Study: Anti-Gay ?Microaggressions? Impact Health Of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on October 5th, 2011 4:36 am by HL
Study: Anti-Gay ?Microaggressions? Impact Health Of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals
A new study coauthored by Dr. Ilan H. Meyer of the Williams Institute finds that ongoing stigma and social inequality increase stress and reduce well-being for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. These health impacts can be prevalent even among individuals who have never experienced major traumatic events such as hate violence, abuse, or discrimination. Individuals […]
A new study coauthored by Dr. Ilan H. Meyer of the Williams Institute finds that ongoing stigma and social inequality increase stress and reduce well-being for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. These health impacts can be prevalent even among individuals who have never experienced major traumatic events such as hate violence, abuse, or discrimination. Individuals experience microaggressions, day-to-day moments where they feel the need to “worry” or “hide” — any slight occasion when they are unsure about their safety or acceptance because they are LGB. The authors conclude that these microaggressions largely define how people experience their identities in society:
The findings show that in addition to life events—such as antigay violence, abuse, and discrimination in hiring or promotion—participants describe homophobia, racism, and sexism as enduring and pervasive social forces that chronically and systematically exclude them from social institutions. In thinking about life without homophobia, racism, and sexism, participants revealed that, indeed, minorities experience society as anything but harmoniously fitting. Researchers need to pay greater attention than they have to date to describing these stressors and understanding their effects. Among these stressors are minor events and conditions that are mostly intangible. Prominent among these were experiences such as not being able to walk down the street freely because of the fear of expressing affection to one’s intimate partner.
The study demonstrates the need to not only fight for legal equality but to work toward creating understanding about sexual orientation (and gender identity, though this study did not specifically address it) throughout society. Anti-gay rhetoric and attitudes undermine the health of LGB people, and thus, so do the individuals and organizations who propagate that rhetoric.
Spencer And Geller Disavow Anti-Muslim Activist?s Call For Violence, Say He Was Never A Board Member
Responding to ThinkProgress, anti-Muslim activists Robert Spencer and Pam Geller disavowed any connections to John Joseph Jay, who recently wrote a blog post calling for the mass murder of politicians, journalists, and others. Geller and Spencer — leading members of the Islamophobia network — strongly denounced Jay’s calls for violence. But, Jay’s name and signature […]
Responding to ThinkProgress, anti-Muslim activists Robert Spencer and Pam Geller disavowed any connections to John Joseph Jay, who recently wrote a blog post calling for the mass murder of politicians, journalists, and others. Geller and Spencer — leading members of the Islamophobia network — strongly denounced Jay’s calls for violence.
But, Jay’s name and signature appears on the articles of incorporation for American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), an umbrella organization for which Geller is the executive director. Geller and Spencer claim Jay was never a board member and is not affiliated in any way. Geller writes that while Jay helped establish the organization, he is not a member of the board:
Last year I was in a rush to get the organization off the ground, and enlisted [Jay’s] help and that of several others. At that time I hadn’t yet chosen the board members or the key players in the organization. Jay helped me out so I could get the incorporation papers filed, but was never a Board member or a part of the organizational structure in any way. He was gone almost as soon as he was there, and is not a member of AFDI.
Spencer emails a similar statement saying, Jay “is not on the Board now, never has been, and is not a member of the organization.”
However, this seems to conflict with a blog post Spencer wrote in August of last year after Jay stirred controversy with a different call to arms. In that post on his Jihad Watch blog, Spencer wrote about the “misrepresentations of some writings by John Jay, a member of the SIOA Board.” SIOA is Stop the Islamization Of America, an organization also headed by Geller and connected to AFDI.
ThinkProgress included this in our original post and asked Spencer to clarify. “He was never a board member. I don’t recall saying he was, but if I did, it was in error.” That was “was a mistake on my part,” Spencer wrote in another email after ThinkProgress provided a link to his post.
