Understanding Identity Making in the Context of Sociopolitical Involvement among Asian and Pacific Islander American Lesbian and Bisexual Women

Abstract

This study examines how Asian and Pacific Islander American (API) lesbians and bisexual women form identities within the context of occupying both ethnic and sexual minority social statuses. To do so, we examine the correlates of sociopolitical involvement within minority communities among a sample of 175 API lesbian and bisexual women. The findings suggest that feeling connected to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities plays the most influential role in their sociopolitical involvement within both LGBT and people of color (POC) communities, while comfort in racial communities plays a negative role on LGBT sociopolitical involvement but has no impact on POC sociopolitical involvement. We then discuss implications for identity formation.