Coming-Out Proud (COP) Study

Over the past few decades the lgbt community has come a long way. Being homosexual is not as taboo as it once was. However, there are still many people in the world who are afraid to tell people that they are or may be gay. There are several different reason that someone might be afraid of coming out of the closet. Most of them think that they will probably suffer from some type of rejection. The most common worry is rejection from their families. Mostly young homosexuals will feel pressure from the rejection of their peers. and in general homosexuals will have the fear of being rejected by society as a whole.

These standards of men and women are what bring about issues when people try to find their identity and don’t fit into the conventional ideas of society. Their personal identity journey begins with accepting themselves and finding the courage to “come out” to those around them. Some may be lucky and have open family and friends who are understanding of their feelings. Others face an uphill battle. For example, many religions are unaccepting of those who have homosexual or bisexual orientations. Therefore, if you are a devoted person of worship and have a difference of opinion it might be harder to express yourself. Today there are a wide range of services that can assist with the process. Pride resource center provides support to anyone who needs help when proclaiming their sexuality. Their mission statement is, “The Pride Resource Center provides resources and support for all CSU community members to explore and increase their understanding of sexual/romantic orientation, gender, and identity intersection.” (https://prideresourcecenter.colostate.edu/about-us/

The mental health of individuals in the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) community is something that is a serious problem. For most of the history of the United States and many different parts of the world LGBT people faced much persecution and in some cases even death. This constant fear of discovery and the pressure that one feels on oneself when “in the closet” can lead to major mental distress. Research has shown that people who identify as LGBT are twice as likely to develop lifetime mood and anxiety disorders (Bostwick 468). This is extremely noticeable the past couple years in the suicides of bullied teens on the basis of sexual identity and expression. The stigma on simply being perceived as LGBT is strong enough to

Patrick W. Corrigan and Deepa Rao, “On the Self-Stigma of Mental Illness: Stages, Disclosure, and Strategies for Change,” Canadian Journal of Psychiatry/Revue canadienne de psychiatrie 57.8 (2012): 464–469, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3610943/.

Published by the Huffington Post, 20 year old Austin Fisher voices his process of coming out in his article entitled “The 3 Sides to my Coming Out Story”. I choose to analyze and reflect on this text for I believe it displays various situations and perceptions in response to one coming out. The author starts by explaining how he came to terms with himself. When Fisher was younger he idolized his brother’s bravery for announcing his homosexuality to the world. This planted a seed in Fisher’s mind that would not seem to stop growing. Though deep down he knew he was gay, he was not ready to admit it to himself or the outside world. Instead, Fisher suppressed his “gay side” and reinvented himself. He got a girlfriend and views “coming out” as overrated, for Fisher views it as unfair and unjust that because of his inherently “wrong” sexualtity he has to go through an emotional process of explaining who he is attracted to the people he loves.

I’ve spent the last few years under the impression people make too big of a deal of coming out when their sexuality differs from the social norm. It’s something that people tend to over represent and kind of force onto others too often, making it slightly overbearing for those who view it differently from members of the LGBT community and their supporters. At the end of the day though, it’s a matter of both self-acceptance for those who struggle with their sexuality, and representation to help make it a less daunting and intimidating thing to be open about being different.

It is believed that the majority American public hold the beliefs that the mentally ill are “unpredictable, irrational, dangerous, bizarre, incompetent, and unkempt”, and these stereotypes have only strengthened from the 1950s to the present. (Thoits, 2011) Despite educational campaigns, there is still a strong desire among the public to keep a social distance from the mentally ill in an attempt to avoid awkward social interactions. Studies have shown that there’s a direct correlation between discrimination and low self-esteem issues among mental patients. Low self-esteem is also linked to negative health effects. Not all patients who experienced social rejection report a low self-worth. It is stated that patients who experienced social rejection already demonstrated low self-worth and self-esteem issues. Some studies even find that stigmatized patients have a very high self-esteem. (Thoits, 2011) A study done by National Alliance for the Mentally Ill consumers, Wahl (1999) expressed that eighteen percent of the sample took the stigma as a form of empowerment. Another study done by Lysaker (2007) showed that patients with a high insight on their stigma were associated with lower depression, lower quality of life, and lower self-esteem. It was also found that these associations are stronger for patients with a high self-stigma than for those with a low self-stigma. Low

