Lgbt Individuals Access And Experiences With Their Identity

The LGBT community has been silently suffering through generations. But in this generation, they are finally showing the world their voice. There have been many instances where young adults were denied their right to be who they are and now they are speaking out about the mistreatment. Even though the united states have begun to be more open about the LGBT community here is still more change it come. These changes can be explained through many sociological perspectives including: functionalist, conflict, symbolic interactionism and interactionism. Along with these perspective religion, norms and deviance all impact these individuals who are striving to be open about who they really are inside and out.

Health disparities in the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender community that lack fair treatment. This population deals with many adversities due to their sexual orientation and gender identity. LGBT’s community consists of a diverse population of people who come from all walks of life ((Howard, 2016). Many LBGT’s will delay or not seek health care due to stigma and lack of fair treatment. In other words, they believe that they are discriminated against.

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

This article describes the aging gay and lesbian community. Past research of this community focused more on the gay White man, well-educated, active in the gay community and high socioeconomic backgrounds. This study examines current roles of social work regarding research with older gay men and lesbians and presents recommendations for both practice and research in the years ahead. Not only is this community of sexism, they are also victims of ageism. Future work must strive to be more representative of older lesbians, geographic diversity, and classes because these variables play an important role in shaping the gay aging experience.

Delay of seeing a healthcare provider on the basis of fear increases the development of severe illnesses in older LGBT populations. It exacerbates healthcare costs, can put a strain on mental health, and overall decreases wellbeing (Fredriksen-Goldsen & Kim, 2014). Although there is not a calculated cost to be found within the older LGBT community, the delaying of necessary preventative tests, medical treatment, or mental health can worsen current symptoms. This can increase emergency room visits, an already expensive system, thus increasing healthcare costs (Meyer, 2011). In addition to declining physical wellbeing, these adults lack social support systems as they are “twice as likely to live alone, and more than four times as likely to have no children, as compared to heterosexual adults (Gendron et

Relocating into a senior care facilities can be a frightening experience for the aging population. Getting familiar with new surroundings, new organization structure, and new people that can cause anxiety to rise. For a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer individual, this experience can be traumatic. The fear of harassment, hostility, and neglect by healthcare providers and caretakers can keep LGBTQ people from seeking care until their health begins to critically decline. LGBTQ cultural competency training is highly recommended for healthcare professionals and social service organizations. The greatest barrier that prevents quality health care for LGBTQ people is the lack of competence among the healthcare professionals.

In addition to the economic vulnerability of older adults, being a part of the LGBT community makes dealing with disparities connected to aging even more difficult because many LGBT elderly experience increased isolation due to a lifetime of stigma. Karen I. Fredriksen-Goldsen a Ph.D. professor and the director of Healthy Generations cited a study called Caring and Aging with Pride. In this study 2,560 demographically diverse LGBT older adults across the nation mention similar concerns related to Isolation, finding friend support, caregiving and health. Fredriksen-Goldsen mentions how LGBT older adults are

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) falls within societal minority groups such as low income, people of color, and disables (AHRQ, 2011). Due to their gender identity, discrimination, violence, and even denial of human rights and healthcare services is a common challenge among LGBT population. LGBT still faces many health disparities primarily related to the historic bias of healthcare professionals anti-LGBT manners even though society acceptance has been favorable. According to Ard and Makadon (n.d), “until 1973, homosexuality was listed as a disorder…, and transgender still is.” This stigma prevents healthcare professionals to openly ask questions in a non-judgmental manner related to sexual identity. On the other hand, if the patient senses that the healthcare environment is discriminating they may be reluctant to disclose important information as their sexual orientation; thus, missing important opportunities of been educated about safety and health care risks.

