Why Can LGBTQ+ History Be Harder to Pass Down Through Generations?

Family stories often provide the first connection to our past, but LGBTQ+ people may discover their community's history in very different ways. While some grow up hearing about the experiences of earlier generations, others encounter queer history for the first time through books, friendships, community organisations or cultural events.

New research published in the Journal of Personality on 2 November 2026 explores how young LGBTQ+ adults develop a connection with previous generations. Its findings raise questions about how communities preserve their identity when historical knowledge is not always passed down through families.

A history that isn't always inherited

People frequently learn about cultural traditions, family experiences and national history through parents, grandparents and established institutions. However, LGBTQ+ people may grow up in families with little direct experience of openly queer lives, making access to their community's history less straightforward.

A young person might first discover LGBTQ+ activism through a documentary, encounter queer literature at university or learn about earlier generations through a Pride event. These experiences can provide connections to people and events that were never discussed during childhood.

Psychologists describe a sense of connection between a group's past, present and future as collective continuity. Researchers Kit D. Greyson, Nic M. Weststrate and Kate C. McLean wanted to investigate how this concept applies to LGBTQ+ people whose historical and cultural connections may develop outside conventional family structures.

What the researchers discovered

The study used a mixed-methods approach involving 246 participants in its quantitative stage and eight participants in follow-up interviews. Researchers examined three measures of collective continuity and investigated their relationship with LGBTQ+ identity and psychological wellbeing.

Surprisingly, the three measures showed little association with one another. The researchers also identified modest relationships between collective continuity and LGBTQ+ identity, but found no association between their continuity measures and psychological wellbeing.

These results suggest that established psychological approaches may not fully capture how LGBTQ+ people experience historical belonging. They also challenge the assumption that feeling more connected to a community's past necessarily produces measurable improvements in wellbeing.

The eight interviews explored circumstances that encouraged or prevented participants from developing a connection with previous generations. Although the qualitative findings provided additional insight, the small sample cannot represent the experiences of every young LGBTQ+ adult.

The British places preserving queer history

Britain has a substantial LGBTQ+ history, from campaigns against Section 28 and the struggle for equal marriage to Pride activism and the community response to HIV and AIDS. These events shaped legal rights and public attitudes, but they also influenced friendships, relationships and everyday community life.

London's Gay's The Word bookshop, established in 1979, is one example of a place where historical connections can be maintained. Its shelves have provided access to LGBTQ+ literature for decades, while the shop has also played a role in community organising and activism.

Archives, oral-history projects and independent artists contribute to that work by preserving photographs, personal accounts and cultural experiences. Their collections can help younger generations understand how earlier LGBTQ+ communities lived, celebrated, organised and supported one another.

These British examples were not examined directly in the American study, but they illustrate why access to community history can take many forms. Historical belonging may develop through cultural spaces and personal discoveries rather than through family inheritance alone.

Does knowing LGBTQ+ history improve wellbeing?

The research did not find a measurable relationship between collective continuity and psychological wellbeing in its quantitative sample. That does not establish that learning queer history has no personal value, but it suggests the connection may be more complicated than previously assumed.

The researchers argue that existing measures of collective continuity may need further development to reflect the experiences of LGBTQ+ communities. Future studies could investigate how access to historical knowledge differs across generations, locations and social circumstances.

Importantly, the study does not suggest that younger LGBTQ+ people have abandoned their history. Instead, it explores why discovering that history can involve different opportunities and barriers.

For Britain's LGBTQ+ community, the findings provide another reason to value the people and organisations preserving queer experiences. Their work allows stories that might otherwise disappear to remain accessible to future generations.

Research and sources

Kit D. Greyson, Nic M. Weststrate and Kate C. McLean, Journal of Personality, 2 November 2026. Original peer-reviewed study.