LGBTQ+ Research Projects

My research on LGBTQ has typically focused upon the construction of gender with in LGBTQ subcultures and upon documenting heterosexism and its effects. As a lesbian-identified mentor, it is important to me to work with LGBTQ-affirmative students in my research team as we are active in advocating for LGBTQ people's rights, justice, and affirmative approaches to psychology.

Gender Identities: I’ve had a longstanding program of research examining LGBTQ gender across LGBTQ subcultures. Research has focused upon not only gender identities but the systemic reasons for their development in certain forms. This research has focused upon how sexual orientation and gender intersects with gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. An invited special issue of Psychology of Women Quarterly has focused on my functionalist theory of gender that has emerged from this line of work. This work has focused on developing a theory of gender that is inclusive of LGBTQ+ experience and that reflects the functions across marginalized sexual and gender communities (such as butch, femme bear, leather, drag, house/family, transgender communities). See Levitt, 2019a; Tebbe, 2019; Moradi, 2019; Watson, 2019; Levitt, 2019b. Instead of reifying gender identities as static forms, this work sees gender as serving purposes for individuals and communities that make sense within specific contexts, cultures, and times.

Healing from heterosexist, homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic experiences: In this program of research, we have a variety of projects that are developing freely-available tools for the LGBTQ community (e.g., focusing on heterosexism, LGBTQ people with autism, transphobia). These empirically-based exercises help sexual and gender minority people to heal from and develop responses to heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in their lives. The client-centered exercises do not promote any one recommendation but offer questions and reflective prompts that clients can consider as they move towards their own solutions that are tailored for their own lives and contexts. The writing exercises have been found to be overwhelmingly successful, with just over 90% of participants reporting change. Emerging research from our lab has found that these interventions have medium effects on depression and large effects on the impact of the event (Levitt, Collins, Maroney & Roberts, under review), and has created a stages of change model that can support therapists to guide clients to healing from heterosexist experiences (Collins & Levitt, under review). This line of research has been expanding with collaborators to have multiple variants, such as a line of this research focused on LGBTQ autistic people (see dissertation by Meredith Maroney), bisexual men (see dissertation by Rachel Chickerella) and on transphobic experiences (see dissertation by Lindsey White). If this is of interest to you, you can find our website at www.LGBTQmentalhealth.com where our approach to intervention development and the exercises are described in detail and references are available to help you find publications.

Likely upcoming projects: In the coming year, it is likely that an incoming student with LGBTQ+ interests would focus upon analyses with the data upon heterosexist/transphobic experiences and healing as a thesis project. There are many identities and questions that can be explored within the dataset we have been developing, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Future projects will continue with other specific foci, such as the effects of writing on legislative stress, on people recovering from types of stigma such as conversion "therapy", and on LGBTQ+ people of color. In addition, qualitative projects or meta-syntheses that explore LGBTQ+ gender identities and communities are likely as well.