LGBT+ young people’s transitions to adulthood in a post-pandemic society

Abstract

This thesis explores LGBT+ young people’s transitions to adulthood in a post-pandemic society. The premise of this research is that the COVID-19 pandemic has not been experienced as an ‘equal’ pandemic, yet there is a dearth of research on LGBT+ young people’s experiences of the pandemic and no research that identifies the long-term impacts of the pandemic on this cohort. Moreover, the pandemic occurred during a critical life stage of becoming an adult for young people, whereby significant changes happen, and future opportunities are shaped. Despite its importance, much less is known about the experiences of LGBT+ young people transitioning to adulthood. This PhD research addresses these gaps with three novel approaches. First, it explores how LGBT+ young people navigate adult identity construction. Second, it utilises the theoretical concepts of ‘biographical field’ (Henderson et al., 2007) and ‘critical moments’ (Giddens, 1991; Thomson et al., 2002) to understand how the pandemic (2020-22) impacted the biographical fields most significant to adult identity development. Third, it employs an innovative research design using longitudinal biographical interviews and participatory scrapbooks over 12 months with 12 LGBT+ young people (aged between 18-30) in England, UK, providing unique and detailed insights into how specific biographical fields continue to be impacted by the pandemic, and what this means for participants’ investment in adult identities. The findings of this thesis will include two parts. First, I will present the four adulthood markers that have been identified as important for LGBT+ young people, arguing that participants drew upon relational, cultural, and identity-based dimensions for shaping their approach to defining adulthood. These markers structure the following three chapters on how the pandemic continues to affect participants’ youth transitions. I argue that the critical moment(s) of lockdown(s) acted as a turning point in the process of developing independence, impacting the biographical fields of education, employment, and living situation. I contend that circumstances of the pandemic reconfigured participants’ post-pandemic priorities, leading to a renewed importance on friendship and community, however the pandemic’s impacts on working on these priorities persist. Finally, I explore how the pandemic was both an opportunity and hindrance for gender identity development, depending on participants’ individual, interpersonal, and structural experiences. This research makes a significant empirical and methodological contribution to understanding LGBT+ young people’s post-pandemic youth transitions.