A probability sample of gay males

Data are presented from a national probability sample of males interviewed by telephone and asked their sexual orientation. Of these males 3.7 percent reported that they were homosexual or bisexual. Homosexual/bisexual men were compared with heterosexual ones on the demographic variables. This sample produced larger numbers in those groups which appear to be underrepresented in the usual samples drawn from the gay world. These groups include those with little education, married men, older men, minorities, and those living in small towns. It is suggested that probability samples which do not draw directly or heavily from the gay world for homosexual respondents obtain a broader sampling of those having homosexual feelings or behaviors.     

Spiritual and Sexual Identity: Exploring Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Clients’ Perspectives of Counseling

ABSTRACT

Although religious and spiritual issues have emerged as areas of focus in counseling, very few scholars have explored the meaning and experiences of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) clients who addressed their sexual and religious/spiritual identities in counseling. Using consensual qualitative research (CQR; Hill, 2012), the current study explores the perspectives of 12 LGB persons who sought counseling that involved religious/spiritual concerns. Four themes in participant interviews are identified, including (a) self-acceptance, (b) goals of counseling, (c) identification with counselor, and (d) counseling environment and relationship. Implications of findings for the counseling field are discussed.     

Suicidal and Help-Seeking Behaviors Among Youth in an Online Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,Transgender, Queer,and Questioning Social Network

LGBTQ youth have a great burden for suicidal ideation/behavior compared to their non-LGBTQ peers. While scholars have explored risk factors for suicidal behaviors, little is known about protective factors among LGBTQ youth, let alone within group differences in terms of help-seeking. Data were collected from 203 TrevorSpace (e.g., a social network for LGBTQ youth) users via online survey to examine suicidal and help-seeking behaviors among LGBTQ individuals. Among participants who reported suicidal ideation/behavior, a large proportion did not seek help (73.1% of gay men, 33.3% of bisexual men, 42.9% of bisexual women, 14.3% of lesbian women, 41.2% of queer individuals) when they considered or attempted suicide. Among those who sought support, reaching out to a friend was most common. However, family support was associated with fewer suicidal behaviors. Our findings underscore the need to examine the effectiveness of specific sources of help and the impact of exposure to social connectedness.     

Mental health concerns of gay and bisexual men seeking mental health services

Little data exist about the mental health needs of gay and bisexual men. This is due to limitations of existing studies such as small and nonrepresentative samples, failure to assess sexual orientation, and concerns about stigmatization, possibly causing sexual minority individuals to be reluctant to disclose their sexual orientation to researchers. Fenway Community Health is a large urban health center that serves the LGBT community. The large number of gay and bisexual men who present for mental health treatment allows for a unique opportunity to gain insight into mental health, prevention, and intervention needs for this group. The current study is a review of the mental health information from all of the gay and bisexual men who reported that they were HIV-negative during their mental health intake over a six-month period at Fenway Community Health (January to June 2000; N = 92). The most frequent presenting problems were depression, anxiety, and relationship issues. Additionally, presenting problems included current or past abuse, substance abuse, finance and employment, recent loss, and family issues. The most frequent diagnoses were depression, anxiety disorders, and adjustment disorders. These findings support the notion that presenting problems and mental health concerns among gay and bisexual men are similar to those frequently reported by individuals in other mental health facilities, however, specific psychosocial stressors are unique to this population.     

Mental Health Concerns of Gay and Bisexual Men Seeking Mental Health Services

ABSTRACT

Little data exist about the mental health needs of gay and bisexual men. This is due to limitations of existing studies such as small and nonrepresentative samples, failure to assess sexual orientation, and concerns about stigmatization, possibly causing sexual minority individuals to be reluctant to disclose their sexual orientation to researchers. Fenway Community Health is a large urban health center that serves the LGBT community. The large number of gay and bisexual men who present for mental health treatment allows for a unique opportunity to gain insight into mental health, prevention, and intervention needs for this group. The current study is a review of the mental health information from all of the gay and bisexual men who reported that they were HIV-negative during their mental health intake over a six-month period at Fenway Community Health (January to June 2000; N = 92). The most frequent presenting problems were depression, anxiety, and relationship issues. Additionally, presenting problems included current or past abuse, substance abuse, finance and employment, recent loss, and family issues. The most frequent diagnoses were depression, anxiety disorders, and adjustment disorders. These findings support the notion that presenting problems and mental health concerns among gay and bisexual men are similar to those frequently reported by individuals in other mental health facilities, however, specific psychosocial stressors are unique to this population.     

