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Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the experiences of identity and agency toward social justice of nine bisexual and transgender individuals through semistructured interviews. Results from Consensual Qualitative Research analysis (CitationHill et al., 2005; CitationHill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997) revealed domains of (a) the process of coming to understand identity; (b) participants’ understanding of themselves in relation to the male/female, heterosexual/homosexual binary; (c) agency; (d) human rights issues; and (e) resources. Participants typically experienced discrepancies between their inner and external realities; being invisible and invalidated by both the straight and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities; feelings of isolation; and a lack of access to rights on identity, representation, and family of choice. Although they typically advocated for themselves and educated others on their identities, participants experienced the conflicting roles played by family, friends, the media, and language. From the results, agency was identified as a crucial context for identity formation and participant experiences were related to the concepts of social justice and empowerment.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Part of this material was presented at the 115th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in San Francisco, California, in August 2007, entitled “Negotiating the binary: Bisexual and transgender experiences.” The authors would like to thank Amy Baughman, Emily Staub, and Diane Eaton for their tremendous help in data analyses and Dr. Thomas S. Serwatka and Shannon McLeish for their thoughtful comments on earlier versions of this article. The authors would also like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to the participants who have allowed them into their lives and talked with them about their experiences of being a sexual minority.