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Purpose: This paper presents an exploratory analysis of minority stress and resiliency processes among parents in LGBTQ families. The paper examines two unique minority stress processes – (1) parents experiencing sexual and/or gender minority stress due to the stigmatization of their own identities as individuals and (2) parents sharing the gender minority stress faced by their transgender and gender expansive (TGE) child, and in the context of their parent–child relationship.

Methodology: Between 2017 and 2018 in-depth, in-person qualitative interviews on the topics of gender, stress, and resilience were conducted with 12 parents in LGBTQ families. Audio recordings were transcribed and then open coded using ATLAS.ti qualitative data analysis software. Analyses of data were informed by critical intersectional theories that locate gender and sexuality within structures of social and racial oppression.

Findings: Interview data indicate that minority stress is experienced by parents experiencing sexual and/or gender minority stress due to the stigmatization of their own identities, as well as among parents sharing the gender minority stress faced by their TGE child in the context of their parent–child relationship. Parents described community resilience and minority coping through interpersonal, community, and institutional support. This paper provides evidence that sexual and gender minority stressors are enhanced and resiliency factors are reduced among those experiencing racism and economic disadvantage.

Research limitations: This is an exploratory study conducted with a small sample of parents in a specific geographic area.

Originality/Value: These data provide initial evidence to support further analyses of the dyadic minority stressors within parent–child relationships in LGBTQ families

Purpose: We review theory and research to suggest how research on sexual and gender minority (SGM) population health could more completely account for social class.

Approach: First, we review theory on social class, gender, and sexuality, especially pertaining to health. Next, we review research on social class among SGM populations. Then, we review 42 studies of SGM population health that accounted for one or more components of social class. Finally, we suggest future directions for investigating social class as a fundamental driver of SGM health.

Findings: Social class and SGM stigma are both theorized as “fundamental causes” of health, yet most studies of SGM health do not rigorously theorize social class. A few studies control socioeconomic characteristics as mediators of SGM health disparities, but that approach obscures class disparities within SGM populations. Only two of 42 studies we reviewed examined SGM population health at the intersections of social class, gender, and sexuality.

Research implications: Researchers interested in SGM population health would benefit from explicitly stating their chosen theory and operationalization of social class. Techniques such as splitting samples by social class and statistical interactions can help illuminate how social class and SGM status intertwine to influence health.

Originality: We synthesize theory and research on social class, sexuality, and gender pertaining to health. In doing so, we hope to help future research more thoroughly account for social class as a factor shaping the lives and health of SGM people.

Purpose: Sexual minority youth are more likely than their heterosexual peers to consider and attempt suicide, in part due to victimization experienced within schools. While existing research suggests that rates of school victimization and suicidality among sexual minority students vary by school and community context, less is known about variation in these experiences at the state level.

Methodology: Using data from a large, representative sample of sexual minority and heterosexual youth (2017 Youth Risk Behavior States Data, n = 64,746 high school students in 22 states), multilevel models examine whether differences between sexual minority and heterosexual students in victimization and suicide risk vary by state-level policies.

Findings: Results suggest that disparities between sexual minority and heterosexual boys in bullying, suicide ideation, and suicide attempt are consistently smaller in states with high levels of overall policy support for LGBTQ equality and nondiscrimination in education laws. Sexual minority girls are more likely than heterosexual girls to be electronically bullied, particularly in states with lower levels of LGBTQ equality. Disparities between sexual minority and heterosexual girls in suicide ideation are lowest in high equality states, but state policies are not significantly associated with disparities in suicide attempt among girls.

Value: Overall, findings suggest that state-level policies supporting LGBTQ equality are associated with a reduced risk of suicide among sexual minority youth. This study speaks to the role of structural stigma in shaping exposure to minority stress and its consequences for sexual minority youth's well-being.

Purpose: The goal of Volume 21 of Advances in Medical Sociology, entitled Sexual and Gender Minority Health, is to showcase recent developments and areas for future research related to the health, well-being, and healthcare experiences of LGBTQA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, Queer, Asexual, and related communities that do not identify as heterosexual) persons and communities.

Approach: In this introduction to the volume, we trace the historical development of research on sexual and gender minority (SGM) health, discussing how priorities, theories, and evidence have evolved over time. We conclude with brief suggestions for future research and an overview of the articles presented in this volume.

Findings: Research on SGM health has flourished in the past two decades. This trend has occurred in conjunction with a period of intense social, political, and legal discourse about the civil rights of SGM persons, which has increased understanding and recognition of SGM experiences. However, recent advances have often been met with resistance and backlash rooted in enduring social stigma and long histories of discrimination and prejudice that reinforce and maintain health disparities faced by SGM populations.

Value: Our review highlights the need for additional research to understand minority stress processes, risk factors, and resiliency, particularly for those at the intersection of SGM and racial/ethnic or socioeconomic marginality.

Even more than 50 years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination toward a number of groups in employment settings in the United States, workplace discrimination remains a persistent problem in organizations. This chapter provides a comprehensive review and analysis of contemporary theory and evidence on the nature, causes, and consequences of discrimination before synthesizing potential methods for its reduction. We note the strengths and weaknesses of this scholarship and highlight meaningful future directions. In so doing, we hope to both inform and inspire organizational and scholarly efforts to understand and eliminate workplace discrimination.

Purpose: In this chapter, we develop a concept of social biographies which draws on social network and life course theories to examine how a diverse set of social relationships impacts health of sexual and gender minority (SGM) people over time.

Design/methodology/approach: We provide an overview of several decades of research on SGM people's social relationships, organizing this research within a social biographies framework.

