O ri g in a l A r ti c le

Being out to others: The r elative

importance of family support,
i d e n t i t y a n d r e l i g i o n f o r LG B T
latina/os

Antonio (Jay) Pa strana, J r.

John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY

Abstract Contemporary accounts emphasize that family often plays a deleterious

role in the lives of Latina/os who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT).
Though there is a vast literature on the importance of family for Latina/os, little research
examines how this may affect this LGBT population. Quantitative data analysis from a
nationwide sample of LGBT Latina/os (N = 1159) assesses the importance of family sup-
port in understanding how many people a person chooses to be “out” to, or “outness.” It
also examines how a selection of demographic characteristics, attitudinal measures of
identity and religion are related to being an out LGBT Latina/o today. Findings reveal
that, when controlling for a variety of characteristics and measures, family support is the
strongest, positive predictor of outness for LGBT Latina/os. Two other predictors include
the belief that one’s sexual orientation is an important part of one’s identity and having a
connection to the LGBT community. Interestingly, when compared to their adult coun-
terparts, youth were not likely to be out to as many people in their lives; and being born
outside of the United States was found to be a consistent, negative predictor of being out
to others. The significance of these findings is discussed regarding future research and
social movement organizing with LGBT Latina/o populations.
Latino Studies (2015) 13, 88–112. doi:10.1057/lst.2014.69

Keywords: LGBT; Latina/os; family support; sexual orientation disclosure; outness

© 2015 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1476-3435 Latino Studies Vol. 13, 1, 88–112
www.palgrave-journals.com/lst/
 Being out to others

E x p l o r i n g Fa m i l i s m as En t r y P oint t o LGBT Latina/o R esearch

Research on Latina/os often highlights the importance of family bonds and

connections. Familism, or familismo, is the concept used to refer to the presence
and significance of extended family networks for Latina/os. As a cultural value, it
is often mentioned as a way to talk about the importance of group support over
personal gain. Though prominent in the literature, this concept is also contested
and some researchers have called for a greater understanding of how precisely
this family dynamic affects Latina/os and how research can further understanding
of the particular ways in which family networks may work differently for distinct
groups. This article examines perceived family support for LGBT Latina/os in
living an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) life within various
social – public and personal – settings. Particular emphasis is placed on the
relative importance of such factors as demographic characteristics, attitudes and
identity, religion, as well as family support.
Research on LGBT Latina/os has identified various barriers to increasing a
person’s life chances. Some of these include the pervasiveness of traditional
religious beliefs, perceived low levels of education and socioeconomic status,
language and communication, traditional family structures with rigid gender
roles, and the belief that LGBT Latina/os must choose between sustaining family
loyalty and proclaiming a non-heterosexual identity (Akerlund and Cheung,
2000). Still other LGBT research has identified issues of particular importance
based on sex. For women, a recent study found that socioeconomic status, gender
performance, race and color, and geographical location all affected the life
chances of Latinas (Asencio, 2009). In addition, in one of the largest studies of
gay and bisexual Latino men, Diaz and Ayala (2001) found numerous barriers to
health and well-being due to racism, poverty and homophobia. For example,
research participants were found to be uncomfortable in “White” spaces due to
differences in ethnic identification; and participants also reported low income
status, experienced verbal harassment, ethnic sexual objectification, and often
pretended to be heterosexual (2001). These men reported that proclaiming a “gay
identity” would ultimately hurt the family unit (2001). A recent small-scale
qualitative study of bisexual Latino men revealed that “familism, as defined by
familial support, emotional interconnectedness, and familial honor, shapes the
sexual decisions of bisexual teenage and adult Latino men” (Muñoz-Laboy,
2008, 773). But what is still unknown is the relative importance and impact of the
family in being an out LGBT Latina/o. That is, compared to other factors – like
sex, age, education level, affiliation with community and religiosity – how
important is family and family support?
Using a national, purposive sample of LGBT Latina/os (N = 1159), this study
asks the following: What are the factors that contribute to living an openly
lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender life, or “outness?” and What is the relative
importance of family support in relation to outness levels? These questions are

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 Pastrana Jr

particularly important for several reasons. First, they center the experiences of
LGBT Latina/os in the larger body of research on familism. Second, they provide
new evidence for how LGBT Latina/os live what some have called intersectional
lives (Pastrana, 2006), where the social markers of sexual orientation, gender,
race and ethnicity, and others simultaneously come together. At the same time,
the research questions explored in this article also shed new light on how the
experiences of LGBT Latina/os can be understood through a lens that contests
models of deficiency and pathology. In sum, drawing attention to the factors that
influence a LGBT Latina/o to live an “out” life can help to situate knowledge
about the broader Latina/o experience and about the broader LGBT experience.
Activists, researchers and policy makers interested in race-specific and sexuality-
specific strategies that emphasize awareness of intersectional issues can be
informed by this research in order to include the current day life experiences of
LGBT Latina/os.
In this article, I review some of the contemporary, empirically based research
on Latina/o familism and on sexual orientation disclosure for LGBT people.
This is followed by an examination of key theoretical themes often evoked in the
study of Latina/o sexualities, mainly intersectionality and sexual silence as ways
of understanding how identity and sexuality intersect for LGBT Latina/os.
Finally, I utilize statistical modeling to understand the relative importance of
family support in understanding outness for this population. Throughout,
I argue that scholars of the family and scholars of sexuality must develop more
rigorous ways of measuring and theorizing family and outness in the lives of
LGBT Latina/os.

L G B T L a t i n a / o L i v e s : F a m i l y S u p p o rt an d S e x u a l Or i e nt a t i o n
Disclosure

Social science research on Latina/o families has often underscored the presence
and process of “social adaptation” in understanding the larger acculturation
processes for these groups, which have experienced a simultaneous growth in
numbers and a decline in educational attainment, family income, adequate
housing and health-care access (Vega, 1990; Bernal and Saez-Santiago, 2006).
Research has consistently explored the extent to which familism is present in the
lives of Latina/os in the United States. Familism – defined as the theory and
practice that seemingly suppresses individual action in favor of a more group-
oriented consensus based on various familial connections – has also been used as
a justification for the observation that when compared to their White counter-
parts, Latina/os are more family-oriented. According to Vega, “[b]ecause this
stereotype has been so controversial and the empirical evidence so inconsistent,
contemporary researchers have continued their quest for conceptual precision

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 Being out to others

and empirical evidence that could clarify this issue” (1990, 1018). Still, even
when examined by researchers, the role of familism within Latina/o populations
seldom includes sexuality in general and LGBT issues in specific (Muñoz-Laboy,
2008). Understanding how familism functions for LGBT Latina/os is part of these
two calls for more research.

