Minority Stress for Care Experienced Young Queer People: A Case Study

Young people who are placed in out-of-home care are amongst the most vulnerable in our community. Removed from or rejected by their families, they must learn to live with carers who may be strangers. They may have experienced the trauma of abuse or neglect. Post care, they may experience further social isolation and marginalisation due to limited social capital. These challenges are compounded for queer young people placed in out-of-home care. This study adopted a case study approach to explore the lived experience of two young adults growing up queer in and out of out-of-home care in Australia. Our investigation was framed by two complementary theoretical frameworks. The first, a model of minority stress, is informed by queer perspectives and enabled an exploration into the adverse impact of enduring stigma and prejudice associated with homophobia and transphobia on young people's capacity to thrive. The model of social capital was then employed to inform an analysis of relationships between queer young people in out-of-home care and trustworthy adults. The findings suggest that queer young people growing up in out-of-home care experience minoritised stress, with lasting negative implications. The presence however, of trustworthy adults who challenge dominant heteronormative assumptions and work to support queer young people can be experienced as stabilising and restorative.

Standing out or fitting in: A latent projective content analysis of discrimination of women and 2SLGBTQ+ anesthesiologists and providers

INTRODUCTION

Discrimination toward sex and gender minority anesthesiologists and anesthesia trainees exists. Potential reasons for this discrimination are unclear and incompletely characterized. This study sought to better understand what discrimination looks like for sex and gender minorities in anesthesiology and the culture within anesthesiology that allows this discrimination to occur.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

With institutional research ethics board approval and informed consent, we performed a qualitative analysis of free-text responses from a previously-published internet-based cross-sectional survey distributed to Canadian anesthesiology residents, fellows, and staff. The purpose of this survey was to characterize intersections between respondent gender or sexuality with experiences of discrimination in the workplace. Separate analysis of qualitative and quantitative components of this survey was planned a priori, and the quantitative component was published elsewhere. Free-text responses were independently coded by two researchers and subsequently synthesized into emerging themes using latent projective content analysis sensitized by Butler's theory of performativity.

RESULTS

Out of 490 free-text responses from 171 respondents [140 (81.9%) identifying as heterosexual], two themes emerged: i) fitting in: performativity reinforcing the status quo, and ii) standing out: performativity as a means of disruptive social change. Power structures were observed to favour individuals who "fit in" with the normative performances of gender and/or sexuality.

DISCUSSION

Our study illuminates how individuals whose performances of gender and sexuality "fit in" with those expected normative performances reinforce a workplace culture that advantages them, whereas individuals whose performances of gender and sexuality "stand out" disproportionately experience discrimination. The dismantling of bias and discrimination in the anesthesiology workplace requires individuals (a) who are empowered within their workplace because they "fit in" with the majority; (b) who recognize discrimination toward communities of their peers and/or colleagues; and (c) who actively choose to "stand out".

"It Literally Can Save Lives": How Challenging Structural Inequities in Sexual Orientation and Gender Priorities Can Create Change in the Canadian Dietetic Profession

Purpose: Our aim was to explore Canadian dietitians' knowledge, beliefs, and values relating to the nutritional care of Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and other queer groups (2SLGBTQ+).Methods: The research was qualitative and used a poststructural theoretical lens. Interviews were conducted with 16 Canadian dietitians. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.Results: Three themes were noted: (i) moving away from the binary; (ii) systemic discrimination and 2SLGBTQ+ experiences; and (iii) professional organizations and advocacy. The participants discussed structural, professional, and cultural barriers that affect the nutrition and health experiences of sexual and gender diverse groups.Conclusion: Dietetic institutions and regulatory bodies must provide sexual and gender diversity resources and engage in activities that acknowledge the lives and nutritional concerns of sexual and gender diverse people. Such advocacy is a means to provide more inclusive and equitable care. Key recommendations for structural changes within the profession include using an intersectional lens and a critical dietetic approach to nutritional care.

