A Qualitative Study of Middle Eastern/Arab American Sexual Identity Development

The development of one’s sexual minority identity is a major part of sexual minority persons’ lives, but unfortunately one that is often stunted by a heterosexist society. For individuals with multiple minority oppressions, the formation of a sexual minority identity becomes even more complicated. As such, there has been a call among researchers for more empirical research on the experiences of LGB individuals from racial/ethnic minority groups. The present study uses qualitative methods to fill some of the gaps in the literature related to identity development among same-gender attracted Middle Eastern/Arab individuals living in the United States (US). From 12 interviews, thirteen themes associated with the following issues emerged: intersectionality, race/ethnicity, sexual identity development, discrimination, stigma, oppression, sexual orientation disclosure, and invisibility. Themes, subthemes, and their implications are discussed.