Amnestic Heterosexism and Bystander Responses to Anti-Gay Bullying

Amnestic heterosexism (AH) reflects the belief that, in contemporary society, people who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) no longer experience discrimination related to sexual orientation. We investigated potential associations between individuals’ AH beliefs and their responses to anti-gay bullying. Heterosexual undergraduates (N = 238) completed a measure of AH before responding to a scenario in which a man accuses another man of being a “fag.” As expected, those with greater AH beliefs perceived the situation as less severe/dangerous, felt less personally responsible to intervene, and were more blaming toward the target of bullying. In multivariate analyses, AH was indirectly associated with intent to confront the perpetrator via a path of reduced personal responsibility. Our results indicate that beliefs denying the existence of discrimination based on sexual orientation reduce feelings of personal responsibility to address anti-gay bullying. In turn, low personal responsibility inhibits confrontation of those who perpetrate bullying behaviors.     

Factors associated with 'feeling suicidal': the role of sexual identity

This paper examines factors associated with feeling suicidal in a large sample of urban men in Sydney and Melbourne, aged 18-50, including heterosexual, gay and bisexual men, HIV antibody positive and HIV antibody negative. As in previous research, sexuality (being homosexual or bisexual) was found to be a major predictor of suicidality. The research went some way towards explaining the close relationship between feeling suicidal and sexual orientation. Sexuality interacts with feeling bad in that, once men feel moderately bad/depressed, they are more likely to feel suicidal if they are homosexual or bisexual than if they are heterosexual. In addition, the research found that experience of verbal abuse and physical assault (harassment) increased feeling suicidal for both heterosexual and gay/bisexual men, not just for homosexual men as suggested by previous research, and that social isolation in the form of living alone is a further risk factor. Seeking counseling help and taking sexual risks were also independently associated with feeling suicidal. These actions may result from feeling suicidal rather than the reverse, and their association with feeling suicidal warrants further research. Many of the 46 independent variables examined in the research, including HIV antibody status and closeness to the HIV/ AIDS epidemic, were related to feeling suicidal only through their association with being gay/bisexual. Celibacy and general risk taking were not related to feeling suicidal in this study.     

Group psychotherapy for bisexual men and their wives

A significant number of men and women experience conflict surrounding homosexual expression within marriage. As the media focuses more attention on these relationships, more bisexual men and their wives seek counseling or psychotherapeutic assistance. Based upon the author's research and clinical experience, this article outlines a group psychotherapy strategy for bisexual men and their wives. Relevant research and background data on mixed-orientation marriages are summarized. Treatment strategy explores intervention processes, resistances to treatment, the unique supportive experiences of the group, and qualities of the co-therapist who may provide assistance to bisexual men and their wives.     

Health Status and Risk Behaviors of Sexual Minorities Among Chinese Adolescents: A School-Based Survey

This study aimed to examine the association between sexual orientation and health disparities among a stratified random sample of 3776 secondary students in Hong Kong. The prevalence of homosexuality and bisexuality were 1.5% and 2.6% in boys and 1.8% and 3.7% in girls, respectively. A total of 10.7% of boys and 8.8% of girls were unsure of their sexual orientation. Homosexual and bisexual boys reported poorer physical and mental health than their heterosexual peers. Homosexual and bisexual boys were more likely to engage in smoking, frequent drinking, and vaginal sex and be subjected to sexually transmitted disease and sexual victimization. However, lesbian and bisexual girls were less likely to engage in risky health behaviors except for smoking and being subjected to sexual victimization. There is a gender-specific problem that may warrant prevention and intervention programs to address the unique health issues facing homosexual and bisexual adolescents in Hong Kong.     

LGBTQ+ Young Adults on the Street and on Campus: Identity as a Product of Social Context

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ+) young adults face unique identity-related experiences based on their immersion in distinctive social contexts. The predominant framework of performing separate analyses on samples of LGBTQ+ young people by their primary social status obfuscates more holistic understandings of the role of social context. Using 46 in-depth interviews with LGBTQ+ college students and LGBTQ+ homeless young adults, we ask: How are LGBTQ+ young adults’ capacities for “doing” their gender and sexual identities shaped by their distinctive social contexts? In developing their identities, both groups of LGBTQ+ young adults navigated their social environments to seek out resources and support. Most college students described their educational contexts as conducive to helping them develop their identities, or “undo” rigid norms of gender and sexuality. Homeless young adults’ social environments, meanwhile, imposed complex barriers to self-expression that reinforced more normative expectations of “doing” gender and sexual identities.     