Exploring Tobacco and E-Cigarette Use among Queer Adults during the Early Days of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of this narrative study is to describe the vaping and smoking characteristics of Queer people ages 18-34 before March of 2020 and to better understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted those behaviors since March of 2020. In total, 31 participants were screened. Thirteen participants were screened prior to the emergence of COVID-19, and 18 were screened when study protocols transitioned to a remote setting (pre and during). Of the 27 eligible participants, a total of 25 participants completed the study. Most participants (n = 13) self-identified as male, followed by five identified as female, four self-identified as gender non-binary, and three identified as transgender. The most common sexual orientation amongst participants was gay (n = 10), with bisexual being the second-most reported. Approximately 20 Queer participants reported using cigarettes, 14 participants self-reported using electronic devices, and 11 reported using hookah. Twenty participants reported smoking ten or less, and four self-reported using 11-20 cigarettes per day. Approximately, 92% of participants (n = 23) indicate that they are using an e-cigarette and regular cigarettes, and 57% of participants (n = 12) report using one pod or cartridge per day. The three themes that emerged in this study are: (1) Queer people during COVID-19 are experiencing heightened minority stress; (2) Queer people are unfamiliar with smoking cessation; and (3) vaping and smoking are attributed to stress and anxiety. Queer participants are likely to be dual users of cigarette and vaping products. This present study provides increasing evidence that Queer people are experiencing heightened stress and anxiety and using cigarette smoking and vaping to cope during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Comparing conceptions of gender, sexuality and lesbian identity between baby boomers and millennials

To answer this special issue provocation, Is Lesbian Identity Obsolete? we analyzed interviews with people who had identified at some point in their lives as lesbians, or as women/femmes who were attracted to women - some of them part of the Baby Boomer generation and some part of the Millennial generation. Participants from both generations rejected the gender binary. Nevertheless, we found a shift away from understanding gender as an oppressive category to an understanding of gender as a proliferating identity in which one may play with gender in an intentional and creative manner. It appears that participants across generations articulated their sexual identities strategically to express not only a sexual orientation but more importantly political and community alliances. For Baby Boomer lesbians, lesbian identity connoted an alliance with feminism, and for Millennials their sexual identity indicated a political alliance with queer and trans* movements. In order to sustain solidarity between lesbians of different generations, we suggest that narratives about gender should include both intrinsic and extrinsic components. We further suggest that the political project of ending the oppression of all lesbians/women who love women is fraught, but essential in a world that hates women.

Queering the (Ab)Normalization of Gender, (Hetero)Sexuality and Schooling in South Africa

Schools are places where youth do work on the construction of their sexual identities which is intimately connected with issues around gender. Using one-on-one in-depth interviews, this article addresses how queer youth navigate dominant understandings of gender and sexuality in the context of their identity and practice. Cognizant of how gender remains a significant force in organizing social relations in schools, the youth parody and abnormalize heteronormativity calling into question the fragility of hegemonic heterosexuality. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that despite evidence that associates schooling with social exclusion, the queer youth's accounts highlight, strikingly, that queer identity and inclusion are not necessarily separate storylines. Offering an alternative view of the schooling experiences of queer youth, the paper motivates that within exclusion, in a matter of speaking with all its unduly assemblages, is inclusion.

Sexual orientation and prevalence of mental health difficulties among emergency services employees

BACKGROUND

LGBQ+ people (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer) are at-risk of discrimination and developing mental health issues within general populations. Limited research has assessed their mental health in emergency services occupations, a population which are known to experience poorer mental health. The current study explores the extent to which sexual orientation is associated with higher rates of mental health issues among emergency personnel.

METHODS

A stratified random sample of employees from twenty-nine police (N = 8,088), ambulance (N = 3,473), and fire and rescue (N = 2,975) agencies from around Australia participated in a cross-sectional mental health survey (N = 14,536, male = 64.2%, 42.7% over 45 years of age, heterosexual = 92.7%).

