“A Straight Friend Hasn’t Walked in These Shoes”: The Role of Shared Identity in LGBTQIA+ Informal Mental Health Support

LGBTQIA+ people often face stigma and discrimination when accessing professional mental health services, which has led to a growing interest in the way that LGBTQIA+ community members provide informal mental health support to each other. Building upon research linking social identity with health and wellbeing, the present research conducted qualitative research surveys with a sample of 58 LGBTQIA+ participants to explore how they accessed informal mental health support, and how their shared social identity as LGBTQIA+ community members impacted their views on such support. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify four themes in the data. One theme found participants describing a shared queer identity as essential for seeking informal peer support, while the second found that being understood was more important than any particular identity. A third theme identified "blind spots" in LGBTQIA+ informal peer support, whereby particular identities had difficulty accessing this support, while a fourth theme articulated the versatile roles played by informal support in LGBTQIA+ mental health. Divergent perspectives on the importance of LGBTQIA+ identity and potential avenues for future research based on the findings are discussed.