Heterosexism, Racism, and the Mental Health of Sexual Minority People of Color

Abstract

In the present study, we examined the additive and multiplicative associations of heterosexist discrimination, racist discrimination, internalized heterosexism, and internalized racism with psychological distress and well-being in 318 sexual minority People of Color. We tested multiplicative associations via two sets of interactions: cross-oppression (Heterosexist Discrimination × Internalized Racism, Racist Discrimination × Internalized Heterosexism) and same-oppression (Heterosexist Discrimination × Internalized Heterosexism, Racist Discrimination × Internalized Racism). Consistent with the additive perspective, heterosexist discrimination and internalized racism were uniquely positively associated with distress, whereas internalized heterosexism and internalized racism were uniquely negatively associated with well-being. The Heterosexist Discrimination × Internalized Racism and Racist Discrimination × Internalized Racism interactions were significant in relation to both distress and well-being. Internalized racism was associated with significantly poorer mental health until heterosexist and racist discrimination reached high levels. We discuss the implications of our findings for research and practice with sexual minority People of Color.

Emotion-focused coping strategies as mediators of the discrimination–mental health association among LGB POC.

“…The current finding that heterosexism was a stronger predictor of worsened mental health compared to racism is consistent with previous literature (Velez et al, 2019). There may be several reasons for this.…”

“…Despite using nonparallel heterosexism and racism scales, it is notable that there was a strong correlation of .77 between these constructs, which parallels a similarly high heterosexism–racism correlation of .61 in a previous study (Velez et al, 2019). This high correlation indicates that LGB POC who experience one form of discrimination are likely to experience the other.…”

“…In addition to assessing the aforementioned coping strategies, we planned to compare whether heterosexism or racism would be more strongly associated with mental health outcomes. Velez et al (2019) found that heterosexism was a stronger predictor of mental health than racism in a sample of sexual minority POC. The researchers stated that this result may be due to the multicollinearity between the two discrimination variables that resulted in attenuated estimates.…”

Queering Disability: Exploring the Resilience of Sexual and Gender Minority Persons Living With Disabilities

“…SGM persons living in the United States are susceptible to higher rates of mental health concerns and psychiatric disabilities, such as anxiety, depression, substance use disorders, affective disorders, and suicidal behavior (Velez et al, 2019). Resilience ameliorates mental health disparities of SGM persons (Meyer, 2015).…”

A scoping review of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use treatment interventions for sexual and gender minority populations

“…Although debate exists in the field as to whether the effects of multiple forms of discrimination are additive, multiplicative, or even offset one another (Velez, Polihronkis, Watson, & Cox, 2019), individuals with multiple marginalized identities have unique experiences that may influence their substance use risk and response to interventions.…”