RESULTS

Employees with a bisexual/pansexual orientation or those who were not sure about their sexual orientation were significantly more likely to report suicidal thoughts, suicide plans, psychological distress, and illicit drug use when compared with heterosexual employees. LGBQ+ employees reported significantly higher rates of lifetime suicide plans and attempts. Specifically, LGBQ+ fire and rescue personnel were roughly six times more likely to report lifetime suicide attempts, and approximately five times more likely to use illicit drugs weekly than their heterosexual colleagues in the fire and rescue sector. Female LGBQ+ personnel were significantly less likely to consume illicit drugs weekly and monthly than male LGBQ+ personnel.

CONCLUSIONS

Emergency services personnel are already at-risk of developing pervasive mental health difficulties. It is important that organisations foster positive working environments, particularly for LGBQ+ people who may be more marginalized within organisations.

Breaking the Silences about Non-hetero Female Sexuality in Saghi Ghahraman's Poetry

Born in Iran, Saghi Ghahraman, an Iranian poet, lives in exile in Canada currently. Ghahraman founded Gilgamishaan Books, and founded and operated the Exiled Writers Club for two years. Zhe has been running the Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO) since 2008. In this paper analyzing hir non-phallocentric, multilayered, and non-linear poetry, I contend that Ghahraman rewrites androcentric history within the public sphere of cyberspace, pushing back against the attempts to mute queer sexuality and desire within Iranian culture. My main goal here is to illustrate that Ghahraman gives voice to the historically unthinkable and unspeakable issue of veiled Iranian women's bodies and voices breaking the deafening silences concerning the multiplicity of gender identities and sexualities. In this way, not only does Ghahraman assert hirself and hir desire, but zhe also liberates others who have been subjected to this historical silencing and suppression of their voices.

"Nobody Don't Really Know What That Mean": Understandings of "Queer" among Urban LGBTQ Young People of Color

Drawing from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 40 urban LGBTQ young people of color, I explore their uses, understandings, and meanings of "queer." With several notable exceptions-those who at least occasionally self-identified as queer-most of the young people avoided using the term altogether. Although the majority expressed confusion about what "queer" meant, many understood it to be somehow related to sexuality or being gay, but considered it potentially insulting. I discuss the relevance of these findings for work in queer fields, where research participants may not explicitly identify as queer or make use of the word.

It is time to mobilize suicide prevention for sexual and gender minorities in Canada

Suicide is a significant health issue among sexual and gender minority adults (SGMA); yet, there are no tailored suicide prevention programs for these marginalized populations in Canada. We hosted two world cafés with community leaders, health professionals, policymakers, and researchers to identify recommendations for mobilizing SGMA-focused suicide prevention programs. We identified five priorities: (1) make society safer for sexual and gender minorities; (2) decrease barriers to mental health services; (3) support community-driven and community-based interventions; (4) increase suicide knowledge and reduce stigma; (5) expand the knowledge base on SGMA suicide. In the absence of a national Canadian SGMA suicide prevention policy, these priorities provide a starting point in addressing SGMA suicide inequities by advancing SGMA-tailored interventions.

Decreasing Barriers to Sexual Health in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Community

There is a need to increase improve the delivery of health care for sexual minorities. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community has historically experienced bias, discrimination, and perceived inadequate or inappropriate care. Reduction of this barrier can begin by providers addressing implicit bias and creating a welcoming, safe environment for all persons seeking care. Using preferred name and pronouns and obtaining a sexual health history that is individualized and free from assumption is imperative. This article provides interventions to diminish barriers to care and foster provider preparedness for the care of LGBTQ individuals.