F am i l y Su pp o rt

Family connection and support is a vibrant feature of research on Latina/o

populations in the United States (Marín and Marín, 1991). Some psychologists
have identified it as a key cultural factor that influences a young person’s
subsequent habits, behaviors and life chances, particularly with regard to health
and substance abuse. Studies on substance abuse, education and health often
make use of familism as a theoretical and empirical factor in the lives of Latina/os.
As a measure of social support, familism has been discovered to be associated
with a protection from – or a gateway to – negative environments or situations for
adolescents. For example, a recent longitudinal study found that familism and its
connection to acculturation plays a role in predicting alcohol use among Latino
adolescent males (Gil et al, 2000). High levels of familism were also found to be
related to marijuana use in adolescents (Ramirez et al, 2004).
Interestingly, Latina/o familism is also linked to academic achievement
(Valenzuela and Dornbusch, 1994). Contrary to their originating assumptions,
Romero et al (2004) found that high levels of familism were significantly
associated with high levels of household education for a sample of Mexican-
American mothers and their children. And another study found familism to be an
important and significant factor in predicting high levels of academic achievement
for a sample of children of immigrants (Portes, 1999).
Though researchers have found that high levels of familism are associated with
the curbing of delinquency and substance abuse (Coatsworth et al, 2000; Coohey,
2001), still others have found that in order to understand familism as a behavioral
factor, it is essential to unpack the different dimensions associated with this
concept. For example, when examining family proximity (defined as the amount
of time spent with family members) and parent closeness (defined as one’s
perception of closeness to family) as measures of familism, a recent study found
that familism significantly predicts higher parental monitoring which in turn is
associated with coping with risky adolescent behaviors (Romero and Ruiz, 2007).
In addition to this, filial piety and family support – as components of familism –
were found to significantly predict Latina/o adolescent substance usage (Unger
et al, 2002). The positive effects on the lives of adolescents notwithstanding, it is
clear that the health and wellbeing – as well as educational achievement – of
Latina/o youth is often examined through the lens of familism.

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 Pastrana Jr

With very few exceptions, in the social sciences, familism has not been
adequately explored in order to contextualize the coming out – or the being out –
experiences of LGBT Latina/os. Still, scientific inquiry about the role of family in the
lives of LGBT people has revealed some interesting discoveries, particularly in
relationship to age (Ryan et al, 2009), health (Diaz, 1998), sexual risk behavior
(Muñoz-Laboy, 2008) and religious practices (Edgell and Docka, 2007). Young
Latino men experience more rejection from their families than their female counter-
parts (Ryan et al, 2009). For gay and bisexual Latino men, strong connections to
family tend to result in increased levels of internalized homophobia (Diaz, 1998).
Familism also plays an important role in the sexual decisions of bisexual Latino men
(Muñoz-Laboy, 2008). Lastly, the concept of familism was also utilized to under-
stand the relationships between religion, gender and family values (Edgell and
Docka, 2007). These studies notwithstanding, scholars of Latina/o sexualities have
recently identified that further investigation and research is needed in order to
understand the role of family in the lives of LGBT Latina/os (Cantú, 2001;
González-López and Vidal-Ortiz, 2007). Scholars have also argued that for some
Latina/os – but particularly for men – immigration status, migration patterns and
interactions with hegemonic systems of oppression are also intertwined with sexual
identity formations, practices and attitudes (Cantú, 2001; Guzmán, 2006; Decena,
2011). It is also evident that in the social scientific examination of Latina/o
sexualities, familism as a Latina/o-only or Latina/o-specific concept and measure
must be contested (González-López and Vidal-Ortiz, 2007).
Likewise, when considering the developmental research on LGBT populations,
one persistent feature is sexual orientation disclosure, or outness. Still, sexual
orientation disclosure is often couched and examined using empirical data where
Latina/o sample sizes are either small or overlooked in the analysis entirely.
However, researchers have argued that, like familism for Latina/os, sexual
orientation disclosure for LGBT people is an important developmental aspect of
the lived experience.

Sexual Orientation Disc los ure

The process and the decision to live an openly gay, lesbian, bisexual or
transgender existence is what has been commonly termed as “coming out” and
“being out.” Though there are some similarities between these two terms and
concepts, Harry (1993) explains that being out is tied to other factors, such as a
person’s occupation, income and residential location. This was important
because it demonstrated that being out is not merely a developmental stage, but
rather a process that is connected to structural forces. Yet, Harry’s (1993) study
relied on men only, with no Latino respondents. Regardless, much of the
literature on LGBT populations focuses on whether or not one is “out” in

