Search Results (289)

Despite growing interest in the sexuality and gender identity of people with disabilities (PWD), this topic remains underexplored in both research and institutional policies, owing to prevailing views that ignore PWD sexual life. This contributes to the invisibility of individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT) and to inadequate attention to the specific needs of LGBT people with disabilities (LGBT PWD). Background/Objectives: Given the lack of Portuguese studies that examine the intersection of LGBT and disability identities, this study aimed to understand professionals’ attitudes and practices toward PWD regarding sexuality and LGBT belonging. Methods: We conducted qualitative research using semi-structured interviews with eleven professionals (two psychologists, three occupational therapists, and six personal assistants). We analyzed the data using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Key findings highlight professionals’ limited knowledge, prevailing cis-heteronormative attitudes, and emerging affirmative practices. Conclusions: Training and institutional changes are needed to make services more inclusive and responsive to the needs of LGBT PWD. Full article

Modern Greek was spoken along the northwestern coast of Asia Minor until the early 20th century, yet neither its precise geographical extent nor its dialectal classification is well established. This paper seeks to clarify both issues by focusing on the variety of Adramytti (Edremit). The available evidence suggests that Adramyttian, despite its close relationship to and partial origin in Modern Lesbian, was essentially a mixed variety that leveled out many characteristic Modern Lesbian features, such as the raising of unstressed mid vowels and certain morphological phenomena. Such differences can be attributed to the diverse character of the speech community that led to contact between speakers of Modern Lesbian origin and speakers of other Greek dialects. In addition to providing a grammatical description of Adramyttian, which demonstrates its mixed profile, the paper offers a tentative classification of this variety in relation to Modern Lesbian and the other insular varieties of northeastern Aegean, as well as in relation to other neighboring varieties of northwestern Asia Minor (Aeolis, Mysia, northern Ionia). Full article

Heavy episodic drinking (HED) is prevalent in young adulthood, yet its relationship with psychosocial well-being remains complex. This study examines the association between HED and perceived social isolation among young adults and tests whether this relationship varies by sexual orientation. Using pooled, nationally representative data from the 2022 and 2024 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), this study analyzed adults aged 18–29 (N = 723). Perceived social isolation was measured using the PROMIS Social Isolation Short Form. Weighted multivariable linear regression models assessed interactions between sexual orientation and HED occasions (0 vs. 1+), adjusting for sociodemographic variables and psychological distress. 45.5% reported HED. Lesbian/gay (B = 5.62, SE = 0.58, p < 0.001) and bisexual (B = 1.66, SE = 0.34, p < 0.001) young adults reported higher isolation than straight peers; HED was inversely associated with isolation (B = −1.71, SE = 0.20, p < 0.001). A significant interaction indicated that among lesbian/gay young adults, heavy drinking was associated with lower perceived isolation (B = −5.77, SE = 0.98, p < 0.001). Interventions should account for the social meanings of alcohol use to avoid unintentionally increasing isolation among sexual minoritized populations. Full article

Framing—how issues are communicated—can influence attitudes. This study examined (1) the impact of value-framing on attitudes toward homosexuality among Turkish university students in 2012 and 2024, (2) cohort differences over time, and (3) socio-demographic predictors. Participants were 199 psychology students (161 female; M age = 21). Attitudes were most positive after equality framing, followed by neutral, then morality framing. Cohorts did not differ in overall attitudes. Morality framing led to significantly less positive views than neutral framing. Positive attitudes were associated with being female, higher parental education, and having more gay friends (for women) or lesbian friends (for men). Findings highlight the negative impact of morality framing and suggest that personal and social factors shape attitudes toward homosexuals. Full article

Suicidal behaviors constitute a major global public health problem, with sexual minority groups showing a higher risk of engaging in such behaviors. This study aimed to analyze the influence of hopelessness, life satisfaction, and spirituality on suicide risk according to self-reported sexual orientation. A total of 532 individuals participated (M = 31.15 years, SD = 12.002). Of these, 39.8% identified as heterosexual, 34.2% as gay or lesbian individuals, and 25.9% as bisexual. Participants were assessed using the Plutchik Suicide Risk Scale, Beck’s Hopelessness Scale, the Beliefs and Values Scale, and Diener’s Satisfaction with Life Scale. The results indicate that 52.9% of bisexual participants and 41.2% of gay and lesbian participants presented a high suicide risk, compared with 15.6% of heterosexual participants. Individuals with a high suicide risk reported higher levels of hopelessness (p < 0.001), lower levels of life satisfaction (p < 0.001), and similar levels of spirituality. The proportion of variance explained in suicide risk was 42.8% among bisexual participants, 34.2% among gay and lesbian participants, and 29.9% among heterosexual participants. Hopelessness predicted a similar proportion of across groups (β = 0.446 in heterosexuals, β = 0.447 in gays and lesbians, and β = 0.457 in bisexuals). Life satisfaction showed a protective predictive effect, with β = −0.241 in bisexual participants, followed by gay and lesbian participants (β = −0.186) and heterosexual participants (β = −0.137). Spirituality was significant only among gay and lesbian participants (β = 0.133) and bisexual participants (β = 0.214). Sexual minority groups exhibited a higher risk of suicide, with life satisfaction—but not spirituality—acting as a protective factor. Full article

