Minority Stress: what is it and how does it affect people?

The aversion towards homosexual men and women is known as homophobia, although this term has also been applied to denominate contempt towards other members who also represent sexual diversity, such as bisexuals or transsexuals. This is associated with a degrading, discriminatory, offensive or unfavorable attitude towards a person because of their sexual orientation.. The hatred and irrational fear that homophobic people experience towards homosexual individuals is the engine of violence and discrimination towards this group. Although in many countries these hateful behaviors are punishable by law, there are still places on the planet where what is punished is not discrimination, but the very fact of being homosexual.

Although significant progress has been made in the Western world in terms of rights for the LGTBIQ+ collective, the truth is that there is still much to be done. The people belonging to this group have been following a path that is less difficult, full of obstacles and a lot of pain. The activism of the members of the collective is what has allowed us to maintain a firm and demanding attitude, without which the rights won today would continue to be a utopia.

Thanks to this movement, it has been possible for non-heterosexual people to start living without asking for permission or giving explanations. However, this does not mean that everything has passed and that discrimination no longer exists. There are many people who continue to live without openly acknowledging who they are for fear of stigma., who lack references around them or do not even feel entitled to show their love for another person if this is of the same sex.

Discrimination is incompatible with leading a full and happy life. And it is that feeling despised is one of the things that weigh the most and hurt. As social beings that we are, we require the support of our group. If this does not appear, our stress levels skyrocket and we live in a state of permanent alert. This phenomenon, known as minority stress, is the focus of this article.

• We recommend you read: "LGBTI movement: what is it, what is its history and what struggles does it bring together"

Recent history of the fight against homophobia

Fortunately, today homophobic violence receives a social condemnation that was unthinkable a few years ago.. However, hatred and explicit discrimination against sexual minorities is something that has begun to be eradicated a few years ago. Although today it seems unreal to us, the truth is that in the sixties homosexuality was listed as a psychiatric disorder in reference manuals. In fact, the word homophobia was used for the first time in this same decade by the psychoanalyst George Weinberg, pioneer in identifying the presence of this type of violence among health professionals mental.

Until then, homophobia hadn't even had a name. It was not considered a relevant problem, the pain that people from the LGTBIQ+ collective endured every day was completely ignored. Weinberg made up for that gap and for this reason his term quickly began to gain a lot of popularity, being used immediately in all journalistic, scientific and political media.

Since then, the conquest of rights by the collective has been increasing. She began to recognize that homophobia encompasses not only individual violent actions, but also discrimination by governments, states, and large organizations. Already in the early seventies, a key event took place known as the revolt of the clients of the Stonewall Inn, in Manhattan. There an explicit rebellion by non-heterosexual citizens took place for the first time, demanding the same rights that the oppressive system in which they lived had taken away from them..

Today, there are numerous LGTBIQ+ associations that work tirelessly to combat the scourge of homophobia. There have been many obstacles on this path of vindication, but goals have also been achieved that a few decades ago were impossible dreams. An example of this is the legalization in many countries of homosexual marriage, as well as the criminalization of certain homophobic behaviors.

This fight is extremely necessary, since existing suffering violence and discrimination is incompatible with living a meaningful, full and happy life. That is why people belonging to sexual minorities show a greater risk than the general population of suffering from mental health problems. Accepting oneself necessarily requires having been accepted and loved unconditionally. Living feeling contempt for what one is is a punishment that no one should suffer. Studies on this issue have contributed to give shape to the term "minority stress", which refers to the emotional response derived from the discrimination suffered by people from the LGBTIQ+ collective.

What is minority stress?

The term stress is familiar to everyone today. Despite its notoriety, the stress response is necessary for our survival. It is thanks to it that we are alert to possible dangers and react to preserve our safety. However, when this reaction is sustained over time without ever calming down, it can be devastating to health.

People who belong to the LGTBIQ+ collective start from a disadvantageous situation compared to the rest of society. The discrimination they usually suffer in many aspects of life makes them feel higher and sustained levels of stress for a long time. That is why a specific concept has been developed to talk about the stress response in this population group.

Ian Meyer was the pioneering author who decided to talk about the psychological impact that discrimination has on people belonging to sexual minorities. He observed that these individuals suffered enormously due to rejection, prejudice, and lack of rights compared to the rest of the population. Meyer proposed his theoretical model in 2003, with the aim of identifying those stressful factors that most affect the psychological discomfort of these people. This allowed us to understand their painful reality in a much more specific way, since these are specific stressors that have no effect on the rest of the population.

Stressful experiences associated with minority stress

Meyer identified some stressful experiences common to most people in the LGTBIQ+ collective. Let's go see them.

1. Discrimination

People belonging to sexual minorities are often familiar with discrimination. They have felt the rejection of other people, be it colleagues, friends or even their own family. This generates intense suffering associated with emotions such as guilt or shame..

2. negative expectations

Given that they suffer discrimination frequently and in various settings, the people of the collective tend to end up developing a negative view of relationships, with clear expectations of rejection. This makes it difficult for them to get 100 percent involved in their relationships of any kind, as they fear that the rejection they have experienced before will be repeated again. The environment is presented as threatening, unreliable, and even scary.

3. Concealment of sexual condition

People in the collective get used to living in hiding, hiding who they really are for fear of what might happen if they really expose themselves. Their experiences of discrimination have taught them that the safest thing is to show a mask to the outside that fits what is expected of them.. It goes without saying that a life based on repression and fear cannot be happy or fulfilling.

4. internalized homophobia

When the people around them, including their own family, show rejection towards the person, it is expected that they internalize that hatred as their own. This is known as internalized homophobia, an experience that leads the individual not to accept who he is, showing a very negative relationship with himself. Internalized homophobia can be so intense that it leads the person to hate the LGTBIQ+ collective, since they see in it everything about themselves that they associate with rejection. It can also condition some serious decisions, such as trying to change your sexual condition through pseudotherapies.

5. Uncertainty, ambivalence and learned helplessness

People belonging to sexual minorities can show a marked ambivalence, that is, a permanent doubt about whether or not to show themselves as they are. Whatever they do, they feel like they are losing out. If they are exposed without masks, they risk being rejected. Instead, if they choose to hide, they assume a life based on fear and repression.. For this reason, a kind of learned helplessness develops that makes them feel vulnerable and unable to control what happens around them.