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 Being out to others

general, or what is referred to as sexual orientation disclosure. Research has

helped to document how this experience unfolds for various populations. Though
some have argued that the decision to live an “out” life is connected to positive
health benefits, others have characterized the decision not to be out as a reflection
of self-hatred or of sustained external stigma. Still, for a variety of reasons, being
an “out” LGBT person is complex and deserves more attention in research, and
this is especially so for Latina/o populations.
The literature on sexual orientation disclosure, or outness, includes studies that
have measured such things as awareness of same-sex attraction, age of first same-
sex sexual experience, and self-identification with a lesbian, gay, bisexual or
transgender identity. In a 2002 study, Wallace and colleagues found that being
out is related to both positive and negative social factors associated with such
demographic characteristics as age, sex, race and ethnicity, and family support
(Wallace et al, 2002). Previous research has also documented that the age at
which a person had an awareness of feelings for another person of the same
gender also matters (Bell et al, 1981; Cook et al, 1989). In addition, many
researchers have concluded that, over the years, youth are coming out more to
their families (Savin-Williams, 1998).
Recent research has found that people are coming out at earlier ages. For
example, Schope (2002) found that, when compared to their younger counter-
parts, older gay men were not as out to their communities. Similarly, when
compared to their adult counterparts, younger people were more likely to disclose
their sexual orientation to others and to their parents (Floyd and Bakeman,
2006). Studies have revealed that women come out at slightly later ages than men
(Floyd and Bakeman, 2006; Grov et al, 2006; Herek, et al, 2010). This is also true
for awareness of same-sex attraction, first same-sex sexual experience and for
self-identification (Floyd and Bakeman, 2006; Grov et al, 2006).
Though some have argued that LGBT Black and Latina/o people have low rates
of sexual identity disclosure (Garnets and Kimmel, 1993), recent studies have
shown that even racial and ethnic minority populations are coming out at
younger ages. For example, in a racially diverse sample, age still continued to be
a significant factor when examining the coming out and sexual debut experiences
of LGBT people (Grov et al, 2006). In fact, analyses “revealed no significant
differences between racial and ethnic groups in reported ages of coming out to self
and coming out to others” (2006, 118). Similarly, in a recent qualitative study,
the coming out experiences of Black and Latina/o adolescents seemed to mirror
the experiences of their White counterparts (Potoczniak et al, 2009). The
implication, here, is that even for racial and ethnic minorities, young LGBT
people are coming out earlier than their older counterparts. Still, further research
revealed that, when compared to their White counterparts, Latina/o youth do not
disclose their sexual orientation to as many people (Rosario et al, 2004). Other
related investigations have argued that religion, the workplace environment and
identity also matter.

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 Pastrana Jr

The research on the role of religion in the LGBT coming out process presents
inconclusive findings. Some researchers have found no association between a gay
man’s religiosity and his decision to disclose his sexual orientation (Schope,
2002), while others have found that religion does indeed increase concern for
LGBT people when disclosing their sexual orientation. This is especially so for
younger cohorts who worry about their parents’ religiosity and how this may
negatively impact their reactions (Potoczniak et al, 2009). Recent trends in
religious affiliation in the United States today reveal that, more and more,
Latina/os are not indicating a traditional religious affiliation (see, for example,
Navarro-Rivera et al, 2010). “No religion,” seems to be an emerging category for
this population. “The growth in the number and percentage of Nones parallels
national trends, with Nones increasing among Latinos from just over 900,000
(6%) in 1990 to almost 4 million (12%) in 2008” (2010, 1). But how does
religious affiliation affect the outness levels of LGBT Latina/os today?
At the same time, another area of research has identified that coming out in the
workplace is also complex. For example, a 2002 study of gay men and lesbians
found that job satisfaction and low job anxiety are related to being out in the
workplace (Griffith and Hebl, 2002). Interestingly, this same study found that the
centrality of one’s sexual identity and being out to friends and family were all also
related to sexual orientation disclosure in the workplace. Identity also matters.
For example, Morris et al (2001) found that among lesbians, the following three
factors predicted outness: having a lesbian versus bisexual identity; number of
years identified as lesbian/bisexual; and level of “involvement” in the LGBT
community.

Using an Intersectional L ens t o Explore Fam ilism and Sexual

S i l e nce

Demographers have recently agreed that Latina/os are one of the fastest growing
racial/ethnic minorities in the United States today. Recent population estimates
have revealed that 4 percent of Latina/os in the United States identify as lesbian,
gay, bisexual or transgender (Gates and Newport, 2012). Though this is the case,
researchers have argued that the experiences of lesbian and gay racial and ethnic
minorities continue to be understudied (Fukuyama and Ferguson, 2000;
Pastrana, 2006). To date, research has documented that LGBT Latina/os often
face discrimination on the basis of race, class, education, sexual orientation,
gender performance, geographical location, religion, language, and family ties
(Akerlund and Cheung, 2000; Diaz and Ayala, 2001; Asencio, 2009). The
literature on intersectional racial and sexual identity – development and manage-
ment – also highlights the significant barriers to personal and professional
development that LGBT-identified ethnic minorities sustain (Wallace et al, 2002).

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 Being out to others

As one of the components of critical race theory, intersectionality argues that

multiple forms of discrimination often come together in very unique ways and
cannot be easily pulled apart. Intersectionality acknowledges that singular forms
of discrimination are often inextricably linked to others (Crenshaw, 1992;
Collins, 2000). For example, LGBT Latina/os may face discrimination based on
race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender and gender performance, to name but a few
factors, all at once. Therefore, as a group, they are positioned to help in
understanding how intersectionality can shed light on the particularities and
effects of discrimination. In sociological terms, intersectionality can be used,
arguably, as way to explore how conflict is experienced from a powerless
position. In addition, as argued earlier, familism, as a theory and measure, has
often been cited as a way to document the culturally specific ways in which
Latina/os in general have a special affinity to their families, often suppressing
individual aspirations in favor of community cohesion. Sociologists often point to
the presence of familism in the lives of Latina/os as a way of understanding how
this group deals with an acculturation process taking place. One underlying
assumption here is that Latina/os use the family as a compensatory resource in
navigating the difficult assimilation process. And this is often done without a clear
articulation about how the assimilation process often exists within an intersec-
tional context, where multiple forms of identity and oppression exist in a
multiplicative and interconnected fashion.
Within the literature on Latina/o sexualities, the concept of “sexual silence”
has received much attention as well (Alonso and Koreck, 1993; VanOss Marín,
2003; Agronick et al, 2004). Like familism, sexual silence argues that there is
something about the Latina/o culture and experience that makes this group
more likely to be silent about sexuality matters than most other groups. As is
evidenced by much of the literature on sexual orientation disclosure, however,
LGBT Latina/os are not the only ones facing difficulties in coming out to people
in their lives and living an openly LGBT existence. This idea of sexual silence,
then, is not necessarily a Latina/o-only phenomenon. Still, while focusing on
LGBT Latina/os today, what are some of the specific factors that might
contribute to sexual silences? Put differently, what are some of the barriers to
being out for this population?
The literature reviewed thus far indicates that – with very few exceptions –
Latina/o familism rarely examines sexuality issues, and sexuality research does
not adequately explore Latina/o familism. Scholarship on familism is often
viewed through heteronormative lenses while LGBT scholarship is often over-
represented by White experiences.
With data collected in 2010, this study contributes to the understanding of
family support in the lives of LGBT Latina/os. It brings two bodies of research –
on familism and on sexual orientation disclosure – together in order to
contextualize the LGBT Latina/o experience in the United States today. How do
demographic characteristics, sexual and racial identity, as well as religion, affect

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 Pastrana Jr

the ways in which LGBT Latina/os live “out” lives? Data analyzed in this article
may provide a way to further connect family support to the coming out – and,
more precisely, to the “being out” (Harry, 1993) – experiences of Latina/os in the
United States. In what follows, I explore these ideas by showing the relationships
between outness and a number of individual and structural factors.

