Research about LGBT 2 (Week 3)

This week, I research about "problems faced by LGBT people". From the mind map that I did last week, I found that there are many challenges and problems faced by LGBT community. Therefore, I start doing some research about it, and this topic will bey specific topic (I guess hahaha).

Problems faced by LGBT people

1. Marginalisation and Social Exclusion

For the LGBT people, they may become stigmatised and are often at the receiving end of negative public attitudes. They lack of opportunities to make social contributes, and this may make them have the felling of low self-confidence and self esteem. Not only that, they may become isolated as well. Many LGBT people may experience marginalization. For example, racism, sexism, poverty and so on. LGBT people are lack of support because of this marginalisation, often including their own families. Besides, most of the LGBT people are limited access to social resource, such as education and health services, housing, income, leisure activities and work.

30% of LGBT youth in the U.S. have been physically abused by family members because of their sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, and LGBT youth are estimated to comprise up to 40 % of the homeless youth population in the U.S.

Impact of Exclusion and Discrimination:

- Dropping out of school earlier - Leaving Home and Family - Unable to find regular jobs (less options than others)

- Being ignored in the community and isolated

- Unable to access various services and Unaware of what they are entitled to - Lack of family and social support - Migrate to other countries for seeking safer livelihood and acceptance

- Rejected from Religion (Esp. Muslim and some Christian Fundamentalist sects)

- Attempt suicide - Decide to follow their parents to marry opposite sex and then divorce

2.Family Reactions on LGBT Children: Conflict and Rejection

Family reaction will affect an LGBT adolescent‘s health and mental health, but most of the people do not know about it. One of the researches from Family Acceptance Project (FAP) shows it. FAP researchers identified more than 100 behaviors that families and caregivers use to react to their LGBT children‘s identity. About half of these behaviours are accepting and half are rejecting.

FAP researchers found that families who are conflicted about their children‘s LGBT identity believe that the best way to help their children survive and thrive in the world is to help them fit in with their heterosexual peers. These families actually are blocking access to their child‘s gay friends or LGBT resources, they are acting out of care and concern. They believe that their actions will help their gay or transgender child have a good life. However, the adolescents may feel like their parents want to change who they are, and they may think their parents don‘t love them or even hate them.

3.Problems of Homophobia and Stressful Childhood Experience (SCE)

LGBT people are more likely to experience intolerance, discrimination, harassment, and the threat of violence. This is due to homophobia.The factors which cause homophobia may are moral, religious, and political beliefs of a dominant group. This has forced the LGBT people to conceal their sexuality, so they can avoid the negative reactions and consequences from other people. Homophobia is generally defined as hostility towards or fear of gay people, but can also refer to stigma arising from social ideologies about homosexuality. There are many homophobia examples are shown in our daily lives, such as homophobia jokes, physical attacks, discrimination in workplaces, and so on. Some people may think that homosexuality is wrong, and this may cause them fell shame and low self esteem. Because of homophobia, some of them may scare to 'come out' as they scare that their family, friends, and also the society cannot accept their sexual orientation.

Some of them may have some sort of stressful childhood sexual experiences when comparison was made in between homosexual and heterosexual. These will cause SCE, SCE is directly associated with stress related traumatic childhood disorder.

*Come out—To publicly affirm one‘s homosexual identity, sometimes to one person in conversation, sometimes by an act that places one in the public eye. It is not a single event, but rather a lifelong process.

4. Harassment of LGBT Students in Schools

According to Sara Kost , Studies done by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) report that nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students face harassment. The 2007 National School Climate Survey found not only that LGBT students were harassed, but that 31.7% of LGBT students missed a class and 32.7% missed a day of school in the past month because of feeling unsafe. If students don‘t go to class, they can‘t learn and their grades begin to reflect it. The reported grade point average of students who were more frequently harassed because of their sexual orientation or gender expression was almost half a grade lower than for students who were less often harassed (2.8 VS 2.4).

5.Psychological Distress

LGBT people are more likely to experience depression and anxiety. It is because of their gender identity and also being gender variant causes a lot of distress. In fact, it can be described by the diagnosis of a mental disorder. Mental disorders are not symptoms of sexual orientation, but rather they are symptoms of discrimination and fear of discrimination. Most likely due to violence, social rejection, and isolation, the LGBT community experiences higher rates of anxiety, mood and substance use disorders, and suicidal thoughts among people ages 15-54 gay. Mayock et al. (2009) LGBT people as a whole are more vulnerable to psychological distress. They report that over 60% of respondents directly attribute stress and depression directly to their non-heterosexual identity. There is a large body of evidence which supports the claim that poor emotional health can be as a result of homophobic attitudes and heterosexism in society leading to lowered self-esteem and confidence and increased stress particularly for young gay women.

