“That’s What Shapes Who I Am”: Identity Development and Importance Among Diverse Youth With LGBTQ+ Parents in the U.S

Identity processes, such as identity development and identity importance, can help mitigate the negative outcomes associated with stigma among youth with marginalized identities. This study qualitatively investigated identity development and importance among diverse youth with LGBTQ+ parents. Fifty-one youth (ages 12–25 years old) with at least one LGBTQ+ parent in the United States participated. Semi-structured interviews were held from December 2018 to February 2020, with questions about parent-child communication and identity. Using thematic analysis, a trained team coded participants’ transcribed interview responses deductively into Identity Type and then inductively into five themes: Function of Appearance and Perception of Identity, Feelings of Representation Responsibility , Intersections among Personal and Parent/Family Identity , Community Impact on Identity , and Intersection of Personal Identities . Themes support and extend previous findings on the importance of parent, family, and community contexts to identity processes among youth with LGBTQ+ parents and inform law, policy, and practice.