Adapting to adverse conditions : LGBT coming out strategies in Ukraine

This thesis explores strategies of coming out of LGBT people in Ukraine, a country where there are adverse and contradictory conditions for people from sexual minority groups. I describe situation in the Ukrainian society as a factor that alters standardized coming out process as a part and a property of homosexual/transgender identity formation. LGBT people living in Kiev were asked about coming out to family, friends and classmates, participation in LGBT community, concomitant circumstances of disclosure and partnership relations. Every block of the interview guide was also dedicated to stages of homosexual/transgender identity formation based on the models of Troiden (1989), Cass (1979) and Carrion & Lock (1997). The research demonstrates that there are three common strategies of coming out which are influenced by Ukrainian context: coming out as a result of moving out, partial coming out, and a "dual" life.