Identity Outness to Family Among Gender Diverse Sexual Minority Youth: A Latent Profile Analysis

Gender diverse sexual minority youth (SMY) must manage disclosure decisions and the related implications of disclosure for two minoritized identities. However, little is known about the patterns of outness for gender diverse SMY or how these patterns are associated with their well-being. Using a sample of 4,200 gender diverse SMY ages 13-17 years old (M-age = 15.43), this article used latent profile analysis to examine diverse patterns of outness to family (e.g., parents, siblings, and extended family) among gender diverse SMY and how various social positions (e.g., sexual and gender identity, race/ethnicity, geographic region, and age) are associated with profile membership. We also examined how gender diverse SMY's well-being (e.g., depressive symptoms and feelings of stress) differ by outness profiles. We found five profiles: limited outness to all family (n = 1,791), only sexual identity out to all family (n = 781), sexual/gender identities (SGI) out to all family (n = 705), SGI out to parents/siblings (n = 699), and only gender identity out to all family (n = 224). We found significant differences in profile membership based on sexual and gender identity, race/ethnicity, geographic region, and age. Our results indicate that youth who were out about only one identity experienced more depressive symptoms and/or feelings of stress than youth who were out about both identities. We describe implications for identity-specific interventions and programs that help youth in disclosing to their family.