Childhood Gender Nonconformity and Sexual Identity Development Milestones Across Age Cohorts of Cisgender Sexual Minority Women and Men

Childhood gender nonconformity and generational cohort are both associated with the timing of sexual identity development milestones among sexual minority individuals (e.g., first same-sex attraction, identity realization, and disclosure). We conducted gender-stratified analyses to examine whether childhood gender nonconformity was associated with earlier timing of milestones separately for cisgender sexual minority women and men and whether these associations varied across generational cohorts, with the expectation that they would be weaker in more recent cohorts. Using Generations Study baseline data (United States, 2016–2018), we examined these associations across six milestones in three cohorts: Pride (born 1956–1963), Visibility (1974–1981), and Equality (1990–1997). Greater childhood gender nonconformity was associated with earlier timing of milestones for both women and men, with some variation across milestones. Among women, childhood gender nonconformity was associated with earlier timing of three of six milestones, compared with all six milestones among men, although significant gender differences in these associations were observed only for disclosure milestones. Among women, these associations were stronger in the oldest cohort for four of the six milestones. For men, the strength of these associations did not differ across generations. Although additional tests of gender differences in cohort moderation were not statistically significant, our findings suggest that the association between childhood gender nonconformity and the timing of sexual identity development milestones varies across sociohistorical contexts among women and appears more consistent across cohorts among men.