“A little harder to find your place:” Latinx LGBTQ + youth and family belonging

Abstract

There is a dearth of research about Latinx LGBTQ + youth’s experiences with family belonging. To address this gap in the literature, this phenomenological study explored the experiences of eight Latinx LGBTQ + youth as they relate to belonging within a familial context. Five themes were identified: (a) definitions of belonging and the importance of belonging to family, (b) family rejection/fear of rejection, (c) culture of queer invisibility, (d) divergent experiences among non-parental family members, and (e) resilience. This article presents the themes as they relate to Latinx LGBTQ + young people’s experiences of family belonging and discusses implications for future research and practice.

Keywords:

• LGBTQ + youth
• family belonging
• belongingness
• Latinx

Acknowledgements

We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the participants for sharing their experiences with us. We are also indebted to the LGBTQ + and Latinx-serving organizations who assisted with participant recruitment.

Disclosure statement

We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Notes

1 The authors chose to use the term Latinx throughout this paper to be inclusive of non-binary gender identities and embrace the diversity of the Latinx community, which encompasses individuals from Latin America and the diaspora across racial groups and nationalities.