Activism in Southwestern Queer and Trans Young Adults After the Marriage Equality Era

Abstract

In 2015, marriage equality in the United States was a big win for the gay and lesbian movement. Marriage equality as a primary focus of the movement, however, was not without its critiques, particularly as an issue affecting mostly white, gay, economically secure individuals. Given the history of the movement, it is essential to ask what is next. Young queer and trans people represent the next generation of potential activists and advocates for queer and trans liberation, yet little empirical attention has been paid to their goals for the movement and motivations to be actively involved, particularly among young adults in rural, conservative states. Therefore, this study sought to understand the social, economic, and environmental issues deemed important by queer and trans young adults (aged 18–29), as well as their motivations to get involved in activism efforts. Data came from a mixed-methods program evaluation, which presents a picture of the issues and motivations that led study participants ( n = 65) toward activism in one conservative, highly rural, Southwestern state in the United States. The findings of this study are discussed in light of theoretical and empirical literature and then implications for the queer and trans movement, activists, and organizers are offered.

It’s complicated: The impact of marriage legalization among sexual minority women and gender diverse individuals in the United States.

“…Views about legalized same-sex marriage are not homogenous among individuals who identify as bisexual (Galupo & Pearl, 2008), and warrant further investigation. Although we found no significant differences in subthemes by gender identity, other studies suggest that transgender and nonbinary individuals have unique perspectives about social and political goals that include, but extend beyond, marriage equality (Gandy-Guedes & Paceley, 2019; Shultz & Shultz, 2016). Furthermore, although White participants in the current study were more likely than participants of color to express concerns about unaddressed rights and safety, other research has documented significant concerns among SGM people of color about issues of social and economic justice that have not been addressed through legalization of same-sex marriage (DeFilippis, 2016; McGuffey, 2018; Moodie-Mills, 2012).…”

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).…”