HETERONORMATIVE CULTURE AND LGBTQIAPN+ IDENTITY: EXPERIENCES, RESISTANCE AND CHALLENGES IN SELF-DISCOVERY

Abstract

The predominance of heteronormativity as a framework for controlling and normalizing the lives of gays and lesbians has been established, with the goal of forcing them to live as heterosexuals in a heteronormative culture, where society as a whole and the relationships individuals create with each other are obliged to adhere to the standard of heterosexuality, which is considered legitimate. The objective of this study was to analyze how heteronormative culture impacts the self-discovery and identity development of LGBTQIAPN+ university students. The methodological approach was qualitative, using a questionnaire as a research tool using the snowball technique. The results showed that respondents were unable to identify whether or not they experience prejudice. We emphasize that gender and sex are characterized in bodies through regulatory norms that, constantly repeated, assume the character of normality, given the process that disciplines expressions of masculinity and femininity. Therefore, the prejudices suffered by this class indicate that individuals end up normalizing discriminatory and prejudiced practices. Participants also expressed strategies of resistance, building support networks, and reaffirming their identity. This tension between oppression and agency shows that the LGBTQIAPN+ experience is marked by pain, but also by power and self-reinvention. The plurality of responses highlights that there is not a single identity trajectory, but rather multiple ways of living and resisting imposed normativity.