Extraordinary Acts to “Show Up”: Conceptualizing Resilience of LGBTQ Youth

Abstract

Sexual and gender diversity is an overlooked subject in resilience research. This study seeks to advance the conceptualization of resilience among lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. Informed by social ecological theory of resilience, grounded theory analysis of interviews with service providers ( n = 16) and LGBTQ youth ( n = 19) yielded the following categories: (a) facing adversities across contexts, and (b) “doing well” while still in pain. LGBTQ youth face both general and LGBTQ-specific adversities. LGBTQ youth, even in a so-called “post-gay” era, remain challenged to navigate marginalization to maintain their well-being. Participants endorsed a context-dependent understanding of “doing well,” rather than using normative criteria of health (e.g., absence of psychopathologies). Although resilience is known as “ordinary magic,” this article alternatively proposes that resilience is LGBTQ youths’ extraordinary acts to “show up” every day to battle through adversities.