A critical participatory research project by and for lgbtq+ and gender expansive youth about family.
The Beyond Acceptance Research Collective (BARC) is a critical participatory action research (CPAR) project documenting experiences lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and/or gender expansive youth (LGBTQ+/GE) youth have with their families. Our project grew from a concern about the high number of LGBTQ+/GE youth that struggle with their families and a desire to better determine what kinds of supports would be helpful to help families move beyond acceptance to love, celebrate, and support LGBTQ+/GE young people. The BARC team is an intergenerational collective that consists of youth and adults who identify as LGBTQ+/GE. We conducted 23 in-depth interviews with LGBTQ+/GE youth from across New York City’s five boroughs about their family experiences and desires.
The BARC team also created three Zines, each containing an original comic that illustrates themes we heard in the interviews, as well as a video that creatively documents what we learned in our research. These resources were designed with three goals in mind: (1) to lift up the voices of LGBTQ+/GE youth about their family experiences in a creative and accessible way, (2) to provide resources to deepen conversations about acceptance of LGBTQ+/GE youth in families, and (3) to mobilize NYC communities, families, and policy makers to celebrate LGBTQ+/GE youth. These materials and others can be found at the BARC website: tinyurl.com/beyond-acceptance
