“It feels like home”: Transgender youth in the Midwest and conceptualizations of community climate

Abstract

Community climate toward sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth is associated with higher rates of victimization and poorer health and wellbeing‐related outcomes such as depression and suicidal ideation. However, this field of research has underemphasized the experiences of transgender youth, particularly within the Midwestern context which is marked by vast rurality and characterized as sociopolitically conservative. Using qualitative and community‐based methods, this study identified factors that impact community climate from the perspective of transgender youth (n = 19) in the Midwest and situated them within the Ecological Systems Theory (EST). Thematic analysis of interviews revealed four themes: resources, visibility, policies, and ideologies. Themes often crossed levels within the EST, indicating the complexity and interrelated nature of climate across local, regional, and national contexts. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.

Future Directions in Understanding and Addressing Mental Health among LGBTQ Youth

“…Intersectional perspectives of youth development also encourage the exploration of other social identities and experiences that shape mental health and wellbeing. For example, there has been growing attention to the experiences of rural and southern LGBTQ youth, and how their community contexts shape their experiences, but also their access to critical resources and strategies of resilience linked to social justice (Gandy-Guedes & Paceley, 2019;Paceley et al, 2020). There is also growing recognition of the experiences of disabled and neurodiverse/autistic LGBTQ people 2 (Kattari et al, 2017;Strang et al, 2020), LGBTQ youth living in situations of economic and housing instability (Choi et al, 2015;Frost et al, 2019), and LGBTQ youth who are or have been involved in systems of care and custody (e.g., foster care, juvenile punishment; Wilson et al, 2017;Wilson & Kastanis, 2015).…”

Differences in victim experiences by gender/sexual minority statuses in Japanese virtual communities

“…Furthermore, the private room feature is also attractive for those who would like to explore their gender/sexual identities through online discussions (Gonel, 2013). Clarifying the differences in victim experience by gender/sexual minority status among Japanese LGBTQIA individuals could extend the findings of previous studies that have been conducted, primarily with Western participants in physical communities (Craig & McInroy, 2013;Paceley et al, 2017Paceley et al, , 2020Scheer et al, 2019), to East Asian populations and virtual communities (Chong et al, 2015).…”

“…First, as we used a cross‐sectional design, we could not examine causal relationships; for this, a longitudinal design is required. Second, as our study did not include chat data, we do not know what sort of interactions took place between the users; to address this, a survey that includes chat data is necessary (Paceley et al, 2020). Third, the effects on these virtual communities might have been contaminated by the effects from physical communities; thus, the effects of the virtual communities in this study should be interpreted cautiously.…”

“…Our study has four limitations. First, as we used a cross-sectional design, we could not examine causal relation- necessary (Paceley et al, 2020). Third, the effects on these virtual communities might have been contaminated by the effects from physical communities; thus, the effects of the virtual communities in this study should be interpreted cautiously.…”

“I Have Nowhere to Go”: A Multiple-Case Study of Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth, Their Families, and Healthcare Experiences

“…Additionally, TGD youth report decreased depression and suicidality when people in their lives use their chosen names [7]. Communities can also reduce risk for TGD youth via TGD-inclusive non-discrimination policies, presence and visibility of other TGD people, and access to affirming resources [8].…”