Objective: To discuss lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)-specific survivorship issues including: integrating sexual and gender minority identities with cancer survivor identities; coordinating medical care and disclosing identities to health care providers; dealing with late effects of treatment; and addressing LGBT family and relationship issues. Data Sources: Published articles, quotes from an online survey of 311 LGBT survivors.
Although sexual minority women (SMW) and transgender women have become increasingly visible in recent years and have made progress in achieving civil rights, they continue to face significant levels of discrimination, stigma, and physical violence. As a result, each group faces a wide variety of health disparities, including mental illness and substance use disorders. Overall, both SMW and transgender women experience higher rates of mood and anxiety disorders, suicidality, and substance use disorders than their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts.
Objectives: Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) populations exhibit elevated rates of psychiatric disorders compared to heterosexuals, and these disparities emerge early in the life course. We examined the role of exposure to early-life victimization and adversity-including physical and sexual abuse, homelessness, and intimate partner violence-in explaining sexual orientation disparities in mental health among adolescents and young adults. Methods: Data were drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, Wave 3 (2001-2002), a nationally representative survey of adolescents.
Adolescents with a minority sexual orientation (e.g., lesbian, gay, and bisexual) are more likely to use substances than their heterosexual peers. This study aimed to increase understanding of the development of drug use in this vulnerable population by: 1) comparing longitudinal patterns of past-year illicit drug use (e.g., marijuana, cocaine, and ecstasy) and misuse of prescription drugs among minority sexual orientation youth relative to heterosexual youth and, 2) examining how sexual orientation sub-group, gender, and age relate to variation in the risk of drug use.
Same-sex sexual behavior has been extensively documented in non-human animals. Here we review the contexts in which it has been studied, focusing on case studies that have tested both adaptive and non-adaptive explanations for the persistence of same-sex sexual behavior. Researchers have begun to make headway unraveling possible evolutionary origins of these behaviors and reasons for their maintenance in populations, and we advocate expanding these approaches to examine their role as agents of evolutionary change.
Purpose: To identify factors related to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody testing among gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth. Methods: Self-reported demographics, risk behaviors, variables related to the Health Belief Model, and HIV testing data were collected at a conference for gay youth, as well as at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center in a Southeastern metropolitan area (n = 117). Results: About one third of participating youth who reported engaging in anal and vaginal sex had done so without a condom. In addition, one in four youth reported at least one other HIV risk factor.
