It’s a Kiki!: Developmental benefits of the Kiki scene for Black gay/bisexual/transgender adolescents/emerging adults

Abstract

Younger members of the House and Ball Community (HBC) have created an emerging social scene called “Kiki” that has shared elements with the HBC. Given the growing popularity of the Kiki scene in urban communities with large numbers of Black gay, bisexual, and transgender (GBT) adolescents and emerging adults, it is important to understand the developmental benefits of the Kiki scene. We conducted individual in-depth interviews with 30 GBT adolescents and emerging adults (ages 15-24) who attended Kiki-related events and 15 older opinion leaders affiliated with the HBC. Participants described how the Kiki scene provides them with a range of supportive and affirming functions and offers a place where they can achieve important developmental milestones. The results clustered into three primary thematic areas of development: Executive Functioning Development, Social-Emotional Development, and Physical and Emotional Safety during Development. Within each of these thematic areas are sub-themes that further explicate the ways in which these functions are supported. We believe this to be one of the first papers exclusively focused on the positive aspects of the Kiki scene for adolescent and emerging adult development, and we encourage other researchers to further explore this emerging socializing force and its potential benefits to development.

Keywords:

• Kiki
• development
• LGBT
• Black
• adolescents and emerging adults

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the tireless efforts of our Chicago and Philadelphia Community Advisory Board members for their time and commitment to this study and their community. In Chicago: Icon Father Tommy Avant Garde, Legendary Overall Father Amari Christian, Legendary Father Mario Balenciaga, Mother ShaSha Golden/Lauren, Kweli Balenciaga, Legendary Kentrele Mizrahi/Father Rajah, Relic Mizrahi, Legendary Alonzo Balmain/Baldwin, Nate Baldwin, Jeff Omni, Rykko Herrera, Amya Khan/Baldwin, and Adonte Prodigy/Baldwin. In Philadelphia: Legendary Mike Ebony, Ja’Nae Balenciaga, Legendary Bubby Revlon, Dippy 007, Legendary Season Lanvin, Shimmy Old Navy, Ike Ebony/Avalon, Jay Escada, Legendary Aamina Prodigy, Kemar/Old Navy/Mizrahi, Nick Prodigy/Avalon, Joshua Ninja, Legendary Fuzzy Blahnik, Icon Jay Blahnik, Tatyana Escada/Farragomo, Maurice West/Avalon, Tori Prodigy, Legendary Hakeem Balenciaga, Legendary Markise Prodigy, Kash Balenciaga, Dominique Ebony, and Will Blahnik.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no financial interests or benefits to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (5 R01 MH104106).

Notes on contributors

Gary W. Harper

Gary W. Harper, Ph.D., M.P.H. is a Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education and a Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Dr. Harper's applied research and community work focus on the mental health and sexual health needs of LGBTQ adolescents and emerging adults. For more than 25 years, Dr. Harper has worked collaboratively with community agencies and community members to develop and evaluate a range of culturally and developmentally appropriate mental health, sexual health, and HIV prevention intervention programs for youth—working domestically in large urban cities and globally in Botswana, Haiti, Kenya, Mozambique, and Zambia. Given the participatory nature of Dr. Harper's work, he prioritizes active community engagement with an array of community stakeholders, and focuses not only on health-related risks but also on individual and community-level resilience.

Richard LaBoy

Richard LaBoy's work and volunteer experiences involves working with under-served communities, specifically young LGBTQ people of color on psychosocial and sexual health issues including; homelessness, HIV/AIDS, mental health treatment, substance use/abuse, fighting poverty and discrimination. Currently, as member of the Adolescent Initiative at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (a unit of the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network & an NIH-funded research network), he is assisting in the organization, coordination & implementation of intervention trials for HIV-infected & at-risk youth. With his professional experience and ties to Philadelphia's LGBT community he has successfully engaged community leadership, implemented prevention methodologies, and collected data to ensure that study outcomes are met.

Marne Castillo

Marné Castillo, PhD, M.Ed, is Clinical and Research Director of the Adolescent Initiative in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) where she oversees HIV care, services, programming and research. She is the Principal Investigator for the CHOP Adolescent Trials Network Site and sits on multiple community boards and committees focusing on youth health and development.

Gabriel L. Johnson

Gabriel Lee Johnson, MPH is a University of Michigan Doctoral Student in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and research assistant with the Resilience + Resistance Collective where he assists in developing interventions and conducting research for sexual and gender minorities in the United States and abroad.

Sybil G. Hosek

Sybil Hosek, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist/HIV Researcher in the Department of Psychiatry at Stroger Hospital of Cook County with over 18 years of experience in the development and implementation of HIV-related research studies and behavioral interventions. Her research focuses on primary and secondary HIV prevention interventions for adolescents and young adults from key populations disproportionately impacted by HIV. Dr. Hosek also conducts research on biomedical HIV prevention products for adolescents, including PrEP and microbicides, and the development of behavioral interventions to improve uptake and adherence to these new biomedical strategies.

Laura Jadwin-Cakmak

Laura Jadwin-Cakmak, MPH, is Research Director of the Resilience + Resistance Collective in the Department of Health Behavior & Health Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health where she conducts behavioral research and develops interventions for diverse populations including LGBTQ communities and health care providers in the U.S. and internationally.