Intersectionality theory was used to inform the research methods for this article ( Bowleg, 2008 Cole, 2009 Crenshaw, 1991 Hancock, 2007 McCall, 2005). In this article, we use the term “gender expansive women” to describe participants in our sample who identified in a manner that falls outside United States culture’s commonly held notions of gender, such as non-binary gender identities (see Baum et al., 2014). This gap is especially prevalent among Latinx and African American sexual and gender expansive women, two communities that report significant social and health disparities as compared to women from other racial and ethnic backgrounds ( Jeong, Veldhuis, Aranda, & Hughes, 2016 LaVaccare et al., 2018 Zahnd & Wyn, 2014). As a result, many practitioners and scholars are applying commonly held assumptions about identity formation and mental health-rooted in White male cisgender samples-to the lived experiences of SGDPOC. To date, there is a significant gap in the research literature on empirical investigations of identity formation in SGDPOC. However, scholars have also made clear the importance of expanding identity research to address intersectional lived experiences for multiply marginalized individuals, such as sexual and gender diverse persons of color (SGDPOC Bowleg, 2008 Greene, 1996 Morales, 1989). Researchers have made important strides in expanding knowledge regarding identity formation in the areas of race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender, respectively.

Implications for future research and psychological services are discussed. Findings revealed four major themes that were critical in identity formation: (a) family and cultural expectations, (b) freedom to explore identity, (c) the constant negotiation of insider/outsider status, and (d) identity integration as an act of resistance. Following an exploration of identity formation related to the specific domains of race, gender identity, and sexual orientation, we prompted participants to consider how each of the specified identity domains impacted the formation and experience of an overall intersectional identity (e.g., how racial position impacted gender identity and/or sexual identity formation). In response to this gap, we carried out a qualitative study using constructivist grounded theory with 20 Latinx and African American sexual minority, gender expansive women to understand participants’ experiences of forming an intersectional social identity. This gap is especially pronounced among sexual and gender expansive women of Latinx and African American descent-two groups that face disparate personal and public health risks but are largely ignored in the research literature. Although the concept of intersectionality has gained widespread attention in psychological research, there remains a significant gap related to the impact of intersectionality on identity formation for persons negotiating multiple minority statuses.

Pansexual master racr