Self-reported access to health care, communicable diseases, violence and perception of legal status among online transgender identifying sex workers in the UK

OBJECTIVES

Transgender-identifying sex workers (TGISWs) are among the most vulnerable groups but are rarely the focus of health research. Here we evaluated perceived barriers to healthcare access, risky sexual behaviours and exposure to violence in the United Kingdom (UK), based on a survey of all workers on BirchPlace, the main transgender sex commerce website in the UK.

STUDY DESIGN

The study design used in the study is an opt-in text-message 12-item questionnaire.

METHODS

Telephone contacts were harvested from BirchPlace's website (n = 592 unique and active numbers). The questionnaire was distributed with Qualtrics software, resulting in 53 responses.

RESULTS

Our survey revealed significant reported barriers to healthcare access, exposure to risky sexual behaviours and to physical violence. Many transgender sex workers reportedly did not receive a sexual screening, and 28% engaged in condomless penetrative sex within the preceding six months, and 68% engaged in condomless oral sex. 17% responded that they felt unable to access health care they believed medically necessary. Half of the participants suggested their quality of life would be improved by law reform.

CONCLUSIONS

TGISWs report experiencing a high level of risky sexual behaviour, physical violence and inadequate healthcare access. Despite a National Health System, additional outreach may be needed to ensure access to services by this population.

HIV Stigma, Gay Identity, and Caste 'Untouchability': Metaphors of Abjection in My Brother…Nikhil, The Boyfriend, and "Gandu Bagicha"

In this article I read textual metaphors of 'untouchability' in 'post-AIDS' representation as an erasure of structures that condition HIV stigmatization in India. Throughout, my discussion is contextualised by the political economy of HIV and AIDS, which has been productive of particular modern sexual subjects. In the film My Brother…Nikhil, the stigmatization of Nikhil, a gay Indian man living with HIV, is constituted through visual and verbal caste metaphors, which draw on existing subject positions that are elided as 'traditional', residual, and receding. This stigma is resolved textually through parental acceptance of the gay protagonist and his partner, projecting stigma as traditional and modernity as the resolution. Such metaphors of 'untouchability' prevent the representation of queer Dalit subjects in contexts of HIV and AIDS. Yet if addressing shame and social stigma are key to HIV treatment and prevention programmes, caste cannot be set aside simply as a metaphor. Expanding to include textual representations of queer Dalit subjectivity, the article reads a novel, The Boyfriend, and a poem, "Gandu Bagicha," to show ways in which caste stigma and homophobia intersect in contexts of seroconversion risk.

Health Care Inequities of Sexual and Gender Minority Patients

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals include, but are not limited to, those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ). LGBTQ individuals are considered a marginalized and at-risk population, facing significant health care inequities when compared with heterosexual and cisgendered (ie, "gender-conforming") populations. They are more likely than heterosexual and cisgendered individuals to experience discrimination, bias, and dissatisfaction with the medical system. This article provides a broad overview of systemic inequalities confronting SGM patients.

Queer space and alternate queer geographies: LBQ women and the search for sexual partners at two LGBTQ-friendly U.S. universities

The postgay era - marked by decreased stigmatization of non-heterosexual identities and increasing assimilation of gays and lesbians into the heterosexual mainstream - may be indicative of a broader pluralization of queer geographies expanding the social and sexual opportunities of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ)-identified individuals beyond queer spaces. Less is known, however, about how LBQ women experience these pluralized geographies in a postgay era in their search for sexual partners, and how the perceived accessibility of queer and heterosexual spaces informs the search process. Drawing upon twenty-six in-depth qualitative interviews, this study examines queer-identified undergraduate women's searches for same-sex sexual partners at two LGBTQ-friendly universities in the United States. The women in this study described experiences with dating, sex and relationships within three distinct campus "sexual geographies" - queer spaces, virtual communities and heteronormative campus parties - with entry to each of these sites negotiated in relationship to place-based gender and sexual dynamics. While women at both schools viewed their LGBTQ communities as viable spaces to both build community and meet potential sexual partners, this was paired with the understanding that one needed sufficient "queer capital" to stake a claim there. Counter to the notion that a postgay era has rendered queer space obsolete, or just one of many options, this study suggests that perceptions of queer community spaces as exclusionary or inaccessible may partially contribute to the production of alternative queer geographies beyond marked LGBTQ campus spaces.

