LGBTQ Discrimination

Name- Keshav Aggarwal

Student id- 10126579

Course code- Socio 100

Prof name- Dr Nashia Ajaz

Date- March 15, 2024

Discrimination is an issue no LGBT members (Canadians) face in their daily life. This paper

intended to find out the mental effects of discrimination the LGTBQ folks are subjected to in

Canada. To stereotype is to treat someone in a prejudiced or unfair way based on their social

characteristics, physical appearance, religious beliefs, or status, just to name a few. The research

question that will guide this study is: Can we measure the psychological effect of a

discrimination that the residents of LGBTQ experience between them and the rest of the

population in Canada?

Background

In the past few years, the Canadian people have become much more tolerant to the idea of

diversity that is comprised of LGBTQ community. Nevertheless, even though some advance has

been registered, the LGBTQ community is still in most cases exposed to discriminatory actions.

In this context, the unevenness assumes different forms: homophobia, transphobia and biphobia

(Formby, 2015). Discrimination can yield to undesirable results in terms of mental health such as

creating stress, anxiety, depression and various other cases of mental health issues.

Different patterns of discrimination against LGBTQ community include physical beating, verbal

bullying, social isolation, hate speech, harassment as well as job, educational, housing,

healthcare information, and other forms of discrimination (Gordon & Meyer, 2007). LGBTQ

members are victims of discrimination, irregular accessing of healthcare and mental health

services (Albuquerque et al., 2016), benefits to which they are also entitled, and which may lead

to ineffective care or complete exclusion from care. In addition to the above mentioned points,
systemic discrimination and society stigma against the LGBTQ community is also a barrier to

their personal well-being and a limitation of chances for them to achieve their Lives in society.

Literature Review

According to scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals, discrimination not only increases the

negative psychological outcomes among LGBTQ people, but also it negatively affects their

mental well-being. The research on the impact of victimization against homophobic analyzed by

Ryan et.al (2010), demonstrated a direct link between homophobic victimization and some

negative psychological effects such as depression, anxiety and reduced life satisfaction.

Similarly, a study by Meyer (2003) identified gay and bisexual folk were prone to be faced

psychological problems like distress if they had experienced harassment. Not as gay and bisexual

that didn’t experience same.

Even more, the researchers conducted by Hatzenbuehler et al. (2009) presented that the

prevalence of psychiatric disorders, including suicidal tendencies, is thrice high among the

lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGBT) individuals living in communities with high anti-gays

prejudices. Such results evidence that abuse of this kind leads to the decline of the mental health

of LGBTQ individuals and also show that discrimination against these people should be

addressed as a public issue.

It was found that the depressing effect of discrimination is more acute among the younger

members of the LGBTQ community (Almeida et al., 2009), who because of their age are more

susceptible to stress and interpersonal pressures and not yet going through the identity-building

stage. LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) youth who are at risk of being
discriminated against might participate more in activities involving taking of risk, relationship

problems, and academic or career difficulties.

Theory

The theoretical stand that was used in this study is the minority stress model as it explains how

discrimination affects the mental health of LGBTQ individuals. According to the minority stress

theory, people in stigmatized groups with a majority of such groups for example, LGBTQ

members, frequently have to deal with much stress associated with their minority status that in

turn can cause adverse health outcomes (Meyer 2003).

Based on this theory, individuals in the LGBTQ community are having stressors that are

distinguishable, such as the coming out, the rejection from family and friends, and the stigma

from the society which do not depart from emotional distress. Through this theory, the issue

stressed is to eradicate the discrimination towards LGBT community members as a precondition

for the improvement of mental health status of such individuals.

Results/Findings

The research examples presented above, clearly show that discrimination has a negative effect on

the emotional health of LGBTQ people. Discrimination results in higher rate of stress and

psychological disturbances which are a precursor to mental health issues like depression, anxiety

and reduced satisfaction from life. Besides, additional research studies conducted by other

scholars provided the same evidence by Longmore et al.,( 2012) discovered that discrimination

of bisexual men correlated with depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts when a group of men

were purposefully chosen for the study. But another study, by Bostwick et al. (2014), showed
that transgender people who had faced severe family rejection had higher chances to be

diagnosed with suicide attempts, depression, and mental health issues.

There is evidence that even though there have been recent marked improvements in the civil

rights of LGBTQ community members and general acceptance, widespread prejudice and

embarrassment towards members of the LGBTQ community continues to exist, with the negative

impacts on their mental health. As Charlton outlines it the results of a survey shows a

discrimination index of 30% for the LGBTQ individuals from work (Charlton et al., 2018). The

report indicates that LGBTQ people were more likely to endure severe hate crimes including

especially the number of hate crimes targeting transgender and homosexuals individuals.

Discussion and Counterargument

It is worthwhile to note that though the LGBTQ community is just one, there are numerous

experiences of discrimination that any given member can go through or may result in different

mental health outcomes. Let us take as an example that research says that the LGBTQ people

among the marginalized ones such as racialized and who are living in the poverty are the ones

which experience more discrimination and that these people have worst mental well being

compared to those who are not marginalized among the marginalized group (Balsam et al.,

2011). Intersectionality, whereby the diversity among the LGBT community is valued, and its

peculiar strengths and weaknesses, is considered.

Not everybody in the LGBTQ+ community contains risk factors some do possess resources such

as support from their friends and relatives or the ability to be resilient which could diminish the

negative impact of discrimination on mental health. On top of that, as the way social norms and

gender and sexuality changed and usually get revised, more and more gender and sexually
diverse people have a chance to participate in well protected and friendly spaces that leads to

their mental wellbeing.

Nevertheless, the surprising tendency is that various studies keep demonstrating that

discrimination causes mental health deterioration among LGBTQ persons. Informing the

community about the problems and the ways they impact society at large is the key to

empowering people with more knowledge and the understanding of the discussed matters.

Conclusion

Homophobia and transphobia can cause mental health problems for LGBTQ Canadians.

Research tells us that discrimination makes people psychologically stressed and harms their

mental health by affecting things like depression, anxiety, and life satisfaction. Minority stress

theory maintains that dealing with the prejudice that LGBTQ community faces is important in

order to have positive mental health outcomes. The attention needs to be kept on the

discrimination towards the LGBTQ community and the society needs to make the efforts

towards including the members of this community in the society.

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