Sexual and gender minoritized youth on the impact of a community-based program

Abstract

This study uses qualitative interviews to explore the perceptions of sexual and gender minoritized youth on the impact of a sexual and gender minoritized–specific community-based youth program in Ontario, Canada: The Open Doors drop-in program. Thematic analysis revealed that Open Doors created feelings of safety, social connectedness, and empowerment, and also provided youth with tools and resources for building capacity and exercising resilience. Youth felt that they were afforded experiences in Open Doors that they did not have elsewhere. The findings of this research have important implications for centering youth voices and experiences in sexual and gender minoritized–specific community-based programs in both practice and research.

Keywords:

• Community-based programs
• empowerment
• sexual and gender minoritized youth
• social connectedness
• youth voice

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the youth who participated in this study and the youth program staff at the Boys and Girls Club who helped make this study possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.