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Homelessness is a priority public health issue in the United States (U.S.) given its strong associations with multiple adverse health outcomes. While overall rates of homelessness have decreased over the last decade, some populations—such as sexual and gender minorities—have not seen equitable decreases. The present study explores the relationship between experiences of first-time homelessness with substance misuse (assessed via the DAST-10) and depression and anxiety (assessed via the PHQ-4) in an adult sample of SGM individuals in South Central Texas. The analytic sample (n = 907) was majority gay/lesbian or same-gender loving (55.8%) followed by bisexual or pansexual (34.7%) or another sexual identity (9.5%) and 12.5% were transgender. First-time homelessness was more common in childhood than adulthood. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to evaluate relationships between first-time homelessness and outcomes of interest. The odds of substance misuse (DAST > 3) were marginally higher for those experiencing first-time homelessness in childhood and significantly higher for those reporting first-time homelessness in adulthood. The odds of experiencing past 2-week depression were significantly greater for those reporting homelessness in childhood or adulthood. However, only first-time homelessness in adulthood was significantly associated with past two-week anxiety. These findings underscore the need to consider intersectionality when exploring solutions to existing health disparities, as this work suggests that both sexual and gender identity and homelessness are important factors in shaping mental and behavioral health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study documents the importance of grandparents for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) Latinx youth and how cisnormativity shapes these relationship dynamics. Background: Most research on LGBTQ+ youth's family relations centers on the parent-child relationship. Grandparents are important for racially marginalized families, particularly Latinx families. Additionally, Latinx LGBTQ + youth are impacted by precarious familismo--the disparate experiences with family members in which their gender and sexuality are simultaneously accepted and rejected. Method: The data for this project are from the Family Housing and Me (FHAM) project, a landmark longitudinal study on the impact of non-parental relatives on the lives of LGBTQ+ youth. This paper analyzes a subsample of 35 qualitative interviews with Latinx LGBTQ+ youth (16-19 years old) who live in South Texas or the Inland Empire of California, the majority of whom are transgender or nonbinary. Results: Grandparents played an important role in the lives of Latinx LGBTQ+ youth interviewees, including providing many of the positive benefits of familismo. The youth also described "disparate experiences" of precarious familismo in how their grandparents simultaneously attempted identity support of their gender identities and reinforced cisnormativity. Youth often navigated these experiences by expressing low expectations that their grandparents would fully understand their gender identities, which we refer to as generational gender expectations. Conclusion: Research on LGBTQ+ youth should integrate the study of non-parental relatives to fully understand support networks and family systems for LGBTQ+ youth. Additionally, cisnormativity plays an important role in family life and familismo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does gender accountability vary? We theorize that reduced perceptions by others of one's gender, or reduced external assessments of gender accountability, create more space for the cultivation of nonbinary subjectivities. We use the shelter-in-place period of the COVID-19 pandemic as a natural experiment during which major social institutions such as work and school changed and thus shifted gender accountability. Through interviews with a racially diverse sample of 22 U.S. adults who came out as nonbinary or genderfluid during this time period, we examine their experiences and understandings of this change in gender accountability. Participants described relief from relentless gender assessments as well as space for self-reflection and gender experimentation. Less stringent external assessments at work and school, especially the reduction of constant in-person evaluations of gender expression, produced new gender subjectivities that resisted binary understandings of gender. This study explores the nuance, variability, and situational character of gender accountability. We argue that in-person full-body gender assessments are a powerful component of gender accountability and that relief from gender accountability at work and school may be particularly liberating. Plain Language Summary: During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people came out as nonbinary or genderfluid. We interviewed 22 U.S. adults who started to identify as nonbinary or genderfluid during the shelter-in-place period of the pandemic. There were social aspects of the pandemic, such as increased free time, time alone, and opportunity to experiment with one's gender, that impacted the people we interviewed. One of the things that stood out was that interviewees discussed how working and doing school from home allowed them to be less concerned about people assessing their gender all day long. Because they were not interacting with people like coworkers and other students, who would see their full-body gender expression in person, they felt a sense of relief and freedom that allowed them to explore nonbinary gender identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]