Understanding and contextualizing LGBTQ+ Identity: Implications for Research and Clinical Practice
5 - (SYM 46) If They Look at Me and Land at He/him, It's the Consolation Prize: transmasculine Nonbinary Individuals' Conceptualization of Passing
Saturday, November 22, 2025
12:43 PM - 1:00 PM CST
Location: Celestin D&E, Level 3
Keywords: LGBTQ+, Community-Based, Mental Health Disparities Recommended Readings: Diamond, L. M. (2016). Sexual fluidity in male and females. Current Sexual Health Reports, 8(4), 249–256. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11930-016-0092-z, Flynn, S. S., Touhey, S., Sullivan, T. R., & Mereish, E. H. (2024). Queer and transgender joy: A daily diary qualitative study of positive identity factors among sexual and gender minority adolescents. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000733, Hinton, J. D. X., de la Piedad Garcia, X., Kaufmann, L. M., Koc, Y., & Anderson, J. R. (2022). A systematic and meta-analytic review of identity centrality among LGBTQ groups: An assessment of psychosocial correlates. Journal of Sex Research, 59(5), 568–586. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2021.1967849, Savin-Williams, R. C. (2001). A critique of research on sexual-minority youths. Journal of Adolescence, 24(1), 5–13. https://doi.org/10.1006/jado.2000.0369,
Post-doctoral Clinician American University Washington, DC, United States
Abstract Body
The present study seeks to understand how transmasculine nonbinary (TMNB) individuals understand passing for themselves and other TMNB individuals. Much of the literature regarding passing focuses on binary-identified trans women or men, while the ways that nonbinary individuals conceptualize passing remains largely unexplored.
Utilizing a critical-constructivist grounded theory framework, 20 TMNB individuals participated in semi-structured interviews that focused on understanding passing for this population.
The following core category was identified: passing is derived from behavioral and interpersonal choices that are filtered through both an individual’s unique experience of gender and external social forces. Three clusters combined to create this core category: (a) working definitions and cognitive understandings of passing (b) internal gendered negotiations, and (c) external perceptions.
Findings add to the burgeoning field of understanding passing for nonbinary individuals, and note the value of authenticity in a dichotomously gendered society. Findings further underscore that passing is a unique experience for this population. Recommendations for clinical work are discussed, with a focus on the need to understand the unique and holistic experiences of this population.
.png)
