Unraveling Health Disparities Among Sexual and Gender Minorities

A Commentary on the Persistent Impact of Stigma

Bibliographic Data

ID11623652
AuthorsRonald O Valdiserri (0000-0002-4102-9884, Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, corresponding author), David R Holtgrave (0000-0002-4321-7395, Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA), Tonia C Poteat (Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA), Tonia Poteat (0000-0001-6541-3787, Johns Hopkins University), Chris Beyrer (0000-0003-0665-9124, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA)
Year2018
Volume66
Issue5
Pages571-589
Publication date2018-01-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Homosexuality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0091-8369 • E-ISSN: 1540-3602
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00918369.2017.1422944
PMID29297774
OpenAlexW2781925215
LanguageEN
Citations received28
References cited56

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

Feeling · Health equity · Homosexuality · Lesbian · Mental health · Minority stress · Psychiatry · Public health · Sexual minority · Sexual orientation · Sociology · Stigma (botany · Transgender · Gender Studies · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Medicine · Psychology · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Social Psychology

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