Unraveling Health Disparities Among Sexual and Gender Minorities: A Commentary on the Persistent Impact of Stigma

ABSTRACT

LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) populations experience disparities in health outcomes, both physical and mental, compared to their heterosexual and cisgender peers. This commentary confronts the view held by some researchers that the disparate rates of mental health problems reported among LGBT populations are the consequences of pursuing a particular life trajectory, rather than resulting from the corrosive and persistent impact of stigma. Suggesting that mental health disparities among LGBT populations arise internally, de novo, when individuals express non-heterosexual and non-conforming gender identities ignores the vast body of evidence documenting the destructive impact of socially mediated stigma and systemic discrimination on health outcomes for a number of minorities, including sexual and gender minorities. Furthermore, such thinking is antithetical to widely accepted standards of health and wellbeing because it implies that LGBT persons should adopt and live out identities that contradict or deny their innermost feelings of self.     

Daily Spiritual Experiences and Prosocial Behavior

This paper examines how the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale (DSES) relates to range of prosocial behaviors, using a large, nationally representative U.S. data set. It finds that daily spiritual experiences are a statistically and substantively significant predictor of volunteering, charitable giving, and helping individuals one knows personally. Daily spiritual experiences better predict helping to distant others than to friends and family, indicating that they may motivate helping by fostering an extensive definition of one’s moral community. The relationship between the DSES and helping is not moderated by sympathy and is robust to the inclusion of most religiosity measures. However, the relationship becomes non-significant for most helping behaviors when measures of meditation, prayer, and mindfulness are included in a regression equation. The DSES is particularly effective in predicting helping behaviors among people who do not belong to a religious congregation, indicating that it may measure spiritual motivations for helping among people who are not conventionally religious.     

Parents' supportive reactions to sexual orientation disclosure associated with better health: results from a population-based survey of LGB adults in Massachusetts

This study investigated associations between coming out to parents, experiences of parental support, and self-reported health behaviors and conditions among a population-based sample of LGB individuals using data collected via the 2002 Massachusetts Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS; N = 177). We explored the following two hypotheses: 1) Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals who had never disclosed their sexual orientation to a parent would report higher levels of risk behaviors and poorer health conditions than those who had come out; and 2) among LGB respondents who had come out to their parents, the individuals whose parents had reacted unsupportively would report higher levels of risk behaviors and poorer health conditions than those who had come out to parents who were supportive. Approximately two thirds of gay and bisexual (GB) males and lesbian and bisexual (LB) females reported receiving adequate social and emotional support from the parent to whom they first disclosed their sexual orientation. Among LB females, no disclosure of sexual orientation to a parent was associated with significantly elevated levels of past-month illicit drug use (AOR 12.16, 95% CI 2.87-51.54), fair or poor self-reported health status (AOR 5.71, 95% CI 1.45-22.51), and >15 days of depression in the past month (AOR 5.95, 95% CI 1.78-19.90), controlling for potential confounders. However, nondisclosure to a parent by GB males was not associated with greater odds of any of the health indicators assessed. Among GB males, those with unsupportive parents were significantly more likely to report current binge drinking (AOR 6.94, 95% CI 1.70-28.35) and >15 days depression in the past month (AOR 6.08, 95% CI 1.15-32.15), and among LB females, those with unsupportive parents were significantly more likely to report lifetime illicit drug use (AOR 11.43, 95% CI 2.50-52.30), and >15 days depression in the past month (AOR 5.51, 95% CI 1.36-22.36). We conclude that coming out may be associated with better health for LB women, and that parents who react nonsupportively when their children disclose LGB sexual orientation may contribute to children's increased odds of depression and hazardous substance use.     

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) physicians' experiences in the workplace

Little is known about the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) physicians in the workplace. There is little formal education in medical school about LGBT issues, and some heterosexual physicians have negative attitudes about caring for LGBT patients or working with LGBT coworkers, setting the stage for an exclusive and unwelcoming workplace. The current study used an online survey to assess a convenience sample of 427 LGBT physicians from a database of a national LGBT healthcare organization, as well as a snowball sample generated from the members of the database. Although rates of discriminatory behaviors had decreased since earlier reports, 10% reported that they were denied referrals from heterosexual colleagues, 15% had been harassed by a colleague, 22% had been socially ostracized, 65% had heard derogatory comments about LGBT individuals, 34% had witnessed discriminatory care of an LGBT patient, 36% had witnessed disrespect toward an LGBT patient's partner, and 27% had witnessed discriminatory treatment of an LGBT coworker. Few had received any formal education on LGBT issues in medical school or residency. It appears that medical schools and health care workplaces continue to ignore LGBT issues and operate in discriminatory fashion far too often.     

el barrio de La Chueca of Madrid,Spain: An Emerging Epicenter of the Global LGBT Civil Rights Movement