Experiences that could negatively impact mental health: - Hostility from or rejection by loved ones or religious groups - Bullying at school, harassment by neighbors, danger of violence in public places - Casual homophobic comments on everyday basis - Prejudice/embarrassed response from professionals - No protection against discrimination at work, housing, pensions, etc. - Childhood sexual abuse - Verbal harassment, greater fear of physical violence and discrimination. 6.Poor Economic Condition and Discrimination in the Workplace

LGBT people suffer from may get discrimination in the workplace. Discrimination directly causes job instability and high turnover, resulting in greater unemployment and poverty rates for gay and transgender people. According a 1998 report, "Income Inflation: The Myth of Affluence Among Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Americans", economist Lee Badgett mentioned that LGBT people do not earn more than heterosexual people.She points to LGBT people earn less than their heterosexual counterparts.

7. Drug Addiction of LGBT people

LGBT people are more likely to use alcohol, tobacco and other drugs than the general population. The reason of they use alcohol, tobacco, and the drugs is because of personal and cultural stresses. Preventing Alcohol and Other Drug Problems in the Lesbian Gay Community (published in 1995 for ―Alive With Pleasure,‖ a SAMHSA/CSAP-funded conference on the topic) lists five substance abuse-specific risk factors for LGBT adolescents: - Sense of self as worthless or bad. - Lack of connectedness to supportive adults and peers. - Lack of alternative ways to view ―differentness‖ - Lack of access to role models. - Lack of opportunities to socialise with other gays/lesbians except bars. (increase the risk of contracting HIV)

8.Barriers to Care

Organisations and individual therapists are not always LGBT friendly, and some therapists may not even recognise their own heterosexism. Staff can be judgmental toward LGBT sexuality, or be misinformed/uninformed about LGBT resources. In one UK study, over 40% of lesbians recounted negative/mixed reactions from mental health professionals when they were open about sexuality (including instances of overt homophobia, discrimination, and perceived lack of empathy).

9.Problems of Criminalisation

In some countries, homosexuality is illegal. If you are found as a LGBT person, you may get punishable by fines, imprisonment, life imprisonment and even the death penalty. A majority of Muslims do have very negative attitudes toward people of LGBT. To the traditionalists the Quran is clear about homosexuality, and there is no tolerance for debating the context or semantics. According to Mission Islam, sex between two men to be sinful and unlawful.

LGBT rights in Southeast Asia.

10. Risk of Sexually transmitted infections (STI)

STI are common determinants among homosexual community. There is a very high incidence of Human immunodeficiency virus/ acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in young males who have sex with males (MSM). Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is common among the MSM community. HPV is capable of causing anal cancer, penile cancer and oro-pharyngeal cancer. There are reported cases of high Shigella transmission in MSM. Homosexual men also have an increased risk of Gonococcal and Chalmydial infection with higher chances of prostate cancer in homosexuals as compared with heterosexuals.

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After doing research, I create a mind map:

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Reference list

Anat, J.M. (2017). Understanding Homosexuality: Challenges and Limitations. Journal of Morphology and Anatomy. Retrieved fromhttps://www.hilarispublisher.com/open-access/understanding-homosexuality-challenges-and-limitations.pdf

IPG. (2016, July 11). Challenges Faced by LGBT people. Slide Share. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/IPGCounseling/challenges-faced-by-the-lgbt-community-63913776

Subhrajit, C. (2014). Problems Faced by LGBT People in the Mainstream Society: Some Recommendations. IJIMS. Retrieved from https://www.ijims.com/uploads/cae8049d138e24ed7f5azppd_597.pdf

Tang, X., & Poudel, A. (n.d). Exploring challenges and problems faced by LGBT students in Philippines: A qualitative study. Allied Academies. Retrieved from https://www.alliedacademies.org/articles/exploring-challenges-and-problems-faced-by-lgbt-students-in-philippines-a-qualitative-study-10855.html

Taylor, C.J. (2018, July 11). For LGBT people, life can be full of small daily struggles. World Economic Forum. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/07/small-daily-struggles-make-lgbt-people-feel-like-they-have-to-hide