identity to family was the minimization of further discussion following disclosure. Such avoidance of discussion has also been reported among other Asian families (Jaspal, 2021). For some participants in this study, this situation improved over time as parents and family had more time to consider the news, come to terms with it, and become more accepting.…”

Masculinity, Perceived Vulnerability to COVID-19, and Adoption of Protective Behaviors

“…As Kimmel and colleagues highlighted (2005), men and masculinity are shaped by factors such as age, class, ethnicity, and racialization, among others, and only at the intersections of other social divisions and social differences does the gendering of men exist. Therefore, future replications of our research could examine how belonging to an ethnic or sexual minority may moderate the relationships we have examined (Jaspal, 2021).…”

LGBTQ+ Loss and Grief in a Cis-Heteronormative Pandemic: A Qualitative Evidence Synthesis of the COVID-19 Literature

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“…This theme was perhaps the most significant in that it appeared that the culmination of the losses in the other themes, created a sense of loss of LGBTQ+ identity authenticity, affirmation and visibility. For example, participants who were forced to disconnect from their LGBTQ+ family kinships (i.e., Theme 3) and live in the family home with unsupportive, queerphobic parents resulted the loss of identity authenticity from having to conceal their LGBTQ+ selves from their loved ones to remain safe ( Brownstone et al, 2021 ; Jaspal, 2021 ; Sharma & Subramanyam, 2020 ). At times, living in this way combined with living in a largely unaccepting society felt like a suffocating cage, as one LGBTQ+ adult in India expressed: … spending time with family when you are not open, was already like a cage, with family having lot of expectations and along with societal pressures and humiliations.…”