The Social J ustice S exual ity Proj ect

The data used for this study were collected using a 2010 survey administered by
the Social Justice Sexuality Project. The purpose of the 10-page, 105-item, self-
administered survey was to gather data from lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) people of color around five broad themes: racial and sexual
identity; family formations and dynamics; spirituality and religion; civic engage-
ment; and mental and physical health. Recruitment for the national survey
included such methods as venue-based sampling, where research participants
were sought at political, social and cultural events; snowball sampling, where
community organizers or opinion leaders distributed surveys at other events not
initially identified as a recruitment venue; community partnerships with national
and local LGBT groups and organizations, like Unid@s, the Latino GLBT History
Project and Portland Latino Gay Pride; the Internet; and other strategic partner-
ships developed over the course of the survey field period.
For this article, “Latina/o” is used to refer to respondents whose racial or
ethnic identity (as indicated by their responses to such a question) included
“Hispanic or Latina/o” as either a marked category or as a specified, written
response. As in the US Census of 2010, respondents were able to check all racial/
ethnic markers that apply. The sample selected for this article includes respon-
dents who indicated a Latina/o identifier either alone or in addition to other
racial/ethnic labels. For this article, the subset of 1159 people who identified as
Latina/o was analyzed.

The Latina/o Sample

Though “LGBT” is used in this article to refer to the research participants, the
sexual identity label that respondents marked in the survey was as follows:
38 percent gay; 24 percent lesbian; 12 percent bisexual; 7 percent queer and
19 percent other. The LGBT Latina/os within this sample were between 13 and
81 years of age, with a mean age of 31. Almost half of the sample identified as
female (49 percent). In terms of ethnic identification, 44 percent identified as
Mexican; 36 percent were Puerto Rican; 7 percent were Dominican and 5
percent were Cuban. In terms of region within the United States, 47 percent were

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 Being out to others

from the West; 28 percent from the Northeast; 13 percent from the Midwest and
12 percent from the South. A little over a quarter of the sample was foreign born
(28 percent). Over two-fifths of respondents identified as single (43 percent) and
24 percent were parents. The average respondent had at least some college
education and came from a household that made between $20,000 and $29,000.
A summary of descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation and minimum-
maximum values) for the dependent and independent variables used in this article
is presented in Table 1.

Variables

This article focuses on the correlates of “outness” among a sample of LGBT

Latina/os. It seeks to assess the factors that contribute to a person’s decision to be
“out” to more people in their lives. More precisely, in order to measure the
relationship between four sets of variables (demographic variables, attitudes and
identity, religion, and family) and the outness levels of LGBT Latina/os,
hierarchical regression analyses were performed.
One dependent variable and four sets of independent variables were included in
this analysis. The dependent variable Outness is used as a sexual orientation
disclosure scale (α = 0.884) that is made up of six items and asks the following:
How many people within the following communities are you “out” to? The six
settings included family, friends, religious community, coworkers, people in your
neighborhood and people online. The five response categories, for which
respondents were instructed to mark only one for each setting, went from
1 “none” to 5 “all,” and included 2 “some,” 3 “about half,” and 4 “most.” This
set of questions was similar to previous ones summarized in the literature on
sexual orientation disclosure (see, for example, Schope, 2002; Wallace et al,
2002; Floyd and Bakeman, 2006; Grov et al, 2006). On average, Latina/os
reported that they were out to family (3.71); friends (4.27); religious community
(2.92); coworkers (3.62); people in the neighborhood (3.17) and people online
(3.93). The creation of the Outness variable as a scale, however, allows for more
sophisticated statistical analyses, like regression modeling. The reported alpha for
this scale (0.884) indicates that taken together, these six survey questions are
internally consistent as a measure of the statistical construct of outness, or being
out. The alpha is a measure of internal consistency for the set of questions that
comprise the scale. In general, a score of 0.7 or above indicates that the observed
results using the created scale will be similar to analyzing each item independently
(Peterson, 1994). As reported in Table 1, the mean for the outness scale is 3.63,
which is between the “about half” and “most” response categories. That is,
LGBT Latina/os reported that they were out to about half or most of the people in
all of the settings asked about. The research question for this study is attempting

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Pastrana Jr
Table 1: Mean, standard deviation, range and description of variables for LGBT latina/os (N = 1159)
© 2015 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1476-3435

Variable Mean SD Range Description of variable / label

Dependent variable
Outness (α = 0.884) 3.63 1.18 1–5 How many people within the following communities are you “out” to: family,
friends, religious community, coworkers, people in your neighborhood, people
online (Scale: 6 items)

Demographics
Youth 0.33 0.47 0–1 Age 18–24 (Reference: Adults aged 25–59)
Older Adult 0.01 0.10 0–1 Age 60 and over (Reference: Adults aged 25–59)
Level of Education 3.88 1.76 1–7 What is the highest level of schooling that you have completed?
Income 7.04 3.59 1–12 What was your total household income last year?
Female 0.49 0.50 0–1 What is your current gender identity? (Reference: Male)
Gender Variant 0.04 0.20 0–1 What is your current gender identity? (Reference: Male)
Foreign Born 0.28 0.45 0–1 In what country were you born? (Reference: US Born)
Latino Studies

Attitudes and identity

Connected to LGBT Community 4.14 1.33 1–6 I feel: connected to my local LGBT community, the problems faced by the
(α = 0.764) LGBT community are also my problems, a bond with other LGBT people
(Scale: 3 items)
Vol. 13, 1, 88–112

Homophobia is a Problem 4.22 1.35 1–6 Homophobia is a problem: in my racial/ethnic community, my neighborhood,
(α = 0.751) all communities of color (Scale: 3 items)
Sexual Orientation is Important 4.87 1.53 1–6 Do you feel that your sexual orientation is an important part of your identity?
Race/Ethnicity is Important 4.27 1.75 1–6 Do you feel that your racial/ethnic status is an important part of your identity?

