Evangelical Protestant Women's Views on Homosexuality and LGBT Rights in Korea: The Role of Confucianism and Nationalism in Heteronormative Ideology

Perception of Acceptance and Discrimination Among the LGBTQI + Community in their Churches and its Association with Spiritual Dryness: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study in Germany

Data from a cross-sectional survey with options for free text statements revealed that people who identify themselves as part of the LGBTQI+ community (n = 417) experienced both acceptance and discrimination by church members. Their negative experiences affected their relationship with God in terms of spiritual dryness and loss of faith. In regression analyses, the best predictors of life satisfaction and psychological well-being were self-acceptance and low spiritual dryness. This self-acceptance as a resource, mediated the link between spiritual dryness and life satisfaction. Nevertheless, 96% still wish for a church/faith community that welcomes all people-and accepts them as they are and feel.

Changing attitudes toward homosexuality in South Korea, 1996-2018

Women are often considered more liberal than men on controversial social issues, but gender gaps in sociopolitical attitudes across different age groups have not been fully explored. This study challenges the taken-for-granted gender differences in public attitudes toward homosexuality by examining both between-gender gaps and within-gender changes across the life course. Using data from five waves of the World Values Survey in South Korea, we explore gender and age differences in Korean adults' attitudes toward homosexuality from 1996 to 2018. Consistent with previous research, people become more conservative as they get older, and in general, women are more accepting of homosexuality than men, accounting for sociodemographic covariates. However, this gender difference is conditioned by people's life stages. Only among young adults (aged 18-29) were female respondents more accepting of homosexuality than their male counterparts. For people aged 30 and older, there are no significant gender differences in attitudes, and for both women and men, homosexuality is mostly unacceptable during their mid (aged 50-59) and late adulthood (aged 60+). Further mediation investigation has shown gendered mechanisms behind age differences in homosexuality acceptability. For both women and men, traditional family/gender attitudes provide significant explanations about age differences in homosexuality, while for women, not for men, family status, especially the number of children, makes older women more conservative in homosexuality issues. We suggest that heteropatriarchal social structures may lead to a resistance to attitudinal changes in non-traditional family forms, such as homosexuality.

Perception and Experience of Sexual and Gender Minority Korean Youth in School Counseling

To comprehensively explore the school counseling experience of sexual and gender minority (SGM) youths in South Korea, we interviewed 14 SGM youths about their school counseling experience and the climate of their schools toward SGM. Results showed that a hostile school climate and the accessibility, confidentiality, trustworthiness, and LGBTQ competency of school counselors drove the reluctance of these youths to receive school counseling services. Implications for the role of school counseling services for SGM youths were discussed based on the findings of this work and the suggestions offered by the interviewed SGM youths.

Differences in victim experiences by gender/sexual minority statuses in Japanese virtual communities

This study clarified the advantages of virtual communities on non-victim experiences among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA) individuals in Japan. A total of 3504 Pigg Party users, including 1390 LGBTQIA individuals, reported their experiences of victimization, perceived emotional support, and concealment of their gender/sexual identity in both physical and virtual communities. Japanese individuals with multiple minority statuses had more victim experiences than those with a single or without minority status. Furthermore, differences in victim experiences by gender/sexual minority status were lower in the virtual community than in physical communities. Similar tendencies were also confirmed on perceived emotional support and concealment. Virtual communities provided a more bias-free social resource to Japanese LGBTQIA individuals than physical communities.

Physical and Mental Health Related Quality of Life and Their Influencing Factors on Sexual Minority Women in Korea

Korean sexual minority women (SMW) often experience discrimination, but their health-related quality of life (HRQoL) remains to be investigated. Therefore, we aimed to assess the levels of mental and physical HRQoL of Korean SMW and their influencing factors using data from the Korean Sexual Minority Women's Health Study (2017) in a cross-sectional study, which included lesbian and bisexual females (N = 736; age ≥19 years). The HRQoL was measured using SF-36v2®; moreover, separate multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to identify the factors influencing mental and physical HRQoL. The physical and mental HRQoL scores were average (52.38 ± 7.65) and low (38.33 ± 12.64), respectively. Significant factors influencing the physical HRQoL were bisexuality, minority stress, perceived social support, and physical activity. The same factors-apart from physical activity-were associated with mental HRQoL. Therefore, to improve the HRQoL of SMW, it is necessary to lower their minority stress and increase social support. Moreover, special attention is needed regarding bisexual women in Korea.