TY - JOUR
T1 - Treat Sexual Stigma to Heal Health Disparities
T2 - Improving Sexual Minorities’ Health Outcomes
AU - Matsick, Jes L.
AU - Wardecker, Britney M.
AU - Oswald, Flora
N1 - Funding Information:
We acknowledge the faculty and students of Penn State?s Sexual and Gender Minority Health Interdisciplinary Research Group for their insights; in particular, we thank Cara Exten, Dara Purvis, and Samantha Tornello for their helpful feedback on earlier versions of this article. We also thank Susan Fiske for her thoughtful suggestions and editorial guidance. The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
PY - 2020/10/1
Y1 - 2020/10/1
N2 - Despite recent strides toward equality in the United States, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people continue to report experiences of sexual stigma and psychological and physical health problems. This article reviews empirical evidence of sexual stigma and sexual orientation-based health disparities. The current framework proposes that sexual orientation does not cause health disparities; homophobic individuals and societies do. Social psychology, recognizing the power of the situation, suggests that changing the stigmatizing environments for LGBTQ people can effectively reduce health disparities. The science has policy implications—notably, for audiences at three levels (intraindividual, interpersonal, and institutional)—and provides recommendations for mitigating sexual stigma and improving health.
AB - Despite recent strides toward equality in the United States, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people continue to report experiences of sexual stigma and psychological and physical health problems. This article reviews empirical evidence of sexual stigma and sexual orientation-based health disparities. The current framework proposes that sexual orientation does not cause health disparities; homophobic individuals and societies do. Social psychology, recognizing the power of the situation, suggests that changing the stigmatizing environments for LGBTQ people can effectively reduce health disparities. The science has policy implications—notably, for audiences at three levels (intraindividual, interpersonal, and institutional)—and provides recommendations for mitigating sexual stigma and improving health.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091794140&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85091794140&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/2372732220942250
DO - 10.1177/2372732220942250
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85091794140
VL - 7
SP - 205
EP - 213
JO - Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences
JF - Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences
SN - 2372-7322
IS - 2
ER -