Speaker
Description
Research highlights that LGBTQI+ students are more likely to experience bullying than non-LGBTQI+ students (Bergqvist et al., 2023), but research on LGBTQI+ students’ experiences remains limited in the Swedish school context (Odenbring, 2022). In our ongoing qualitative study, we contribute to this body of research by using in-depth, semi-structured interviews to explore LGBTQI+ young people’s lived experiences of homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic bullying. The results in this paper are based on interviews with 18 LGBTQI+ young people, aged 15-19, from across Sweden, and have been thematically analysed (Braun & Clarke, 2021). Our analysis was guided by three theoretical concepts: misrecognition (Fraser, 2001), affect (Ahmed, 2010), and stigma (Goffman, 1963). Our preliminary findings show how LGBTQI+ students experience acceptance struggles at school related to their LGBTQI+ identities. While some face acceptance struggles due to systematic bullying, others encounter struggles related to homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic language use and microaggressions. These acceptance struggles were found to be ongoing and to impact young LGBTQI+ people’s life trajectories, including their openness about their identity, their involvement in making LGBTQI+ voices and perspectives heard in school, their well-being, and their choice of school. These findings point to the importance of increasing awareness about (mis)recognition processes, the importance of positive school climates, the need to provide space for LGBTQI+ issues in school, and how the school as an institution and the social dynamics within it impact LGBTQI+ students’ experiences of acceptance struggles and their life trajectories.
Keywords
Homophobic, biphobic, transphobic bullying; LGBTQI+young people, bullying, school climate, qualitative
| Please indicate what type of scientific contribution it is | Qualitative method study |
|---|---|
| Please also indicate what kind of contribution it is: | Scientific |