Religion
Strength of Religious Faith 2.52 0.99 1–4 I pray daily; faith has meaning and purpose; active in faith; enjoy being around
(α = 0.935) others; impacts decisions (Scale: 5 items)
No Religious Affiliation 0.37 0.48 0–1 What religion do you currently practice? (Reference: Catholic, Muslim or
Islamic, Jewish, Protestant, Other)

Family
Single 0.43 0.50 0–1 Relationship status (Reference: Partnered/Married)
Ever Parented 0.24 0.43 0–1 Role as parent/guardian (Reference: Never parented)
Family Support 4.37 1.66 1–6 As an LGBT person, how much do you now feel supported by your family?
 Being out to others

to identify and measure the factors that influence an increase in the number of
people a LGBT Latina/o chooses to be out to in her/his life, or what is referred to
as outness.
Four sets of independent variables were used in this study: demographics,
attitudes and identity, religion, and family. Key demographic variables were
included in this analysis. Previous research has shown that age (Schope, 2002;
Ramirez et al, 2004), race (Garnets and Kimmel, 1993; Rosario et al, 2004;
Guzmán, 2006), sex (Floyd and Bakeman, 2006; Grov et al, 2006; Herek et al,
2010), foreign born status (Vega, 1990; Marín and Marín, 1991; Romero et al,
2004; Guzmán, 2006; Decena, 2011), religion (Schope, 2002; Edgell and Docka,
2007; González-López and Vidal-Ortiz, 2007; Potoczniak et al, 2009) and
education (Valenzuela and Dornbusch, 1994; Portes, 1999; Romero et al, 2004)
have each been significant in assessing either familism for Latina/os or sexual
orientation disclosure for LGBT people. For this study, age was measured using
two dummy variables where adults aged 25–59 were the reference category; 33
percent of the sample were Youth (<24) and 1 percent were Older Adult (60+).
Because of the growing literature on youth and LGBT issues, it was important to
capture this particular sub-group. Gender was measured using two dummy
variables where males were the reference category; 49 percent of the sample was
Female (and 47 percent was Male). Gender Variant is a variable created in order
to document the experiences of respondents who, for whatever reasons, did not
consistently mark one sex over the other when answering the survey. For
example, a respondent may have marked “female” as the gender category she
presently prefers but may have indicated that she was categorized as “male” in
her birth certificate. The Gender Variant variable represents such responses from
the sample. Also noteworthy is the widely accepted, but not fully researched,
notion that for people of color, the category “transgender” does not necessarily
resonate. Hence, for this study, the term and variable Gender Variant is used;
4 percent of the Latina/o sample was Gender Variant. Other demographic
variables included Foreign Born, Level of Education and Income.
Variables related to attitudes and identity were also included. This set of four
variables asked respondents about their connections to the overall LGBT
community (Morris et al, 2001), the belief that homophobia is a problem (Diaz
and Ayala, 2001), and the importance of sexual orientation (Morris et al, 2001;
Griffith and Hebl, 2002) and racial or ethnic identity (Pastrana, 2006; Asencio,
2009), each of which researchers have identified as key correlates to the well-
being of LGBT people. Connected to LGBT Community and Homophobia is a
Problem are each scales comprised of three items that measure connection to the
LGBT community (α = 0.764) and level of agreement that homophobia is a
problem (α = 0.751). The response categories for each of these scales went from 1
“strongly disagree” to 6 “strongly agree.” On average, Latina/os reported a score
of 4.14 for the connection scale. This means that the average Latina/o respondent
generally agreed that she/he felt connected to other LGBT people. Similarly, for

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 Pastrana Jr

the homophobia scale, the average score was 4.22, which indicates that the
average Latina/o respondent generally agreed that homophobia is a problem.
Sexual Orientation is Important and Race/Ethnicity is Important are each
Likert scale items that ask respondents to indicate the level of importance of
sexual orientation and racial or ethnic status in their lives. The response
categories for each of these items went from 1 “not important at all” to
6 “extremely important.” On average, Latina/os reported that their sexual
orientation was important (4.87) and that their racial or ethnic status was
important (4.27).
Strength of religious faith and religious affiliation were also captured. Adopted
from an abbreviated version of the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith
Questionnaire (Plante et al, 2002), Strength of Religious Faith is a scale
(α = 0.935) comprised of five items that measure a respondent’s level of agreement
about the following statements: “I pray daily,” “I look to my faith as providing
meaning and purpose in my life,” “I consider myself active in my faith or religious
institution,” “I enjoy being around others who share my faith,” and “My faith
impacts many of my decisions.” The response categories went from 1 “Strongly
disagree” to 4 “Strongly agree.” On average, Latina/os reported a mean score of
2.52, which is only slightly closer to agree than disagree. No Religious Affiliation
was created using a survey question that asked respondents to indicate the
religion that she/he currently practices; this variable includes respondents who
marked “atheist,” “agnostic,” or “none” to the survey question. Over a third (37
percent) of Latina/os in the sample reported no religious affiliation.
Finally, in order to account for the importance of family and family support,
three family-related variables were analyzed. Single is a variable created to
identify whether a respondent was single (43 percent) or married/partnered/other.
Marriage continues to be an important factor in much of the research on the
family. Yet in the United States, gays and lesbians often face legal challenges to
marriage, depending on the state of residence. Given this context, being single or
being in a relationship/partnership is an important aspect in the research on
LGBT families. Ever Parented is a variable created to identify whether a
respondent had ever served as a parent or guardian to a child (24 percent) or
not. The literature on LGBT families suggests that parenting and the presence of
children in a household is an important factor in the lives of LGBT people (Cahill
et al, 2002). Respondents were also asked to indicate how much support, if any,
they received from their families. Specifically, survey participants were asked, “As
a LGBT person, how much do you now feel supported by your family?” Family
Support is a variable whose response categories went from 1 “not supported at
all” to 6 “completely supported.” This variable directly addresses the issue of
perceived family support in the literature on familism (see, for example, Unger
et al, 2002; Romero and Ruiz, 2007). On average, Latina/os in this sample
reported a score of 4.37, which can be interpreted as feeling more supported by
their family than not.

