Perceptions of safety among LGBTQ people following the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting.

Abstract

The goals of this manuscript are two-fold. First, we provide a brief reaction to this journal’s “Special Section: Reflections on the Orlando Massacre on its First Anniversary.” Second, we present findings from a study on perceptions of safety among LGBTQ individuals following the Pulse shooting. These issues are discussed within the historical context of hate crimes experienced by the LGBTQ population (Herek), media coverage following the shooting (Hancock & Halderman), and the immediate reaction of LGBTQ graduate students to the event (Jackson). Our study sought to examine differences in perceptions of personal and peer safety by race/ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation among a large, diverse sample of LGBTQ people. Findings from our study indicate that there were differences in perceptions of personal safety by gender identity, and differences in perceptions of peer safety by gender identity and sexual orientation. These findings also suggest that subgroups of the LGBTQ community with more marginalized gender and sexual identities (e.g., female, transgender, genderqueer, bisexual, queer respondents) perceived more concerns related to safety, on average, than subgroups with relatively more privilege (e.g., gay, male). Elevated safety concern may exacerbate multiple minority stress burden, a known driver of poor health outcomes among LGBTQ people. These findings are a call to action to healthcare providers to be well informed and trained to provide the appropriate care and counseling referrals that can address the safety-related concerns of LGBTQ individuals in the aftermath of identity-related attacks.

Insidious Trauma, Heteronormative Steeping, and Help-seeking: Exploring the Rural Non-Heterosexual Experience

“…This is in line with Meyer's theory of minority stress and components of microaggressions related to rural living, as well as a 20% greater risk of attempting suicide than NH individuals living in affirming community climates (Hatzenbuehler et al, 2012). Ongoing public or media-based exposure to large-scale hate crimes, assault, hatred, and identity-based discrimination have been found to contribute to ongoing levels of fear and hypervigilance (Stults et al, 2017).…”

“…This created a sense of distrust with providers, thus affecting future help-seeking. This significantly differed from urban areas, where provider options are more diverse and accessible (Handley et al, 2014), where the sociopolitical atmosphere is diversified (Stults et al, 2017), and where more LGBT resources or communities are available (Perkins et al, 2013;Li et al, 2014). In addition, viewing the environment and atmosphere of a community as the basis of insidious trauma exposure could promote an increased need awareness for further education related to rural area practitioners where non-heterosexual individuals feel increasingly traumatized and isolated.…”

“…Rostosky et al (2010) stated that political majority issues can have adverse effects on this population, and residence in an area with a conservative majority can have an increase of minority stress incidence and reports of negative experiences, both outward experiences and internal subjective emotional experiences. Elevated safety concerns of identity-related attacks, threats, and world-wide hate crimes additionally add to pervasive trauma and hypervigilance (Stults et al, 2017). When coupled with first-person experiences of this discrimination or identity-based hatred in one's own community, individuals can experience pervasive and ongoing insidious trauma (Alessi et al, 2013;Keating & Muller, 2019).…”

Exposure to Stigma Elicits Negative Affect and Alcohol Craving Among Young Adult Sexual Minority Heavy Drinkers

“…These acts perpetuate and reinforce stigma toward sexual minorities (i.e., sexual stigma; Herek, ), and, even if sexual minorities are not direct targets of sexual stigma, they are likely exposed to it vicariously (e.g., social media). Exposure to vicarious stigma is similar to direct experience of stigma in that it threatens perceptions of personal safety and well‐being (Noelle, ; Ramirez et al., ; Stults et al., ). Although correlational and quasinatural experimental studies document that stigma has deleterious effects on sexual minorities’ health and contributes to health disparities (Hatzenbuehler, ), research has yet to examine the direct effects of exposure to sexual stigma among sexual minorities in a controlled laboratory setting.…”

Queering Queer Spaces: Journey of a Creative Arts Program for Trans, Non-Binary, and Gender Creative Youth

“…When considering the historical trauma of the LGBTQ+ community, we as LGBTQ+ individuals immediately recalled the medical neglect and refusal of care towards gay men during the AIDS epidemic (Curran & Jaffe, 2011;Fitzsimons, 2018) and the now medical neglect towards an aging LGBTQ+ community (Choi & Meyer, 2016); the history of police raids and attacks on LGBTQ+ individuals in bars (Ogles, 2017) and the now more recent Pulse Nightclub shooting (Alvarez & Pérez-Peña, 2016;Stults et al, 2017); the history of "homosexual" as a mental health disorder (Drescher, 2015) and the continued stigmatization and abuse of LGBTQ+ individuals in the mental health field with the use of conversion and reparative therapies (Mallory, Brown, & Conron, 2019); and the murder of Matthew Shepherd (CNN, 1998), Brandon Teena (Molloy, 2014), Rita Hester (Allen, 2017), and the ongoing epidemic of murders of transgender women of color (Human Rights Campaign, 2019). The pain and emotion that come up as an LGBTQ+ person just putting these words to page and recalling the collective memory or our community's experience of these traumas is our own personal testament to the historical trauma experienced by our community.…”