Three themes found across the reactions to the Major Contribution are discussed: agreement on the destructive nature of internalized heterosexism; the importance of focusing on resilience and other strengths shown by lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals that enable them to be healthy in the face of oppression; and the need for further research…

The purpose of this study was to examine multiple minority stressors (i.e., heterosexist events, racist events, heterosexism in communities of color, racism in sexual minority communities, race-related dating and relationship problems, internalized heterosexism or homophobia, outness to family, and outness to world) as they relate to the…

This study investigated risky sexual behavior in a sample of 209 gay and bisexual men. Using structural equation modeling, the mediating relations of substance use factors (expectations about the sexually enhancing effects of substance use and substance use during sex) between internalized heterosexism (IH) and sensation seeking and unprotected…

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) persons come from diverse cultural groups with diverse racial and ethnic identities. However, most research on LGBQ persons has used primarily White samples, and most research on African Americans has used largely heterosexual samples. Thus, research has largely failed to attend to and investigate the…

The purpose of this study was to examine (a) the relationship between heterosexist events and psychological distress and (b) the potential moderating roles of social support, avoidant coping, and self-esteem in the relationship between heterosexist events and psychological distress among 210 gay and bisexual men. Findings from the Web-based…

Counseling psychologists can expect to encounter lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals in their lives, as students, colleagues, friends, clients, and/or family members. Most of the LGB individuals encountered by counseling psychologists have experienced the negative consequences of internalized heterosexism/internalized homophobia (IH). Yet…

This study examined the relationship of internalized oppressions to the psychological distress of 304 lesbian and bisexual women. In addition, it investigated whether self-esteem and social support mediated the relationship between internalized oppressions and mental health. Results indicate that after controlling for education, internalized…

The purpose of this study was to test tenets of both minority stress and lesbian feminist/sexual identity development theories by examining the potential moderating and mediating roles of individual coping styles (i.e., problem-solving and avoidant coping) in the relationship between internalized heterosexism and lesbian and bisexual (sexual…

This article provides an integrated critical review of the literature on internalized heterosexism/internalized homophobia (IH), its measurement, and its psychosocial correlates. It describes the psychometric properties of six published measures used to operationalize the construct of IH. It also critically reviews empirical studies on correlates…

Despite a large body of literature addressing relationship quality and domestic violence in women's same-sex relationships, few studies have empirically examined how stress specific to living as a lesbian or bisexual woman might correlate with these relationship variables. Degree of outness, internalized homophobia, lifetime and recent experiences…

This article details the current knowledge regarding the provision of culturally appropriate career services to gay and lesbian clients. It is divided into 5 parts: (1) history and context for the delivery of career counseling services to gay and lesbian clients; (2) counselor self-preparation for working with gay and lesbian clients; (3)…

This article addresses counselors' calls for more training on internalized heterosexism. Through a synthesis of the research on lesbian internalized heterosexism, the author discusses how the integration of a feminist approach can enhance college counselors' work with lesbian clients, describes 3 core feminist therapy principles, uses these…

Feminist therapy theorists have made significant contributions to enhancing counselors' understanding of how social, economic, political, and institutional factors affect women's lives and the particular problems that women bring to counseling. Two of the central tenets of feminist therapy theory are the concept of an integrated analysis of…