Eva Gore-Booth (1870–1926) was a significant contributor to the Celtic Literary Revival at the turn of the twentieth century; however, her literature differed immensely from that of her male counterparts. Gore-Booth’s writings had a prevailing feminist message, while her later works were manifestly concerned with the study of sexuality and the deconstruction of gender. Gore-Booth’s literature remained vastly overlooked and undervalued until recent times. In the twenty-first century, her poetry and plays are experiencing somewhat of a resurgence. Amid Gore-Booth’s modest literary revival, this article examines her writings from a fresh perspective. Tracing Gore-Booth’s social reform work and later devotion to the New Age religion of Theosophy, it is evident that her writings increasingly endorsed celibacy. This article will highlight how Gore-Booth advocated for celibacy as a radical practice with the potential to dismantle the social construction of gender and of presumed heterosexuality. Notably, Gore-Booth only advocated for heterosexual celibacy, placing same-sex relationships as the ideal, especially lesbian partnerships. This research centers on readings of Gore-Booth’s lesser-known writings including a neglected play Fiametta, her theological writings and the journal Urania which clearly express her revolutionary ideas. Full article

Introduction. Entering higher education represents a significant and challenging stage, marked by substantial changes that impact students’ well-being, mental health, and academic performance. These challenges can be particularly intensified for lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) students, who are frequently subject to minority stress. In this context, few studies have focused on aspects associated with the well-being of these students. This study aimed to assess well-being, mental health, optimism, motivation, and academic performance according to students’ sexual orientation, as well as the main predictors of well-being in both groups. Method. The sample comprised 285 higher education Portuguese students, of whom 129 were heterosexual and 156 were LGB, aged between 18 and 69 years. Results. The results revealed that the LGB students showed significantly lower levels of optimism, but higher levels of academic performance and mental health, compared to heterosexual students. Among LGB students, optimism stood out as one of the main predictors of well-being, while mental health stood out among heterosexual students. Conclusions. The results highlight the need for more inclusive university environments and psychological interventions focused on promoting optimism to reduce the impact of minority stress and promote the well-being and academic retention of LGB students. More studies are needed that consider the diverse sexual orientations of university students. Full article

Introduction: Sleep is an essential dimension of good physical and mental health. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) women experience inequities in sleep duration and disturbance compared to heterosexual women. Psychosocial and behavioral characteristics are important to sleep in the general population; they may advance our understanding about sleep inequities among LGB women and provide key information for developing promising interventions. Methods: Data for this project were provided by the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI). The sample size for this project was 1436: 884 LG women and 552 bisexual women. Outcome variables were sleep duration and disturbance. The authors sought to clarify the associations, including the strength, between psychosocial factors and sleep outcomes among LGB women. Associations between psychosocial characteristics, health behaviors, and sleep outcomes were tested using multivariable, hierarchical, nested, linear regression models, stratified by sexual orientation. Results: Social strain, social function, optimism, and negative emotional expressiveness were significantly associated with sleep outcomes for LGB women. Health behaviors were not consistently or strongly associated with sleep outcomes for LGB women. Conclusions: The findings point to the importance of social strain, social function, negative emotional expressiveness, and optimism in LGB women’s sleep. It is possible that LGB women’s sleep could be improved with evidence-based interventions that use our findings. Full article

Background/Objectives: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) cancer survivors face disproportionately high structural and psychosocial barriers to post-diagnosis care. However, heterogeneity within this population remains understudied. This study aimed to characterize healthcare utilization (HCU) barriers among LGBT cancer survivors, assess psychosocial vulnerabilities (discrimination, stress, and social support), and identify survivor subgroups at greatest risk for care disengagement. Methods: Data were drawn from the All of Us Research Program. A sample of 3502 LGBT cancer survivors was analyzed, including lesbian (n = 730), gay (n = 1285), bisexual (n = 1296), and transgender/gender expansive (TGE) (n = 209) individuals. HCU barriers were assessed using 21 binary indicators. Psychosocial measures included the Everyday Discrimination Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, and MOS Social Support Survey. Agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis identified latent HCU barrier profiles. Differences across clusters and identity groups were assessed using ANOVA and chi-square tests, and multinomial logistic regression examined demographics, socioeconomic, and psychosocial predictors of cluster membership. Results: Three distinct HCU barrier clusters were identified: low (59.7%), moderate (27.8%), and high (12.5%). Bisexual and TGE survivors were disproportionately represented in the high-barrier cluster, which was characterized by widespread cost-related nonadherence, structural delays in care, and higher levels of perceived discrimination and stress. In adjusted models, bisexual identity, lower income, female sex assigned at birth, and higher discrimination and perceived stress were independently associated with increased odds of high-barrier cluster membership. Conclusions: Substantial heterogeneity exists in HCU barriers among LGBT cancer survivors. Bisexual and TGE survivors experience a concentrated burden of structural and psychosocial barriers to survivorship care, highlighting the relevance of targeted, data-driven approaches to reduce access inequities within this population. Full article

