MA, Kent State University, 2023, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Sociology and Criminology

Historically, rural America has been branded as a dangerous and unaccepting locale for minority populations, including queer people and people of color. This framing is borne from decades of knowledge production about queer lives that adheres to metro-centric and urban-rural hierarchies presenting metropolitan areas as “gay-friendly” and rural spaces as the opposite, but some research suggests otherwise. Much of the literature on social connectedness and community connectedness among and between lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people seeks to understand how social and community connectedness impact LGBT people's mental health and well-being, but the measurements of social and community connectedness often lack inclusion of the role of geographic location. It is the goal of this research to identify how and if rurality moderates the relationships between LGBT people's feelings of connectedness to the LGBT community across variables such as involvement in LGBT groups, outness, race, and gender identity. Multivariate analysis revealed that being a rural resident had no significant impact on social connectedness, nor did it moderate how involvement in LGBT groups, outness, race, or gender identity impacts individual experiences of connectedness to the LGBT community. This is consistent with a small number of LGBT studies that show that LGBT people in rural space are not necessarily experiencing less social connection to the overall LGBT community and sets a foundation for more research that explores how metronormativity might be obscuring important information that can only be found in rural queer space.

Committee: Carla Goar (Advisor); Tiffany Taylor (Committee Member); Austin Johnson (Committee Member); Susan Fisk (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2016, Social Work

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals face a broad range of physical and mental health risks. Minority stressors (e.g., experiences of discrimination, belief in negative stereotypes about one's own group) have been linked to poor mental health outcomes for this population. Connectedness to the LGBTQ community – including feelings of connectedness and behavioral involvement – is a potential protective factor against the effects of minority stress; however, LGBTQ individuals living in nonmetropolitan (rural) areas often feel less connected or are less involved with the LGBTQ community. The purpose of this project was to examine the relationship between connectedness to the LGBTQ community, nonmetropolitan (rural) location, and depressive symptoms in a cross-sectional sample of 104 self-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer 18-35 year-old adults. It was hypothesized that higher levels of connectedness would be associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms; connectedness to the LGBTQ community would be lower among nonmetropolitan participants; and the association between connectedness and depression would be stronger in nonmetropolitan areas. Results indicated a marginally significant negative relationship between perceived connectedness to the LGBTQ community and depressive symptoms, providing partial support for the first hypothesis. In addition, participants living in nonmetropolitan areas reported significantly lower perceived connectedness as compared to participants living in metropolitan areas, providing partial support for the second hypothesis. Behavioral involvement was not significantly associated with depressive symptoms and did not significantly vary based on nonmetropolitan location. Further, the third hypothesis – regarding a difference in the association between connectedness and depression by nonmetropolitan location - was not supported. Directions for future research and implications for social wor (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Peggy Zoccola (Advisor); Solveig Spjeldnes (Advisor) Subjects: Social Work