Saliendo Del Clóset: The Coming Out Process of LGBTQ+ Latines and Their Help-Seeking Behaviors

Open Access
- Author:
- Posada Rodriguez, Camilo
- Graduate Program:
- Psychology
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- May 05, 2023
- Committee Members:
- Jose Angel Soto, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Louis Georges Castonguay, Committee Member
Kristin Buss (She/Her), Program Head/Chair
Jes Matsick, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Coming Out
Help-Seeking
Latine
Queer - Abstract:
- Coming out has been described as an essential part of queer individuals’ identity formation and has been shown to be beneficial for queer individuals’ mental health. Yet, there are contexts in which coming out might be detrimental to a person’s mental health, including cultural spaces that have strong proscriptions around sexuality and gender norms, such as within the Latine culture. Indeed, little is known about the coming out experiences and the cultural factors that might play a role in this process for queer Latines in the U.S. and their help-seeking behaviors. Using an intersectionality framework, the present study investigated the coming out experiences and mental health help-seeking behaviors of thirty self-identified queer Latines through semi-structured interviews (Mage = 24.5). Of the thirty participants, ten identified as bisexual (33.3%), seven as gay (23.3%), seven as pansexual (23.3%), four as queer (13.3%), one as lesbian (3.3%), and one identified with no label. We engaged in reflexive thematic analysis and developed three over-arching themes: Coming Out Narratives in an Intersectional Context, Where Do I Go When There is No-Where to Go?, and “I Want a Therapist Who ‘Gets It’.” Cultural factors that affected and continued to affect these participants included familismo, religiosity, strict gender norms (e.g., machismo and marianismo), and stigma related to mental health difficulties. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the intersection of Latinidad and queerness and how cultural factors may or may not facilitate Latines’ coming out and help-seeking behaviors.