Gender identity exploration is a critical developmental process, and its healthy development is vital for individuals’ overall positive mental health and well-being. However, identity development doesn’t happen in isolation: it unfolds within complex social environments that can either serve as protective factors or risks (Spencer, 1979) to exploration. This thesis examines how microsystems such as families and peers can serve as sources of support and/or challenge for gender-diverse college students, and how race and whiteness shape these experiences. It examines qualitative interviews of 12 gender-diverse participants and analyses them using thematic analysis, coding different types of support and challenges. It is revealed that peers- particularly queer friends with lived experience of gender exploration- are the most consistent sources of emotional support, providing affirmation and belonging. Parents and relatives, by contrast, often emerged as sites of challenge, marked by rejection, conditional acceptance, or silence, aligning with broader literature on parental rejection in trans and nonbinary populations. The study also highlights the macrosystem of whiteness and how it emerges as a privilege granting white gender-diverse folx relative ease and visibility in their gender exploration, while BIPOC participants faced compounded marginalization. These findings underscore the need for intersectional, culturally responsive support systems that validate both racial and gender identities, and they offer key insights for educators, clinicians, and policymakers who aim to foster safer spaces for gender-diverse youth.