Sexual and Gender Minorities
These three articles explore the stigma LGBTQ face in the societies they are living in. They seek to explore the effect that any form of stigma has and how it affects these individuals and the benefits that their allies have. At various level stigma has the ability to affect the health of LGBTQ individuals. Stigma puts these individuals at a high risk of mortality than any other individuals. Interpersonal and structural stigma that these people face are necessities such as employment (Hughto, Reisner, & Pachankis, 2015). Stigma makes leaves LGBT vulnerable to mentor health and other psychiatric disorders.
Psychological research has made advancement in the study of stigma and now focusing on individuals and interpersonal stigma process, research has focused on how macrosocial stigma that is referred to as structural stigma disadvantages people who are already stigmatized and in this scenario the LGBTQ. Structural stigma puts these people at a risk of developing psychiatric disorder or even affecting their health. Policies made targeting LGBTQ people in the society demanding their inclusion or exclusion in the society represent one of the indicators of structural stigma. In some states there are policies that confer protection to these people, these polices protect them from hate speeches and employment discrimination. These polices are an indicator that sexual orientation is a protected class. Policies targeting these people impact their mental health strongly and this has been proved by the fact psychiatric disorders are very rampant in LGBTQ individual living in states that do not have polices protecting these people. LGBTQ adults in states where there are policies protecting them do not suffer from dysthymia which is a mood disorder and vice versa (Hatzenbuehler, 2014).
LGBTQ individuals who are living in communities that have high levels prejudice have a high mortality rate compared to those living in communities that have low or no prejudice. LGBTQ individuals living in communities where they experience prejudice have a shorter life expectancy. LGBTQ youths living in areas where they experience high levels of LGBTQ assault-based hate crimes significantly report more suicide attempts comparing to other youth (Hatzenbuehler, 2014). Transgender women are greatly affected and experience high levels of discrimination in fields of employment. When these transgender women are faced by the pressure put on them by society to embrace feminine beauty and with no ability to afford expensive surgeries, they result to cheap surgeries that put them at risk (Hughto, Reisner, & Pachankis, 2015).
Being an ally of LGBTQ individuals means being an advocate who supports them. The allies are driven by their desire to align their actions with the principles they hold so dear, and experiences from their personal or professional lives with their families and relationships. Being an ally of these LGBTQ individuals give one new insight about their own sexuality that they no idea of and offers them a chance to explore the diverse sexuality of the LGBTQ community. These allies also find friendship in these people and have something to identify with. They also develop a personal and professional recognition and build a connection with other people. When university student identifies themselves as allies to LGBTQ individuals and communities their confidence grows and they get a feeling of being connected to others. During the time these allies are training and involving others they experience positive feelings of engagement as self-identified allies (Rostosky, Black, Riggle, & Rosenkrantz, 2015).
References
Hatzenbuehler, M. L. (2014). Structural stigma and the health of lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23(2), 127- 132.
Hughto, J. M. W., Reisner, S. L., & Pachankis, J. E. (2015). Transgender stigma and health: A critical review of stigma determinants, mechanisms, and interventions. Social science & medicine, 147, 222-231.
Rostosky, S. S., Black, W. W., Riggle, E. D., & Rosenkrantz, D. (2015). Positive aspects of being a heterosexual ally to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 85(4), 331.