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 Being out to others

S t a t i s t i c a l Mo de l s

To investigate the effects of the independent variables on the dependent one, four
hierarchical models were employed. More specifically, the models assess the
additive impact of four sets of variables – basic demographics (Model I), attitudes
and identity (Model II), religion (Model III), and family (Model IV) – on Latina/o
outness. This technique is employed in order to assess the relative importance of
each of the variables when predicting how many people LGBT Latina/os choose
to be out to in their lives.
Though the overall Social Justice Sexuality Survey data set included over 5000
respondents across various racial and ethnic groups, genders, ages, and income
levels, this article focuses on the subsample of Latina/os who provided valid
responses. Ultimately, this included 1159 cases, representing one of the largest
samples of LGBT Latina/os in the United States to date. As stated above, the
average Latina/o respondent was out to about half or most of the people in her/his
life, including family, friends, religious community, coworkers, people in the
neighborhood and people online. This article explores those factors that influence
LGBT Latina/os to be out to more people in their lives.
The analysis revealed some important and unexpected findings (see
Table 2). Model I shows that there are three demographic characteristics
that influence outness for LGBT Latina/os: age, income and foreign-born
status. However, income is the only one that predicts outness in a positive
direction. That is, as income increases so too does the level of outness.
Contrary to some of the literature, when compared to their adult counterparts,
LGBT Latina/o youth aged 24 and under, are not as likely to be out to many
people in their lives. And, the strongest, negative demographic predictor of
outness for LGBT Latina/os is having a foreign-born status (β = −0.132).
Neither education level nor sex made a difference in predicting outness levels
for Latina/os.
When adding the attitudes and identity variables, Model II shows that being
connected to the LGBT community as well as believing that sexual orientation is
an important part of one’s identity each significantly predicted higher levels of
outness for LGBT Latina/os. This model also reveals that, when controlling for
demographics and identity, the most powerful predictor of outness is the belief
that sexual orientation is an important part of one’s identity (β = 0.182). This
factor was more powerful than being born outside of the United States. In
addition, neither the belief that homophobia is a problem nor that one’s race or
ethnicity is an important part of one’s identity impacted levels of outness for
LGBT Latina/os. All relationships reported in Model I held when adding the
attitudes and identity variables.
Interestingly, Model III illustrates that neither religious affiliation nor strength
of religious faith affects outness levels for LGBT Latina/os. Given much of the
popular discussion of how religion often negatively affects the lives of LGBT

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 102

Pastrana Jr
Table 2: Being out to others: The relative importance of demographics, identity, religion and familya
© 2015 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1476-3435

Model I (N = 754) Model II (N = 715) Model III (N = 681) Model IV (N = 637)

Demographics
Youth (<24) −0.204* (−0.083) −0.258* (−0.105) −0.310** (−0.127) −0.229* (−0.096)
Income 0.033* (0.104) 0.029* (0.090) 0.028* (0.086) NS
Foreign Born −0.357*** (−0.132) −0.358*** (−0.133) −0.384*** (−0.143) −0.333*** (−0.126)

Attitudes and identity

Connected to LGBT Community — 0.110*** (0.123) 0.121*** (0.136) 0.084* (0.094)
Sexual Orientation is Important — 0.150*** (0.182) 0.155*** (0.187) 0.132*** (0.160)

Religion
Strength of Religious Faith — — NS NS
No Religious Affiliation — — NS NS
Latino Studies

Family
Family Support — — — 0.247*** (0.359)
Constant 3.636*** 2.566*** 2.634*** 1.947***
Adjusted R2 0.028 0.095 0.106 0.221
Vol. 13, 1, 88–112

a
The following variables were included in the analysis but were never found to be statistically significant: Single; Ever Parented; Homophobia is a Problem;
Race/Ethnicity is Important; Older Adult (60+); Level of Education; Female and Gender Variant.
*P⩽0.05 **P⩽0.01 ***P⩽0.001.
OLS regression coefficients (β in parentheses).
 Being out to others

people, this finding was somewhat unexpected. Still, all previously reported
relationships remained the same when adding the religion variables.
The full model (IV) adds all of the family variables described above. It shows
that, when all variables are included, not only is perceived family support
significant but it is also the most powerful (β = 0.359) predictor of outness for
LGBT Latina/os, more than two times as powerful as its closest predictor: the
belief that sexual orientation is important. Interestingly, this is also the only time
that income does not make a difference when predicting outness. It seems that
there is something about the addition of the family variables to this model that
renders income insignificant. When predicting outness, income does not matter
when family is accounted for as well.

The Relative Importance of Family Support

The analysis presented offers an important account of the experiences of LGBT

Latina/os and the factors that affect their decisions to be out to more people in
their lives. Though data analyses for this study show that outness for this
population cannot be fully explained, the findings support previous research,
while calling attention to new issues that future research should address. For
example, though several researchers have found that youth come out more than
their older counterparts (Schope, 2002; Floyd and Bakeman, 2006; Grov et al,
2006), this may not be so for Latina/o youth when compared to their White
counterparts (Rosario et al, 2004). The analysis for this article indicates that
when compared to their older counterparts (aged 25 to 59), Latina/o youth aged
24 and younger are not out to as many people in their lives. This within-group
finding suggests that there is indeed variance within the LGBT Latina/o popula-
tion with regard to age, something that, until now, has been difficult to ascertain,
given low numbers of research participants or given analyses that sought to
compare Latina/os to other racial or ethnic groups. When compared to their adult
counterparts, Latina/os aged 24 and younger may be more guarded about their
LGBT identity because they may be responding to age-related stigma like
generalized disempowerment, or their immediate social environments may not
be as developed, varied or numerous. An intersectional analysis can bring to light
a multitude of reasons for this phenomenon. Clearly, more research is needed in
order to understand some of the complex social environments that LGBT Latina/o
youth may be navigating.
Being born outside of the United States negatively predicted outness for the
sample of LGBT Latina/os examined in this article. This finding is consistent with
recent examinations of sexualities within certain Latino male immigrant commu-
nities. Being out is often complicated by racially inflected hegemonic relationships
that exist between a person’s country of origin and the United States (Guzmán,

