EXPERIENCES OF LESBIAN AND GAY IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITY : AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

• Main Author: NUR SYAFIQAH, NORIHAN
• Format: Final Year Project Report
• Language: English; English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) 2021
• Subjects: BF Psychology
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/37435/1/Nur%20Syafiqah%20Norihan%20-%2024%20pgs.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/37435/2/Nur%20Syafiqah%20Norihan.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/37435/

The objective of this paper is to investigate what it is to be a lesbian or gay undergraduate student at a public university. In this study, we identify the experiences of becoming one of the members of sexual minorities at public universities in Malaysia. This study examines the challenges, love relationships, emotional state, and coping strategies. 8 homosexual participants at the age of '20s from different public universities overall Malaysia were interviewed in this study where they narrated their experiences on challenges, their love relationships, and coping strategies in the university which consists of their social life, psychological state, and society. Participants narrated that they face challenges such as difficulty in social life and facing negative emotional consequences. Next, this study is an exploratory study that also highlights their love relationship based on Eric Erickson Theory and how they cope after facing those challenges using Transactional Model. The data were analyzed by studying the transcription of recording interviews and identifying the themes that emerged based on the objective of the study. The results of this study are expected to provide new insights into the challenges of gay and lesbian students in Malaysia, thus helping future researchers in conducting the future study in this sexual spectrum. In conclusion, such studies can contribute ways of raising awareness of Malaysian gays and lesbians' experiences in a public university.