Exploring the spatial experiences and identity negotiations of queer youths in Malta

Abstract

This study explores the lived experiences of queer youth in Malta as they navigate public, private, and digital spaces. While Malta is internationally recognised for progressive legal reforms supporting LGBTQIA+ rights, a gap remains between formal equality and everyday realities. The research examines how spatial dynamics influence belonging, identity development, inclusion, and safety, and how queer youth negotiate these processes within cultural, religious, and generational contexts. Adopting an interpretivist paradigm and drawing on queer and spatial theory, the study employs a qualitative methodology based on interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Eleven participants aged 18 to 30 were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling and engaged in semi-structured, face-to face interviews. Findings highlight the dissonance between legal protection and social acceptance, showing how queer youth continually negotiate visibility, belonging, and identity within the spaces they inhabit. While queer venues, university settings, and online communities offered affirmation, participants’ accounts revealed that these, too, were not immune to exclusion, surveillance, and hostility. These findings underscore the complexity of belonging and the ongoing work of cultivating environments where identities can be expressed without compromise.