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 Pastrana Jr

2006). Simply put, viewed through the lens of race or ethnicity, Latino immigrant
men may not necessarily choose to openly claim any ties to LGBT existence in the
United States because that decision is heavily influenced by dominant discourses
and stereotypes of racialized LGBT identities that often excludes Latina/os.
Further, these reciprocal and ever-changing cultural, symbolic, political and
historical ties to countries of origin – that often harbor both legal and extra-legal
sanctions against LGBT life – may also help to explain why, as Decena (2011)
puts it, Latino gay and bisexual men may only “tacitly” connect to LGBT life in
the United States. Clearly, as indicated by Peña (2010), the study of Latina/o
sexualities must pay more attention to immigration policy and national origin.
Research has shown that connections to community and saliency of identity –
both racial and sexual – are important to how LGBT people negotiate and
experience various social settings (Morris et al, 2001; Griffith and Hebl, 2002;
Asencio, 2009). For example, as Morris and colleagues point out, “identity,
developmental issues, and awareness of a larger community all affect the degree
to which lesbians and bisexual women feel comfortable being out” (2001, 69).
According to the data analyzed for this article, Latina/o men and women are also
out to more people when they feel a connection to the LGBT community and
when they believe that their sexual orientation is an important aspect of their
identity. While this is not surprising, the fact that these relationships continue to
hold true within a sample comprised entirely of Latina/o men and women is
important. Yet, due to racial conflict within larger LGBT communities and to
relationships with cultures that may seem incompatible with an LGBT identity,
many LGBT people of color feel stigmatized or may feel disconnected with the
LGBT community and with a LGBT identity.
Interestingly, religion had no impact on outness levels. This is counter to some
of the discourse in the popular media regarding conservative religious attitudes
towards homosexuality in general. Still, the findings of this article support other
research which indicates that these conservative tides may be changing slightly.
For example, a recent study of attitudes about gender in three racially distinct
religious settings shows a move away from segregating LGBT people in the
community (Edgell and Docka, 2007), and a 2010 Pew Research Center report
(Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, 2010) shows that members of
religious communities are registering somewhat more favorable views on certain
issues related to LGBT people in the United States (that is, support for gays and
lesbians in the military and support for same-sex marriage) than in previous
years. Arguably, given these very recently reported changes in religious attitudes,
the extent to which religion and spirituality are related to the outness levels of
LGBT people continues to merit more extensive investigation. These recently
recorded attitudes may be a reflection of some of the rapid change that is
occurring in the United States today regarding issues like same-sex marriage and
inclusion of gays and lesbians in the military. In other words, religious commu-
nities today may be influenced by the profound political changes taking place in

104 © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1476-3435 Latino Studies Vol. 13, 1, 88–112
 Being out to others

the United States regarding the rights of LGBT people. Still, for the sample of
LGBT Latina/os in this study, religion neither negatively nor positively affected
outness levels. Importantly, religion did not matter.
Given the vast literature on familism for Latina/o populations, it was not a
surprise to find that a variable measuring perceived support from family
significantly impacted outness levels for LGBT Latina/os in this study. However,
that the belief in family support is the most powerful predictor of LGBT Latina/o
outness was unexpected. When controlling for all other variables included in this
study, family support was not only a positive predictor but it was more than two
times as powerful as the next predictor, the belief that sexual orientation is an
important part of one’s identity. This finding shows that some notions of familism
may be present in the lives of LGBT Latina/os. Still, the extent to which this is a
Latina/o-specific relationship cannot be confirmed by this analysis or data. It is
entirely plausible that family support is key to understanding outness for many
other populations as well. Another explanation is that family support is
inextricably tied to broader notions of social support, such that older people
may be more able to exercise a level of freedom in creating different and more
diverse definitions of family and family formations. For these reasons, it is
important for researchers to include family issues in the study of LGBT people.

LGBT Latina/o Familism and S exual Orientation Disclosure

The relative strength and saliency of family support is a factor that affects outness
for LGBT Latina/os. This finding is important because it links the experiences of
LGBT people to the literature and research on Latina/os. As a concept and social
phenomenon – whether observed empirically or theorized in the hypothetical –
familism continues to be important, even for LGBT Latina/os. The more a Latina/o
feels supported by her/his family, the more likely she/he is to be “out” to numerous
people in various social settings. Unlike previous research on bisexual Latino men
and their relationships to sexual health (Muñoz-Laboy, 2008), familism, as
measured in this article, does not serve as a barrier. Instead, it plays a significant
role in predicting outness for LGBT Latina/os.
Social movement organizing efforts that stress the importance of coming out as
lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender have existed for some time now. These
efforts have given rise to such things as a designated National Coming Out Day in
this country. The findings in this study suggest that when including LGBT
Latina/os in such efforts, advocates, policymakers and care providers must be
aware that one way toward building an out LGBT existence in the United States is
to include strategies that facilitate greater support from families. LGBT cam-
paigns and curricula aimed at the heterosexual members of an LGBT Latina/o’s
family may be a way to gain the attention and participation of more LGBT
Latina/os in larger LGBT events, forums and other community organizing

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 Pastrana Jr

ventures. For example, in July 2012, over 20 Latina/o national organizations in the
United States, including some of the largest like the National Council of La Raza
(NCLR), the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF),
the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the Congressional
Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), launched a first-of-its-kind public education
campaign titled Familia es Familia (Family is Family), that today continues to seek
ways in which Latina/o families can have open discussions about LGBT family
members and issues that matter to them. Such a campaign not only locates the
family as a source of sustaining support but it also shatters the myth of sexual
silence that often casts a shadow upon research on Latina/o sexualities. Clearly,
organizations as well as individuals are working together to show how, with
support from family, LGBT Latina/o sexualities can indeed be talked about,
explored and celebrated.
Reporting on a recent study of LGBT identity, a columnist remarked that there
was widespread “head-scratching” over a finding that seemed to suggest that
people of color are more likely than Whites to report a lesbian, gay, bisexual or
transgender identity (Blow, 2012). According to Blow, researchers did not seem
to know why this may be happening and the “causes behind it remain a mystery”
(23). Though outness cannot be fully explained by the analyses presented here,
some important factors have emerged when it comes to understanding the sexual
orientation disclosure experiences of LGBT Latina/os. The findings in this article
show that Latina/os are out to various people in their lives, and that being out to
more people is influenced by such things as age, country of origin, connections to
LGBT community, belief in the importance of sexual orientation and having
family support. Still, as researchers of identity contend, as social constructs,
sexualities are often a reflection of a plethora of social, cultural, political, and
sometimes environmental factors as well. An intersectional perspective allows us
to locate some of these as they come together and fall apart. That family is an
important aspect of the human experience is not new, and that sexual orientation
is a part of the human experience is also not new. What is new here is that
through an intersectional lens that privileges a within-group analysis, family and
the belief in the importance of sexual orientation are each a significant part of the
Latina/o LGBT experience.