The purpose of this article is to examine and deconstruct the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) barrio (community) of Chueca in Madrid, Spain, from political and sociological perspectives. First, we develop a critical framework for understanding the historical, political, social, cultural, and economic changes that took place in Spain after Franco's death in relation to LGBT issues. Ethnographic research was conducted from May to July 2007 in the Spanish cities of Madrid, Barcelona, and Ibiza, and focused primarily on the community of Chueca. A social constructionist perspective was used to examine sociocultural issues in this ethnosexual community through an in-depth study of the dynamics of this barrio. The theoretical framework of intersectionality and the constitutive relations among social identities is exemplified in Chueca. Hence, individuals in Chueca and their intersectionality perspective reveal that their identities influence and shape their beliefs about gender and symbols. We describe how Chueca reflects recent progressive changes in LGBT-related laws and statutes drafted by the federal government and how these have influenced the high level of societal acceptance toward intimate same-sex relationships in Spain. Additionally, we exemplify and present Chueca as an enclave that has been affected by the globalization of the private market, “gay” identity, and enterprise, having a direct effect on cultural norms and social behaviors. Last, we examine the current state of the Chueca community relative to other developing LGBT Latino/a communities in the United States.     

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) experiences with Earth-spirited faith

Earth-spirited faiths (e.g., Pagan and Wiccan spiritualities) have been described as more affirmative toward gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT) members than mainstream Judeo-Christian faiths, but no research has explored Earth-spirited faiths' GLBT-affirming behaviors. This study investigated those behaviors as well as the faith experiences of GLBT Earth-spirited individuals. At time of coming out, participants who were affiliated with mainstream Judeo-Christian faiths reported greater faith conflict than those affiliated with Earth-spirited faiths; however, there were no differences in resolution of the conflict between the two groups, internalized homonegativity, or self-acceptance. In addition, Earth-spirited faiths engaged in many GLBT-affirming behaviors.     

Factors influencing the career and academic choices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people

This is an empirical study of academic and career choices for 119 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students using a questionnaire. Respondents who reported that their sexual orientation influenced their choices a great deal indicated that the influences were both positive and negative. This group was most likely to have experienced anti-LGBT discrimination in the past. In comparing lesbian, bisexual people, and gay males, gay males and respondents from visible minorities were the most likely to feel a negative impact, while bisexual respondents were the least likely. There were too few transgender respondents to include in these statistical comparisons; however, frequencies suggest that transgender people may be the most vulnerable of all. Results suggest that counselors need to take sexual orientation issues, particularly past experiences of discrimination, when working with LGBT clients.     

The Effects of Honesty and Openness About Sexual Orientation on Gay and Bisexual Clients in Substance Abuse Programs

A convenience sample of 183 gay, lesbian, and bisexual participants who were previously treated in substance abuse programs, completed surveys that included questions regarding their honesty and openness about their sexual orientation with counselors and clients in their programs, as well as in their personal lives. It was found that levels of honesty and openness in treatment positively correlated with reported program completion, satisfaction with treatment, feelings of therapeutic support, and feelings of connection to the program. However, there were no correlations between honesty and openness and reported abstinence from substances at the end of treatment and at the time of survey completion.     

Factors Influencing the Career and Academic Choices of Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,and Transgender People

This is an empirical study of academic and career choices for 119 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students using a questionnaire. Respondents who reported that their sexual orientation influenced their choices a great deal indicated that the influences were both positive and negative. This group was most likely to have experienced anti-LGBT discrimination in the past. In comparing lesbian, bisexual people, and gay males, gay males and respondents from visible minorities were the most likely to feel a negative impact, while bisexual respondents were the least likely. There were too few transgender respondents to include in these statistical comparisons; however, frequencies suggest that transgender people may be the most vulnerable of all. Results suggest that counselors need to take sexual orientation issues, particularly past experiences of discrimination, when working with LGBT clients.     

Looking beyond HIV: eliciting individual and community needs of male internet escorts

In evaluating the needs of male sex workers (MSWs), past research and community-based outreach efforts have assumed they should receive counseling and be educated regarding drug abuse and HIV/STI prevention. These assumptions have been based upon studies that predominantly sampled heterosexually identified men who work on the street as 'hustlers.' The purpose of this study was to set aside previous assumptions, and elicit directly from MSWs their perceived needs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 46 gay and bisexual male escorts who advertise on the Internet, an understudied group that is expected to differ greatly from street-based MSWs. The men identified several areas where attention should be directed beyond safer sex, such as business advice (e.g., taxes, income investment) and assistance with navigating legal issues. These findings have direct implications for community-based organizations, advocates for MSWs, and men in the commercial sex industry.