Frequently, the lives of LGBTQ+ people are worsened by stigma, and when one has HIV and/or is considered a minority one will encounter greater public prejudice, discrimination, loss of self-worth, and negative implications for one’s health and well-being. The Orlando Immunology Center (OIC) served as a venue for this presentation sponsored by Dialogo and Two Spirit Health Centers, and was facilitated by Robert Katz who examined stigma in its various guises and how it impacted people’s mental health and physical illness. To date, the literature on stigma and health outcomes has focused primarily on harmful health-related behaviors that are associated with perceived discrimination. This presentation suggested that when people experience discrimination,

“Coming out” is a means of identifying one’s sexual orientation as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. At its most basic, “coming out of the closet,” means being honest with those around you—friends, family, colleagues, and so forth—about your sexual orientation, about whom you are. It also means acknowledging one’s sexual orientation to self. Such disclosure is an ongoing, lifelong process rather than a one-time event. New personal, social, and professional situations require gay men and lesbians to make decisions about the degree to which they can be open about their sexual orientation (Morrow, 1996).

It is the first step to exposing their sexual identity, which could also be hard to tell others and to admit to themselves as well. There are some people who are still confuse of the sexual identity, by others exposing themselves, they would be able to try to gain an understanding what homosexual is about and preference that they prefer. Giving those people who are confuse a glimpse of what homosexual is trying to fulfill and accomplish. The strategy is somewhat helpful to those who wants to expose their sexual identity, but it doesn't change the fact that heterosexual are more accepted than homosexual. Coming out can be problematic depending on the environment, because not everybody is able to accept homosexuality. Society still wants to follow traditional, heterosexual, and gender role norms. Homosexual will face many criticism, discrimination and inequality, but they are somewhat similar to minorities who are also facing similar situation as homosexual. In my opinion, if you are able to come out from the closet, then you should have the confidence to prove to others that we should judge others by their sexuality but to accept other as human

It is estimated that 43.5 million Americans, adults 18 or older, live with mental illness. This number represents 18.1% of all U.S. adults (National Institute of Mental Health, 2014). Stigma toward those who are seen as different have existed for as long as civilization itself, with the stigma for mental illness being one of the most prominent and long lasting that society has had to face throughout its ages (Arboleda-Florez & Stuart, 2012). Increased understanding and awareness for those individuals suffering from mental illness is necessary for us to overcome the impacts stigma has on our society.

No one knows what each person is going through. Could a person spot someone going through hardships? Is the person who wears a grin from ear to ear truly happy? While many people put on a brave face for the public, not everyone is satisfied with the way their life is. Emmanuel Gonzales can walk into any room and be noticed from his strong presence. His pearly white teeth are always showing through his big grin. Emmanuel was always a happy man, with a hurting heart. He kept his sexual orientation under wraps for seven years for many reasons. Emmanuel was afraid; afraid of what everyone was going to think, afraid of how people were going to treat him. His secret was eating him alive. When he officially came out in 2013, his life changed in a way he could not put into words. Even though he felt free, his struggles still

The authors of this article seek answers to questions that were previously pretty ignored and to explain the cultural sociology and family systems that shape the way bisexual individuals experiences with coming out to their family members. There are 2 main research questions, which the author explicitly states; the first is “how do cultural representations of bisexuality influence disclosure experiences in families and family members’ reactions?” and the second is “how do the relationships among family members influence the disclosure process?” (Scherrer, Kazyak & Schmitz, 2015, p.681) By answering these questions, the article analyzes the disclosure experiences of 45 bisexual individuals using cultural sociology and family systems frameworks. What makes this study unique is that rather than looking at smaller-scale factors like age, gender, etc., the author focuses more on the importance of viewing the bisexual individual’s coming out to their family as being rooted in a broader sociocultural context. Some other central points that the article focuses on are the differences between gay/lesbian disclosure and research on those versus bisexual disclosure, how families

Coming out – Refers to the experience of some gay and lesbians as they work through to begin and accept to stigmatize identity.

Why is it so difficult to come out as a Homosexual male? There are several reasons some might hide their sexuality for a longer time than anticipated. It has also been proven that coming out as a homosexual can improve quality of life such as making the individual feel confident and happier within themselves. With the favorable effects also come the adverse effects of coming out. Some of these reasons may include, but for sure not limited to, dealing with stereotypes from the community, being disowned by loved ones and encountering homophobic individuals. Today I will tell my experience of coming out as a homosexual male to my friends and family. I will also share with you their reactions, comments and the ridiculous stereotypes that lingered and potentially could’ve destroyed my relationship with the people I love.