Compartmentalizing Communities or Creating Continuity: How Students Navigate LGBQ+ Identity Within and Beyond College

ABSTRACT Sociologists are working to expand knowledge about the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ+) college students. Yet there is little research on how these students come to navigate their identities over the course of higher education. Analyzing in-depth interviews with 20 LGBQ+ college seniors, this study finds evidence of two ways of making meaning of LGBQ+ identity that correspond with two strategies for managing identity disclosure. One group of participants described being LGBQ+ as a painful or peripheral identity; they compartmentalized communities, revealing their identity in some settings but not others. Meanwhile, a second group of participants perceived LGBQ+ identities as a source of pride and core to their sense of self. They created continuity by disclosing their sexual orientation across settings. These strategies extended to students’ plans for after college as they anticipated how they would navigate their identities following graduation. Our findings have implications for students’ experiences in higher education and opportunities in the transition to post-baccalaureate life.