"Brown girls can't be gay": Racism experienced by queer South Asian women in the Toronto LGBTQ community

The absence of scholarship on South Asian discrimination in Western queer discourse contributes to a narrative that South Asians are not subjected to racially charged forms of discrimination in the LGBTQ community, which is fundamentally untrue. This article presents narrative-based accounts of nine queer South Asian women in Toronto, Canada, to examine the ways in which they experience racial discrimination in the LGBTQ community, and the impact that this mistreatment has on identity formation and connectivity to queer spheres. It finds that queer South Asian women experience racial discrimination in the form of racially charged microaggressions, which are evidenced through expectations of assimilation to Western-normative performances of queer identity and erasure of South Asian culture in the LGBTQ community. Further, it reveals that Toronto's LGBTQ community perpetuates a culture of White privilege that discredits the intersectional identity of queer South Asian women, and consequently invisibilizes, alienates, and revokes agency from these women who do not fit the majority's conceptualizations about what a queer woman looks like.

"Brown girls can't be gay": Racism experienced by queer South Asian women in the Toronto LGBTQ community

The absence of scholarship on South Asian discrimination in Western queer discourse contributes to a narrative that South Asians are not subjected to racially charged forms of discrimination in the LGBTQ community, which is fundamentally untrue. This article presents narrative-based accounts of nine queer South Asian women in Toronto, Canada, to examine the ways in which they experience racial discrimination in the LGBTQ community, and the impact that this mistreatment has on identity formation and connectivity to queer spheres. It finds that queer South Asian women experience racial discrimination in the form of racially charged microaggressions, which are evidenced through expectations of assimilation to Western-normative performances of queer identity and erasure of South Asian culture in the LGBTQ community. Further, it reveals that Toronto's LGBTQ community perpetuates a culture of White privilege that discredits the intersectional identity of queer South Asian women, and consequently invisibilizes, alienates, and revokes agency from these women who do not fit the majority's conceptualizations about what a queer woman looks like.

Choir Boy: Trans Vocal Performance and the De-Pathologization of Transition

This paper will examine Choir Boy (2005), a trans coming-of-age novel by Charlie Anders, to disrupt historically rooted medical narratives of gender transition. Through a disability studies lens, this paper locates vocal performance as a means of speaking back to gatekeeping practices held in place by medical authorities since the inception of transsexuality as a classificatory category. Offering imaginative alternatives to "wrong body" diagnostics, this analysis places cultural texts in conversation with disability theory to reframe the trans self as a singing body that cannot be reduced to normalizing biomedical practices. Choir Boy frames vocal performance as a mode of gender expression and as a survival strategy against violence. The trans counter-narratives offered by Anders resist the medicalization of trans bodies and the classification of some bodies as not "trans enough" to qualify for transition. Choir Boy locates vocal performance and not binary gender identification as impetus for transition, thereby advocating for trans self-determination over medical access.

Queer Youth in Educational Psychology Research

Despite greater social acceptance of individuals with diverse sexual identities across the world, queer students still experience greater bullying, poorer academic motivation, and lower school attendance than heterosexual students. Educational psychology could provide additional insight toward these experiences for queer students in school, but the field of educational psychology is often absent from research on queer students. To partially address this concern, the current article examines why researching queer students is important, reviews extant research on queer youth in predominant educational psychology journals, and provides potential avenues of future research. Further, the article explores protective factors that help queer students succeed in school.

