Historical Accounts of Adversity and Hope: A Basic Qualitative Study on Prominent Members of the LGBTQ+ Community

• Author / Creator

  Haldane, Chayse

• Sexual minority individuals, on average, still experience higher rates of mental health andhealth concerns, as well as higher rates of discrimination and violent victimization than heterosexual counterparts. Furthermore, sexual minority individuals are more likely than heterosexuals to access counselling, but many experience barriers towards receiving the adequate care. A growing body of literature suggests that older sexual minority individuals develop resiliency through a lifetime of overcoming adversity. The purpose of the present study is to explore how events can be meaningful and what these events mean for fostering hope for the LGBTQ+ community. I used Merriam and Tisdell’s (2016) Basic Interpretive Qualitative Research to complete a secondary analysis on interview data originally used for the creation of The Edmonton Queer History App. I analyzed interview data from seven prominent members of the sexual minority community to answer the following research questions:1) How did significant local (Edmonton) and national (Canada) historical events impact the local and national LGBTQ+ community? 2) What did these events mean for athe LGBTQ+ local (Edmonton) and national (Canada) community at the time? and 3) What did these events mean for fostering hope for the LGBTQ+ local (Edmonton) and national (Canada) community? Three categories emerged from the data: 1) internalization of societal views, 2) fostering safety and a sense of community, and 3) sources of inspiration for initiating change. This research helps to understand the complex interaction of social influences and resiliency during times of societal reformation, focusing on the interpretations of LGBTQ+ older adults and the meaning of significant historical events for the LGBTQ+ community.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Resiliency
  • Hope
  • LGBTQ+

• Graduation date

  Spring 2019

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Education

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-e0vw-z433

• License

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