Intersections of queer, gender, and religious socialization: a critical collaborative autoethnography

As four queer counseling and counselor education scholars, we used critical collaborative autoethnography to examine socialization influences on our queer, gender, and religious identities. Analysis revealed four themes describing social-cultural socialization’s influence on identity negotiation processes: social-cultural/environmental influences; navigating inequalities, power relations, and structures; personal/internal development; and action-oriented change. Findings inform counseling, psychology, PK-12 and higher education, and an interdisciplinary understanding of intersectional identity development for queer persons in theologically conservative and gendered contexts and warrant further investigation of intersectional identity development for queer persons navigating dominant gendered, racist, and religious contexts.