Transgender and gender-expansive (TGE) communities face persistent health inequities that are reproduced through everyday administrative and clinical encounters across care systems. A feedback-focused lens can clarify how those inequities are generated and sustained. Objective: To identify and validate feedback loops that create policy exposure and institutional gatekeeping in TGE healthcare and to surface leverage points to stabilize their continuity of care. Methods: Two facilitated, Zoom-based Group Model Building (GMB) sessions were conducted in March 2021 with eight TGE participants (mean age 38 years; range 22–63; transfeminine and transmasculine identities; multiracial, White, and SWANA racial identities) recruited through a Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community center, followed by a participant member-checking session to validate loop structure, causal direction, and interpretive accuracy. Analysis focused explicitly on identifying reinforcing and balancing feedback structures, rather than isolated barriers, to explain how policy exposure and institutional gatekeeping are generated over time. Results: Participants co-constructed a nine-variable Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) with six feedback structures, four reinforcing and two balancing that interact dynamically to amplify or dampen policy exposure, institutional gatekeeping, and continuity of care, which were organized across structural, institutional/clinical, and individual/community tiers. Reinforcing dynamics linked structural stigma, exclusion from formal employment, institutionalized provider bias, and enacted stigma to degraded care experience, increased trauma and distrust, and disrupted continuity, manifesting as policy exposure (e.g., coverage volatility, denials) and gatekeeping (e.g., discretionary documentation, referral hurdles). Community-based supports and peer/elder navigation functioned as balancing loops that reduced trauma, improved continuity and encounters, and, over time, dampened provider bias. A salient theme was the visibility/invisibility paradox: symbolic inclusion without workflow redesign can inadvertently increase exposure and reinforce harmful loops. Full article

Existing research highlights that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) teachers are often exposed to additional stressors in schools which adversely affect their mental health. Some mitigate the effects of these stressors by separating their personal and professional identities while others choose to integrate their identities so that they can be authentic, advance social justice in school contexts or be visible and vocal role models. Less is known about the experiences of pre-service teachers who are undertaking teacher preparation programmes. This systematic literature review presents the results of 20 published papers which represent the global experiences of both pre-service teachers and serving teachers. The findings highlight identity management, experiences of discrimination, agency and lack of confidence of teacher educators. Two new frameworks are presented that lay the foundations for embedding LGBTQ+ inclusion and proposed mandatory elements of curricula for initial teacher training. This systematic literature review has been informed by the following research questions RQ1. What are the experiences of LGBTQ+ pre-service teachers? RQ2. How do LGBTQ+ pre-service teachers negotiate their identities? RQ3. How do LGBTQ+ pre-service teachers disrupt hetero/cis-normative cultures in schools? RQ4: How well does the teacher education programme prepare pre-service teachers for teaching LGBTQ+ inclusive education? Full article

The 2S LGBTQIA+ (Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer and/or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and additional sexually and gender-diverse self-identities) population often faces barriers to care in the context of cervical cancer screening. With the shift from primary cervical cytology (Papanicolaou test) to primary human papillomavirus (HPV)-DNA testing, it is crucial to examine these populations’ healthcare needs. An intersectionality framework with an anti-oppressive lens is needed to restructure a healthcare system whose systems have traditionally erased the care needs of diverse populations through colonial, racialized, and cis-heteronormative practices. Barriers to cervical screening in 2S LGBTQIA+ populations include stigma, discrimination, limited provider guidance and understanding, and high rates of physical, sexual, and medical trauma. Self-sampling for HPV is a less invasive alternative to traditional Pap tests with a high rate of acceptability. The option to self-sample may increase participation in cervical screening based on improved privacy, comfort, and feelings of empowerment. Organizational, psychosocial, and physical recommendations for practice are shared to create a welcoming environment that reflects the diversity of populations in all aspects of healthcare. Affirmative care aims to make clients feel safe and accommodated by prioritizing dignity and respect as essential elements of eliminating cervical cancer in 2S LGBTQIA+ populations. Full article

