Research, Evaluation & Development
At VROC, we see that research can inform what our collective vision looks like, and helps us create the world we want to see. There is a major lack of research and resources about and for LGBTQ+ Vietnamese, Latinx, and Black people in Orange County. Given that Orange County has its own social and political context, we want to make sure that our research and evaluation capture systemic and community-level issues. We also see research as a process of storytelling. Our research is our way of uplifting and amplifying the stories of VROC’s community members.
LGBTQ+ Youth in Orange County Community Needs Assessment (2021)
LGBTQ+ youth of color experience rampant discrimination and stigma from their own ethnic community, the LGBTQ community, and other racial/ethnic groups. However, most available data only report the experiences of LGBTQ+ youth of color at a national level that may not be applicable to people who have a connection with Orange County, CA. The purpose of the Community Needs Assessment is to better understand the needs of LGBTQ+ youth of color in our Orange County community in order to advocate, create, and push for change.
“Family Is the Beginning but Not the End”: Intergenerational LGBTQ Chosen Family, Social Support, and Health in a Vietnamese American Community Organization (2022)
Homophobia and anti-LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) discrimination within ethnic communities can negatively impact the health of LGBTQ people. The formation of chosen families has been a source of social support that may have health benefits for LGBTQ people. This ethnographic study explores how participation in a LGBTQ Vietnamese American community organization reveals the salience of chosen family in informing individual members’ perceptions of their health and well-being. Fifteen members were interviewed and over 30 were included in a 6-month participant-observation period. Three themes emerged: 1) queering family and kinship, 2) Vietnamese motherhood and the social reproduction of the family, 3) social ties and community connectedness as relational dimensions of health. Findings suggest that specific ethnic social support via chosen family formations for LGBTQ Vietnamese Americans can shape individuals’ sense of self, sense of belonging, purpose in life, and consequently perceptions of well-being.