“It's okay to dream: Navigating trauma, healing, and futuring among LGBTQ + Black girls, transgender and nonbinary youth in New York State”

Black LGBTQ + girls, femmes, transgender and nonbinary youth and young adults experience high rates of sexual violence, and other forms of trauma, including oppression-based trauma related to racism, misogynoir, homophobia and transphobia. Black LGBTQ + girls, femmes, transgender and nonbinary young people, whose experiences are underexplored within social science research, also experience disparately harsh discipline and pushout within school settings while being disproportionately represented in the foster care and juvenile justice systems. However, they are also a community with a tremendous history of creative resistance, and legacies of activism and powerful healing practices. Within this paper we have disaggregated the interview data of 13 LGBTQ + identified participants from a larger qualitative study with 24 Black girls, femmes, transgender and nonbinary youth, aged 16–25, who reside in New York State. Data were analyzed using critical thematic analysis and three main themes emerged: 1) the significance of participants’ experiences of childhood trauma, 2) participants’ conceptualizations and experiences of healing and resistance, and 3) participants aspirations and dreams for their futures and the futures of their communities.