This essay examines how contemporary Anglophone Chinese women writers rewrite the imagery of Chinese snake women through speculative retellings that foreground sisterhood, queer desire, and diasporic identity. Drawing on queer diaspora studies and feminist criticism, I argue that Larissa Lai’s Salt Fish Girl (2002) and Amanda Lee Koe’s Sister Snake (2024) revise the figure of the Chinese snake woman to imagine forms of female intimacy and kinship that transcend heteronormative and patriarchal frameworks. In these works, sisterhood operates both as a familial bond and as an intimate, queer relation charged with affective, physical, and occasionally erotic intensity. The original White Snake legend—one of China’s Four Great Folktales—has long invited queer readings, especially through the complex relationship between White Snake and her companion Green Snake. In dialogue with the Chinese snake myth, Lai and Koe relocate the snake woman into speculative worlds shaped by queer desire, racial marginalization, and transnational migration. In Salt Fish Girl, Lai reimagines the reincarnations of the half-snake Chinese mother goddess Nu Wa across colonial South China and near-future bio-capitalist Canada, portraying a cross-temporal lesbian love between the protagonist and the titular Salt Fish Girl. In Sister Snake, Koe’s protagonists—serpent sisters Su and Emerald, separated between Singapore and New York—disrupt normative family scripts while forging a fragmented but enduring affective bond. Through the motif of the Chinese snake woman, these works construct imaginative spaces in which intimate sisterhood subverts patriarchal and national containment, advancing a queer vision of female togetherness. Full article

In the United States, although the gaps in health insurance coverage by sexual orientation have been closing since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and legalization of same-sex marriage, the LGB group (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual) continues to report healthcare utilization and access inequities such as more delayed or unmet care. The extant research has often examined healthcare utilization and access inequities due to affordability (e.g., out-of-pocket costs). However, healthcare utilization and access inequities are only partially explained by cost reasons; there are non-cost reasons that have not been adequately empirically examined. The present study innovatively includes discrimination structural variables to understand how social structure is associated with healthcare utilization and access inequities of LGB people. It focuses on two routine health services—regular check-ups and prescription medications—for LGB people who have chronic diseases. Additionally, sexual orientation may intersect with sex assigned at birth (sex, hereafter, i.e., male, female) to impact healthcare utilization and access inequities. The current study applies quantitative intersectional analysis to understand healthcare utilization and access inequities from a sexual orientation and sex intersectional lens and for easier and clearer interpretations of intersectional results and more actionable policy implications for inter-categorical groups. Using the 2023 National Health Interview Survey (weighted N = 136,231,053), we conducted quantitative intersectional analysis for logistic regression using complex survey data. First, we fit a series of logistic regression models with sexual orientation–sex interactions for routine healthcare utilization and access outcomes, adjusting for covariates. Second, we calculated average marginal predictions for inter-categorical groups by interacting sexual orientation and sex and other covariates. Third, we computed risk ratios of average marginal predictions for all the covariates. Lastly, we examined the interaction of inter-categorical groups/sexual orientation and structural variables. Our results show that experiencing a higher level of discrimination is positively associated with underutilization of regular check-ups and lower access to prescription medications, and this effect is stronger for LGB people. Further, LGB women are least likely to utilize regular check-ups and LGB men are least likely to access prescription medications among the inter-categorical groups. Highlighting structural issues of healthcare utilization and access offers new evidence on healthcare utilization and access inequities that can inform policies for raising awareness of and addressing structural issues. The intersectional analyses suggest that relevant policies target LGB women and LGB men. Full article

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the detailed pregnancy and neonatal outcomes of women without male partners undergoing intrauterine insemination (IUI) compared to women with male partners. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of all patients who completed an IUI cycle from 2017 to 2023. 2414 cycles were included in the study: 149 cycles for women without male partners (including single and lesbian women) and 2265 cycles for women with male partners. Primary outcomes were the rates of clinical pregnancy, miscarriage, and live birth. Secondary outcomes were obstetric complication rates and neonatal outcomes. Results: Women without male partners undergoing IUI were significantly older than the reference cohort (median age 42 years versus 38 years, p < 0.0001). 84.1% of women without male partners did not have a diagnosis of the common causes of female infertility. Both cohorts had similar cycle characteristics and number of IUI cycles until pregnancy and live birth. The mean clinical pregnancy rate per cycle for women without male partners was 11.4% versus 12.5% for the reference group (p = 0.56), and the mean live birth rate was 8.1% versus 8.2% (p = 0.95). Multiple pregnancy, cumulative pregnancy, and clinical miscarriage rates were also similar. Similarities persisted after adjusting for confounders: age, BMI, race, and infertility diagnosis. Importantly, there were no statistically significant differences in obstetric complications (such as hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, gestational diabetes, placental disorders) and neonatal outcomes. Conclusions: Compared to women with male partners undergoing IUI, women without male partners had similar rates of clinical pregnancy (per cycle and cumulative), miscarriage, and live birth; there were no significant differences in obstetric complications or neonatal outcomes. Full article