Limitations and Strengths

This study had a number of limitations. The sample, though large, was not
representative, thus not generalizable to any specific population. Though the
analyses contained in this study reflect sound statistical significance, caution must
be observed when seeking to make observations that may be reflective of the life
experiences of all LGBT Latina/os in this country.

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 Being out to others

Another limitation concerned the survey instrumentation. The Social Justice

Sexuality Survey was an exploratory study designed to provide preliminary
evidence for relationships and associations that require further inquiry. Thus
many of the most salient concepts and variables (for example, family support)
were measured by a single item. For example, in attempting to develop a
measurement for (attitudinal) familism, methodologists have pointed to the
importance of capturing such things as familial support, familial interconnected-
ness, familial honor and subjugation of self for family (Lugo-Steidel and
Contreras, 2003). Future studies should explore the dimensions of these concepts
more rigorously. In addition, ethnic identity was not something that could be
included in statistical tests due to low response rates to the item. This limitation
indicates the need to develop more sensitive instrumentation to measure these
types of identity questions in this population. Despite these limitations, as
reported in Table 2, statistical analyses employed in this study were strong,
robust and significant.
This study also has a number of strengths. The data used for this article came
from a large-scale, quantitative study with a national scope. It targeted LGBT
people of color and used a purposive sampling frame. Widely used as a method
during the piloting stage of a survey, purposive sampling techniques have also
been used in feminist research projects and in studies about vulnerable popula-
tions, or people who have systematically or historically been excluded from
traditional forms of scientific inquiry. Despite the lack of representativeness, with
1159 cases, this sample represents one of the largest ever for LGBT Latina/os in
the United States and can be used to support the ever-expanding field of inquiry
for this group, which has often been studied with smaller sample sizes.
The role of family in the lives of LGBT ethnic minorities continues to be an area
ripe with possibilities for future research (Muñoz-Laboy, 2008; Potoczniak et al,
2009). Scholars investigating familism should include sexuality and sexual
orientation identity as part of the research agenda. Equally as important is the
inclusion of various ethnic groups within the study of LGBT populations.

On Being O ut to Others

Life course perspective models (Floyd and Bakeman, 2006) as well as identity
development models (Rosario et al, 2004) have helped in understanding that
being out is a process, rather than an endpoint. Still, this article has explored
those factors which continue to make a significant impact on how Latina/o
populations in the United States today choose to live “out” gay, lesbian, bisexual
or transgender lives.
Being connected to the larger LGBT community and believing that sexual
orientation is an important part of one’s identity are both factors that

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 Pastrana Jr

significantly predict that an LGBT Latina/o will be out to various and

numerous forces in her/his life. Confirmatory research is needed in order to
tease out how Latina/o youth specifically disclose their sexual orientation and
the social and cultural mechanisms that might affect such a decision.
Believing that one is supported by family, however, is the most impor-
tant factor in predicting LGBT Latina/o outness. This is one way in which
the family as a social institution is connected to the lives of LGBT Latina/os
today.
In the popular imaginary and, to a certain extent, in the academic literature, a
common thread has been to portray Latina/os as followers of a culturally
specific code of sexual silence, where all things related to sexuality are skirted
or not necessarily talked about (see, for example, González-López and Vidal-
Ortiz (2007) for a discussion of this). The data and analysis explored in this
article directly contests this image and concept in at least two ways. First,
Latina/os are living out LGBT lives and they are doing so while believing they
are supported by their families; and second, LGBT Latina/os are indeed
connected to LGBT communities across the country. But, this is not necessarily
true for all LGBT Latina/os. To be clear, LGBT Latina/os in the United States
are diverse. In this article, for instance, variance was observed in terms of
family support, connection to community, belief in the importance of sexual
orientation, age and foreign-born status. The relationships found here may
also be important for other racial and ethnic groups. The extent to which
family support is a Latina/o-only or Latina/o-specific phenomenon is beyond
the scope of this article. Future research must adequately address these issues
in order to continue to build knowledge about how sexualities are lived in the
United States.
Being an “out” LGBT person is not a static identity. Research has discovered
that being out is affected by one’s age, sex, sexual orientation identity, racial or
ethnic identity, age of first same-sex sexual experience, connection to commu-
nity, religion, and immigration experience, to name a few. For LGBT Latina/os,
family support is important and is a strong predictor of outness. These factors
often work together but sometimes they may also work separately. Still, one
thing remains clear: more research is needed in order to understand the
nuanced ways in which outness happens and is sustained for LGBT Latina/os.
Particularly, family studies scholars must incorporate the experiences of LGBT
people into their research agenda, and scholars interested in sexualities studies
must include the various family experiences of Latina/os. Utilizing familism – a
key concept cited in the literature on the Latina/o lived experience – this article
argues that families do indeed matter for LGBT Latina/os. In fact, having
family support is positively associated with being out to family, friends,
religious communities, coworkers, people in the neighborhood and people
online. Together, these findings shed light on research about the intersection of
race and sexuality.

108 © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1476-3435 Latino Studies Vol. 13, 1, 88–112
 Being out to others

A b o ut th e A u th o r

Antonio (Jay) Pastrana, Jr. is Assistant Professor of Sociology at John Jay College
of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York (CUNY). His research
interests are in sexualities, race and social justice. Specifically, he examines how
race-based marginalization and intersectionality affect the lives of lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people of color. Jay is Co-Principal Investigator
of the Social Justice Sexuality Project. His work has appeared in Sexuality
Research & Social Policy; Spectrum: A Journal on Black Men; Race, Gender &
Class; Journal of Family Issues; and forthcoming in Journal of Homosexuality.
(E-mail: [email protected])

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