What is it about?
For sexual and gender minority emerging adults, “coming out”, or disclosing one's sexual or gender identity, to family can result in a range of responses, impacting family dynamics, support and personal well-being. Using qualitative methods, we investigated this variability with a particular focus on less validating experiences and their impact on family relationships.
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Why is it important?
Participants' poignant accounts reveal more information about the aspects of their interactions that lead to the perception of less validating disclosure experiences with their parents and caregivers including 1) a lack of perceived agency and autonomy over the coming out process and 2) feeling like, due to a focus on the parents, there is less room for their own emotions when coming out. We also see how family dynamics can shift after the disclosure from greater distance directly after a relationship rupture to enhanced closeness as parent’s attitudes and behaviors toward the identities over time. The study also touches on dual disclosures including differences in how caregivers respond to a gender vs sexual identity and calls for future research investigating dual disclosures and responses to gender identity disclosures in more depth.
Perspectives
It was a privilege working with these personal and emotionally moving accounts from participants. I appreciated the opportunity to center the voices of LGBTQ+ young adults within their family context and work with an incredibly supportive and knowledgeable team of co-investigators and co-authors. I also found it fascinating to see how the different accounts described common themes that lead to less validating responses showcasing the importance of autonomy and emotional validation when it comes to one’s identity development disclosure.
Mathena Abramson
Boston University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Coming out to parents/caregivers: Qualitatively investigating sexual and gender minority adults’ reflections on less-validating responses., Journal of Family Psychology, June 2026, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/fam0001477.
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