“You know, they’re the safe space to go home to”: exploring psychological mechanisms underlying companionships between animals and LGBTQA+ Australians

In the face of the cisgenderist and heterosexist contexts in which LGBTQA+ people live, LGBTQA+ people report experiencing meaningful relationships and close bonds with animal companions. Yet little is known about the possible mechanisms that may underlie these relationships and why human-animal companionships are important for LGBTQA+ animal caregivers. This paper investigates mechanisms specific to the experiences of LGBTQA+ people that may explain the impacts of animal companionship through interviews with 21 LGBTQA+ people living in Australia. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse the transcribed interview data. Four themes were developed: 1) animal companions facilitating ‘simple’ forms of connection with LGBTQA+ humans, 2) queer people’s identification with their animal companions, 3) animal companions creating safe spaces for belonging for LGBTQA+ humans, and 4) companionship with animals offsetting and protecting against queer-related discrimination. LGBTQA+ people find their relationships with animal companions to be meaningful, accepting, and joyful. Further research is needed to understand how and why animal companionship impacts wellbeing for LGBTQA+ people beyond minority-stress models.