Negotiating the Binary: Identity and Social Justice for Bisexual and Transgender Individuals

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the experiences of identity and agency toward social justice of nine bisexual and transgender individuals through semistructured interviews. Results from Consensual Qualitative Research analysis (Hill et al., 2005 Hill, C. E., Knox, S., Thompson, B. J., Williams, E. N., Hess, S. A. and Ladany, N. 2005. Consensual qualitative research: An update. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52: 196–205. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997 Hill, C. E., Thompson, B. J. and Williams, E. N. 1997. A guide to conducting consensual qualitative research. Counseling Psychologist, 25: 517–572. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) revealed domains of (a) the process of coming to understand identity; (b) participants’ understanding of themselves in relation to the male/female, heterosexual/homosexual binary; (c) agency; (d) human rights issues; and (e) resources. Participants typically experienced discrepancies between their inner and external realities; being invisible and invalidated by both the straight and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities; feelings of isolation; and a lack of access to rights on identity, representation, and family of choice. Although they typically advocated for themselves and educated others on their identities, participants experienced the conflicting roles played by family, friends, the media, and language. From the results, agency was identified as a crucial context for identity formation and participant experiences were related to the concepts of social justice and empowerment.