The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of 15 Latina lesbian students and their perceived sexual identity development at a predominately Hispanic-serving Institution (HSI). Participants for this study were purposefully selected using criteria, convenience, and snowball sampling. Using a conceptual framework…

Conceptual discussions about LGB people of color suggest that, compared with White LGB individuals, LGB people of color may be exposed to greater levels of heterosexist stigma and its deleterious correlates (greater risk) or may be more resilient to such stigma (resilience). This study tested tenets of these two perspectives with a sample of 178…

Data from 2 studies revealed that ethnic and sexual minority clients experienced greater psychological distress on multiple dimensions than did European American or heterosexual clients, respectively, as did ethnic and sexual minority students who were not clients. Among sexual minority students, ethnicity was not an added source of distress.…

Recent findings on the impact of gay-straight alliances (GSAs) on the school experiences of sexual minority youth have demonstrated that numerous positive outcomes are associated with attending schools that have such student organizations. Some research attributes the positive impact to shifts in campus climate resulting from recognition and…

Using a representative national sample (N = 20,745), this article explores health and mental health needs, service use, and barriers to services among sexual minority youths (SMYs) and heterosexual peers. SMYs were defined by ever having a same-sex romantic attraction or having a recent same-sex romantic relationship or sexual partner. SMYs…

Educators must consider how learning environments can structure experiences to produce desired learning outcomes. In this paper, the author describes one type of learning environment where youth have the opportunity to construct adaptive, emergent identities--a "dramaturgical" process that structures the telling, adapting, and…

It has been well documented that sexual minority individuals are significantly more likely to be college educated than heterosexual individuals [Black, D., Gates, G., Sanders, S., & Taylor, L. (2000). Demographics of the gay and lesbian population in the United States: Evidence from available systematic data sources. "Demography," 37(2), 139-154;…

The present study provides a comparative analysis of sexual-minority and heterosexual emerging adult women's experiences seeking support for sexual issues from parents and friends. Participants included 229 college women (88 sexual-minority women; 141 heterosexual women), ranging from 18 to 25 years of age, who provided written responses to an…

This study extends research on dimensions of sexual minority experience by examining differences between bisexual and lesbian/gay adults in adaptation to sexual orientation stigma. The authors investigated sexual orientation self-disclosure, connection to community, and 4 identity-related variables (internalized homonegativity, stigma…

Sexual minority adolescents--those self-identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) or with same-sex desires or sexual experiences--report higher rates of victimization and suicidality than their heterosexual peers, yet little empirical research has examined school factors associated with these risks. This study used data from the Massachusetts…