Findings: We theorize about the importance of both the structure and content of SGM people's social networks for health, how these social relationships interact with each other, how these social biographies and their impacts shift across SGM cohorts and over the life course, and how they further are shaped by the intersection of a range of factors (e.g., race/ethnicity, social class).

Social biographies can remain constant or change over time, and relationships of all types and durations have the power to significantly improve or undermine health. This is in part because social ties both buffer and exacerbate the inimical effects of stress on health.

Originality/value: Traditional conceptualizations of relationships fail to reflect the diversity of relationships in SGM lives. Studying this diversity deepens our view of how social biographies influence health and how health inequities between SGM and cisgender and heterosexual (cishet) populations emerge. Studying social biographies of SGM people using theoretical and methodological tools from life course and social network perspectives reveals existing voids in the current literature, enabling researchers to better understand the shifting nature of social relationships in the twenty-first century.

Rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidality have long been known to be elevated among LGBTQ+ communities and it was expected that the COVID-19 pandemic would deepen systemic injustices and inequities in mental health outcomes. However, it remains difficult to document inequities as surveillance systems do not typically capture LGBTQ+-inclusive data necessary to study the impact of COVID-19 on LGBTQ+ population health. This chapter reports on two studies designed to address this gap. The COVID-19 Impacts Study (CIS) documented the early mental health and social impacts of COVID-19 among sexual and gender minority adults, as well as adults with HIV, during the first round of shut-downs and initial economic disruptions. Subsequently, the Youth and Young Adults COVID-19 Study (YYA) measured the impacts of COVID-19 on the mental health outcomes, testing/vaccination behaviors, and stigmatization experiences of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) young people. Several recommendations are discussed – including mandated collection of data on sexual orientation and gender identity in all surveillance systems, policy solutions to better address access and cost barriers, and deep and meaningful engagement that empowers communities.

The inclusion of LGBTQ + persons (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and having other sexual orientations and gender identities) is a crucial step in improving gender diversity in the workplace; however, till date, it remains a significant challenge for human resource management professionals. The current study critically examines this issue of an inclusive workplace for LGBTQ + people through a systematic review of the existing research that has empirically studied their experiences at the workplace. It also examines the resistance and challenges organizations face in LGBTQ + diversity training and provides future research avenues.

For systematically reviewing the literature, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) model has been used. A total of 101 empirical studies have been reviewed.

The result shows that LGBTQ + people encounter multiple negative workplace experiences, including proximal (hiring discrimination and housing discrimination) and distal workplace discrimination (unsafe work climate, microaggressions and harassment). These aversive experiences lead to work stress while also mandating that people manage their sexual identity and style of dressing. This stress, in turn, impacts their work–family outcomes, job satisfaction and decision-making with regard to their careers.

The paper provides a holistic understanding of the aversive workplace experiences encountered by sexual minorities.

Mental illness amongst students in higher education has increased in recent years. Several contributing factors have been identified, including the growing number of students with pre-existing problems who are pursuing university and the fact that emerging adulthood is a time of developmental vulnerability to social pressures. Other key factors include academic pressure, the financial burden of student debt, and increasing uncertainty around making a successful transition to the workplace. These pressures are often more pronounced for minority students – in particular ethnic and sexual minority students. Peer support and connectedness to school have been identified as key areas for building protective factors for positive mental health outcomes and lower rates of health-risk behaviors. Many higher education institutions also offer work-integrated learning programs (WIL) to help ease students’ financial burden and increase their level of employability. However, participation in WIL may impact on students’ academic and social support networks. For instance, programs in which students participate in off-campus work placements (i.e., cooperative education) can cause disruption in students’ connectedness to school and their perceived level of social support. This chapter examines the intensification of mental health problems on campus and explores the importance of sense of belonging and social support as protective factors. Furthermore, the chapter explores how WIL can both protect and hinder students’ mental health and wellbeing and examines current evidence for interventions that can help students prepare for their school-to-work transition.

The available research on specialized interventions for youth experiencing commercial sexual exploitation almost exclusively focuses on the impact and efficacy related to cisgender girls, despite the inclusion of youth who identify as transgender in these programs. This paper aims to present a case study on the experience of a transgender adolescent girl who experienced commercial sexual exploitation and provides a narrative of the multifarious challenges she faced while involved in institutional systems of care.

This paper conducted an in-depth case review of all records on “Jade,” a white adolescent transgender girl who experienced commercial sexual exploitation, from a specialty court program in the juvenile justice system between 2012 and 2016. Her experiences throughout childhood exemplify many of the unique challenges that transgender girls and young women with histories of exploitation or trafficking may encounter within service delivery and socioecological systems. This paper applied concepts adapted from the gender minority stress theoretical model to understand how minority gender identity can shape the experiences and outcomes of the youth impacted by commercial sexual exploitation.

Jade’s narrative underscores the interplay of gender-based sexual violence, heteronormative structural barriers, transphobia and their intersectional impact on her experience while receiving specialized care. The intersectional hardships she experienced likely contributed to adverse biopsychosocial outcomes, including high rates of medical and behavioral health diagnoses and expectations of further rejection.

This paper highlights the extraordinary challenges and barriers faced by an often under-recognized and overlooked subset of the youth impacted by commercial sexual exploitation, who may receive services that do not account for their unique needs related to gender expression and identity. This paper exemplifies how internalized stigma along with expectations of further rejection and victimization have implications for clinical and multidisciplinary intervention settings. Jade’s case underscores the need for improved access to supportive services for youth with minority gender identities, including peer community-building opportunities. Finally, this paper identifies a critical gap in US legislation and social policy. This gap contributes to the structural harms faced by transgender and gender-nonconforming youth receiving services during or following experiences of commercial sexual exploitation.