Life in a pandemic: intersectional approach exploring experiences of LGBTQ during COVID-19

ABSTRACT

The study explored the experiences of Indian working-class gays during the time of COVID-19 pandemic. The intersectionality framework facilitated the understanding of how the Indian working-class gays’ experiences differ from the general population. The study is qualitative and applies transcendental phenomenology as a mode of enquiry. The participants of the study were identified through purposive snowball sampling. The data analysis methods included horizontalisation, thematic analysis, textual and structural descriptions, and intuitive integration. The participants described their lived experiences around eight major themes: stuck at home, a refuge in hobbies, shrinking personal spaces, loss of sexual appetite, poor mental health, physical symptoms of poor health, fear of losing employment, and blessing in disguise. The research implies how ignorance of intersectionality framework while formulating policies and deciding measures for preventing the spread of coronavirus disease, adversely effected the sexual minorities that were already prone to mental health issues. The study can be used as a foundation for conducting empirical research, and policymakers may use it for deepening their understanding of intersectionality and why it matters during COVID-19 pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Intersectionality
• LGBTQ
• COVID-19
• pandemic
• Indian LGBTQ
• working-class gays

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes o contributors

Rohan Bhalla is a Gold Medallist in Management and Tourism studies at postgraduate level. He is a Senior Research Fellow of University Grant Commission of India and presently pursuing his PhD from Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Faculty of Humanities and Languages, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India. He also holds his graduation in Business Administration with specialisation in Finance. He has six publications to his credit. His interest area lies in transformational tourism, spirituality and spiritual tourism, rural tourism, organisational culture, leadership, communication and personality development programmes, psychology and philosophical studies.

Sumedha Agarwal worked as Assistant Professor in Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Faculty of Humanities and Languages, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. She is a Junior Research Fellow and pursuing her PhD from School of Business Studies, Sharda University. She has gained more than five years of teaching experience at undergraduate and postgraduate level. She has done Masters in Tourism Management and also holds a Master Degree in Conservation, Preservation and Heritage Management from Indraprastha University, Delhi. She has one edited book to her credit, two research papers published in International Journals of repute, and two book chapters in books of reputed publishers. She has presented her research works in nine International Conferences including one attended in University of Kragujevac, Serbia. Presently, she is working in the area of sustainable tourism, women entrepreneurship, community-based tourism, and homestays. Her areas of interest are management science, organisational behaviour, consumer behaviour, business communication, digital marketing, heritage management, and community-based tourism.