The Evolution Will Not Be Broadcast (or Published): Social Capital, Assimilation, and the Changing Queer Community

Widespread technological advances, coupled with social and political success by the LGBTQ rights movement in the decades following the Stonewall uprising in 1969, have resulted in a dramatic evolution in the queer community. But increases in visibility, acceptance, and assimilation of queers into mainstream culture and cultural institutions have been accompanied by mainstream gentrification of formerly queer neighborhoods, more specialized social alternatives to bars and bookstores, and diminished interest in and audiences for niche-appeal media. At the same time, other institutions in the LGBTQ community, including the queer civic and fraternal organization The Court, the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN), social media platforms such as Grindr, and online journalism cites such as Towleroad have become destination sites for many in cyberspace. In this article, I argue that social network theory (SNT) offers efficacy in both explaining and predicting institutional success in the evolving queer community and that queers, regardless of age, location, and relationship status, will affiliate with institutions that offer them to potential for the accumulation of social capital.

Examining the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identity Scale Among Members of an Alternative Sexuality Special Interest Group

The present study contributes to a growing body of literature developing psychometrically and theoretically grounded measures of sexual orientation minority identity. We tested psychometric properties and construct validity of a 27-item measure, the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identity Scale (LGBIS). The sample consisted of 475 adult (178 male, 237 female, 16 male-to-female, 14 female-to-male, and 30 gender queer persons) members of a special interest group, the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom. Participants completed a health needs questionnaire. Prominent findings included (1) confirmatory factor-analytic, internal consistency, and inter-correlation patterns support two LGBIS factor structures; (2) men, compared primarily to women, reported elevated scores on Acceptance Concerns, Concealment Motivation, Difficulty Process, and Negative Identity; (3) queer-identifying persons tended to report low Concealment Motivation, and high Identity Affirmation and Identity Centrality scores; (4) experimenting/fluid-identifying individuals tended toward higher Identity Uncertainty and Negative Identity, and lower Identity Centrality scores; (5) LGB community involvement was negatively associated with Concealment Motivation, Identity Uncertainty, and Negative Identity, and positively associated with Identity Superiority, Identity Affirmation, and Identity Centrality scores; and (6) Acceptance Concerns, Identity Uncertainty, and Internalized Homonegativity displayed significant positive associations with such mental health symptoms as general anxiety and posttraumatic stress. The LGBIS represents a useful approach to evaluating sexual orientation minority identity. Implications for identity theory, research, and practice are provided.

"Flabulously" femme: Queer fat femme women's identities and experiences

This article explores how queer fat femme women experience, negotiate, and resist heteronormativity, misogyny, and fatphobia, alongside other intersecting oppressions. By analyzing fat femmes' narratives presented in blogs and personal essays, this article examines themes including: the role of femme in fat queers (re)claiming femininities, the masculinizing and/or feminizing effects of "fatness" for queer femmes, the mutual constitution of fatphobia and femmephobia, femme fa(t)shion, fat femme (in)visibility, and the importance of intersectional conceptions of queer fat femininities. In doing so, this article argues that "queer fat femme" subjectivities offer fat and femme queers unique and significant opportunities for articulating resistant subjectivities, creating communities, and challenging oppressions.

Coming In: Queer Narratives of Sexual Self-Discovery

Many models of queer sexuality continue to depict a linear narrative of sexual development, beginning in repression/concealment and eventuating in coming out. The present study sought to challenge this by engaging in a hermeneutically informed thematic analysis of interviews with eight queer people living in Western Australia. Four themes were identified: "searching for identity," "society, stigma, and self," "sexual self-discovery," and "coming in." Interviewees discussed internalized homophobia and its impact on their life; experiences and implications of finding a community and achieving a sense of belonging; the concept of sexual self-discovery being a lifelong process; and sexuality as fluid, dynamic, and situational rather than static. The article concludes by suggesting that the idea of "coming in"-arriving at a place of acceptance of one's sexuality, regardless of its fluidity or how it is viewed by society-offers considerable analytic leverage for understanding the journeys of sexual self-discovery of queer-identified people.