Researcher: Emily Comeau

 

Brief Description:

This study looks at belongingness of youth to the LGBTQ* community and how it may differ from sexual orientation and gender identity due to discrimination.

 

Method:

A questionnaire is being used to collect the data, with questions covering topics such as identity, belongingness and exclusion in different environments, and self-esteem. It is being circulated through snowball sampling, with participants ranging from age 14-25.

 

Why?

As a queer woman who has seen the discrimination in the community first hand,  LGBTQ* issues have always interested Emily. With this project, she aims to gain a better understanding of the challenges queer youth face as well as learn what is needed to support them. Belongingness has been shown to be an important protective factor for youth; hopefully, this study will help identify those youth in the LGBTQ* community who face these challenges, and lead to more readily available support.