Date of Conferral

5-30-2024

Date of Award

May 2024

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Counselor Education and Supervision

Advisor

Felicia Pressley

Abstract

In discussions of attraction, most assume that one term applies to both sexual and romantic attraction and thus is all that one needs. However, for a group of individuals within the LGBTQ+ population, attraction varies between romantic and sexual, and therefore these individuals require multiple terms to accurately express their identities. Coming out is the process by which an individual expresses their identity both to themselves and to others. While much is known about this process, little is known about how identifying with different, or discordant, sexual and romantic orientations affects this process. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to begin understanding the way in which identifying with discordant identities affects coming out in adults. This research was based on both the concept of splitting attraction into distinct parts and the understanding that coming out is both an internal process of self-acceptance and an external process of accepting one’s part in a larger group by using semistructured interviews and interpretative phenomenological analysis to identify key themes. Themes included the need for acceptance, the importance of education of both the individual and the general population, the role societal norms play in coming out, and reasons for coming out. Bringing more attention to the existence of discordant sexual and romantic orientations, allows for positive social change through the possibility of promoting acceptance and therefore coming out growth among this group of individuals.

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