This activity is relevant to the Kimmel (2014) article because during the activity I was not able to mention anything on my list and it correlates to the LGBT community because they feel like they must be silent about their sexual orientation. For instance, Kimmel states, “Feeling unsure about acceptance, it can be difficult for LGBT elders to disclose hidden facets of their intimate life to physicians, hospital workers, or social service agencies. Most fear they will have to remain (or go back) in the closet of secrecy if they need care in old age, either by an in-home service or in a care facility (National Senior Citizens Law Center, 2011).” Another factor is not being accepted by their biological family members. Kimmel states, “In contradistinction

Sexual and social stigmas largely affect the health of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population. While many reports from the Institute of Medicine, Healthy People 2020 and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality recognize a need to improve the quality of health care, barriers still remain. LGBT patients face legal discrimination, especially with insurance, a lack of social programs, and limited access to providers competent in LGBT health care. Although the Affordable Care Act increased access to care for LGBT patients, unless these patients feel understood by providers and develop trust in the system, they are not likely to utilize care. Healthcare providers need to recognize how these vulnerabilities, as well as persistent racism and stigma linked to sexual orientation and gender identity, make the healthcare needs of LGBT patients more challenging than the general population. Healthcare providers also need to promote cultural competence within this population and broaden their clinical lens to include health promotion, in addition to addressing concerns mentioned above within the population. Additionally, medical and nursing schools need to ensure that future providers are adequately educated by including information about this population in the curriculum.

After viewing the film “GEN SILENT”, I was speechless by some of the experiences and challenges faced by the aging LGBT seniors. To me, it is a disgrace to see in this day and age that human beings are experiencing these challenges (emotional, social, and psychological) and stigma by their families, strangers and health care providers simply because of their sexual orientations or preferences. I feel that it is a disgrace for such an inequality to continue to be of existence in the 21st century because I believe as human beings we should all be more considerate and treat everyone with respect and dignity.

Cass (1979) introduced, what is still today, the most widely used identity development model for the LGBT population. It was thought that gay identity development would serve as the most significant moderator of the physiological stress response. Findings from this study suggest that it affects the stress response, but not to the degree that was expected. It is possible that a Gay Identity Questionnaire (GIQ) will not accurately capture the gay identity development, or that the homogeneity of the sample might not produce statistically significant results. However, as one of the post-hoc analyses self-esteem could account for more of the variance in the stress response. It is not to suggest that gay identity development is not an important construct to understand, but perhaps it could be captured more accurately. Mohr and Fassinger (2000) identified the many dimensions to the gay and lesbian experience. It might be that this current study could support the difficulty in quantitatively measuring one's global identity development, as many individuals possess countless identities and mood can significantly affect one's response to the test items. As with any generalization, one must be cautious in its interpretation.

Ten percent of the human population is homosexual. In Greek it is pronounced ὁμός, meaning "same", and sex derives from the term sexus in Latin. In Ancient Greece, sexuality was not questioned, and it was something that was rejoiced. Today, people all over the world question the sexual identity of homosexual people, because it goes against their religion, social standards, morals, and intellect. As humans, we must comprehend the fact that being gay is nothing more than love between two humans. As humans, we must come to the realization that we are all equal, and that you are born gay; furthermore, you don’t have a choice.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, also known as LGBT population have experienced a great deal of oppression worldwide. These particular individuals undergo discrimination from society, whether for reasons of ignorance, fear or intolerance, this population faces challenges in multiple areas of social justice sexual. Although the LGBT culture has made some strides in the areas of state and federal legislation, there is still a wide range of criminalization that takes place within our culture. Understanding the LGBT community and the history of their oppression may be the first step in becoming culturally competent. For many years this culture was denied their basic constitutional rights that were afforded to their equal heterosexual peers. Basic rights such as, adoption and marriage were uncommon to this culture until the 20th century.

Homosexuality has been a questionable topic discussed in the United States for years. Over the years, we have seen a growing studies regarding homosexuality. Homosexuality is becoming a question of science or morale. So, is homosexuality and identity or a behavior? Identity is defined as who someone is or the qualities, beliefs, etc., that make a particular person or group different from others. Behavior is defined as the manner of conducting oneself or the way a person or animal acts or behave. Homosexuality is an identity, because it is something that one defines themselves as.