Trinity Students and Professor Advance LGBTQ+ Research Together

In 2022, Trinity University sociology and anthropology professor Amy Stone, Ph.D., created the Family Housing and Me (FHAM) project, aiming to examine how the support of non-family members impacts housing stability among LGBTQ+ youth. This summer, a group of Trinity students are working to further this research project. 

Read about the experiences of two students, Jasmine Evenstad ’26 and Kaylin Balyeat ’24, below!

Jasmine Evenstad ’26

Jasmine Evenstad, an anthropology and history major from Helotes, Texas, first heard about the FHAM project through an acquaintance who had been part of the project. Evenstad pursued this project to gain more hands-on experience with formal research, but she was also interested in the subject of the research project. “It's all about the well-being of humans, and that is what I care most about,” Evenstad says. 

The project takes a qualitative research approach that focuses on interviews with LGBTQ+ youth. This approach allowed Evenstad to understand the experiences and interactions of LGBTQ+ youth with their families and how they impact their overall safety and happiness. “Personally, this research makes me feel very empathetic and aware of the importance of the research we are doing,” she says. “I’ve been able to understand how social constructs, such as sexuality and gender, can have very real material effects on humans.”

This research experience has allowed Jasmine to delve deeper into her field of study. “I’ve grown as an aspiring anthropologist by utilizing interviews, a primary method of data collection in my field, to learn how to use that data to contribute important ideas to the world,” she says, “I’ve also made connections with the wonderful folks in Undergraduate Research in the Arts and Humanities (URAH) which includes faculty, mentors, and other arts/humanities students at Trinity.”

Currently, Evenstad is continuing her interviews with FHAM and working on “LGBTQ+ Youth and Foodways,” a paper analyzing the implications of family mealtimes among LGBTQ+ youth. 

Kaylin Balyeat ’24

Kaylin Balyeat had been looking through an anthropology newsletter when they stumbled upon the FHAM project. Balyeat, an anthropology and ancient Mediterranean studies double major from Cincinnati, Ohio, was astonished by how much the project aligned with their interests. “I loved interviewing for some of my classes and was really excited to continue that work and refine my skills. Also, as a member of the LGBT community myself, I was also excited to be able to work on a project focused on the community,” Balyeat says.

A typical work day for Kaylin never looks the same. “On days I have interviews scheduled, I spend most of the day prepping by reviewing transcripts of past interviews and survey responses,” Balyeat says. “When I’m not interviewing youth, I’m working on a paper with my mentor, Dr. Stone, about cisnormativity and how it impacts youth’s decisions to come out, especially as genderqueer.” 

Balyeat has felt more connected to Trinity’s humanities community through this experience. “I’ve been really happy with the closer connections I’ve been forming with the other humanities researchers at our weekly URAH lunches,” Balyeat says. “It’s been really cool to hear about the different research experiences people are having and all the different directions it can go.”

Speaking with youth for this project has given Balyeat a brief but invaluable glimpse into their lives. “My research has really grounded me,” Balyeat says. “The amount of trust and openness they’ve given me during these interviews has been incredible.” This work has given Balyeat great confidence that they picked the right major and path in life, and they look forward to doing more of this work in the professional world. 

Currently, Balyeat is developing a literature review for a paper that explores the way gender-diverse youth navigate disclosure within their families. Additionally, they’ve been updating case history on members in the study based on survey responses for FHAM.