“Where Is the Love?” Expanding and Theorizing With LGBTQ Memorable Messages of Sex and Sexuality

ABSTRACT

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) women exist as a population with an increased complexity in the relationship between themselves and their sexuality. For the LGBTQ community, sexual behaviors are often silenced or erased. This exploratory qualitative research examines 186 memorable messages that emerged from 91 LGBTQ women and gender minorities who participated in a national study. Each participant was asked to share memorable messages they received about sex, sexuality, and sexual health. Consistent with past research, “advice” was a common memorable messages form; however, negative attributes and media-derived messages emerged. The results contribute to understanding the messages that LGTBQ individuals confront on topics of sex and sexuality.

Notes

¹ Asexual refers to a spectrum of identities that do not traditionally experience sexual attraction. Pansexual refers to the potential to experience sexual attraction to all genders.

² We chose to recruit participants under age 30 years because we argue the climate in sexual communication may vary between age cohorts.

³ After obtaining human subjects approval from the college’s institutional review board.

⁴ Which is an e-mail listserv managed by the National Communication Association.

⁵ Cisgender describes a person who identifies with the sex that person was assigned at birth.

⁶ Complete tables of each demographic characteristic are available from the corresponding author upon request.

⁷ Demisexual refers to an identity on the asexual spectrum in which a person does not typically experience sexual attraction unless accompanied by romantic attraction.

⁸ Genderqueer is an intentionally ambiguous gender identity in which the individual does not identify as man, woman, or agender (no gender).