Kaylynn Young
Research Mentor: Deborah Rivas-Drake
Mentor Department: Not Available, LSA
Author(s): Not Available
Session: Session 2 (10:00 AM – 10:50 AM)
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Abstract
Multiracial individuals are the fastest-growing racial/ethnic group in the U.S. (U.S Census Bureau, 2021). Growing up in systems designed for monoracial identities (Harris, 2016) they may develop awareness of both their racial identity and systemic oppression. This perspective may motivate them to challenge monoracisms. Similarly, LGBTQ+ youth often experience systemic oppression rooted in social structures that privilege cisgender and heterosexual identities (Meyer, 2003). Therefore youth who identify as LGBTQ+ may become motivated to reject dominant models of gender and sexuality that limit their identity expression. While there are similarities in how Multiracial and LGBTQ+ experience these reductive societal structures, there remains a gap in the literature examining the intersectional experiences of Multiracial LGBTQ+ youth. Inquiries that address the convergence of minoritized racial and sexual/gender identities are crucial as monolithic approaches fail to address the combined effects of compound marginalization. From broader scholarship examining intersectional youth experiences, we find that youth who navigate multiple marginalized statuses come to understand experiences in complex intersectional ways (Chi, Parmenter, & Galliher, 2024). Yet Multiracial youth perspectives are largely absent from this work. To address these multitudinous gaps in the literature, the current study leverages qualitative methods to examine: How do Multiracial, LGBTQ+ adolescents describe the intersections between their racial identities and their experiences of sexuality and gender? The current study is a secondary analysis of focus groups from the Critical Multiracial Ethnic-Racial Identity Project. Multiracial youth (aged 14 – 25) were asked to reflect on their experiences with racial identification, socialization, meaning-making, and their development of a critical consciousness. The full data set encompasses 9 focus groups with a diverse group of 30 Multiracial participants who hold 11 unique ethnic-racial combinations. For the present analysis, we reduce the sample of 30 Multiracial participants to include six youth who also identified as LGBTQ+. More specifically, 4 participants identified as nonbinary, 1 participant identified as both lesbian and transgender/genderfluid, and 1 participant identified as bisexual (Mage= 19.5). Participants were either current students (4 college, 1 high school) or 1 recent college graduate residing in the Midwest (n = 4), Northeast (n = 1), and Southern (n = 1) regions of the U.S.. The excerpts from these participants were analyzed through thematic analysis. With both inductive and deductive coding we have identified emerging themes suggesting that youth demonstrate critical reflection regarding both their ethnic-racial identities and LGBTQ+ identities– their racialized experiences are inextricably linked to their experiences of gender and sexuality. Many youth recall experiences with exclusion that relates to both their Multiracial and LGBTQ+ identities. Such repeated occurrences seem to prompt youth to think deeply about how racism interacts with cisheteropatriarchy in their daily lives. These emerging findings will be expanded upon with the use of exemplar quotes in our presentation. Overall, this study offers novel insights into how Multiracial LGBTQ+ youth discuss, conceptualize, and experience their compounding minoritized identities and leverage these perspectives to enact social change. Contributions to the field and future directions will also be discussed.
