Alcoholism and Non-Acceptance of Gay Self:

Abstract

As part of a larger research project designed to generate grounded theory on the nature of gay sobriety, this study was designed to explore the etiology of alcoholism among gay American men and how etiology is related to gay bars or non-acceptance of gay self or both. In-depth interviews were conducted in Seattle, Iowa City, Chicago, and Oklahoma City with 20 gay recovering alcoholic men, each of whom had at least one year of sobriety. It was found that: (a) Gay bars were totally unrelated to the etiology in any of the informants, yet most thought that this gay bar ethnotheory could explain why there was a high incidence of alcoholism in the gay community; (b) none of the men saw being gay as a positive thing before sobriety, yet many didn't realize their non-acceptance until after sobriety was chosen; (c) accepting being gay as a positive aspect of self occurred only after sobriety was chosen and lived; and (d) not accepting being gay as a positive thing may therefore explain the etiology and thus the high incidence of alcoholism among gay American men.

Treatment Counselor's Attitudes About Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Clients: Urban vs. Rural Settings

“…Fewer traditional roles and responsibilities (marriage, parenthood) that are believed to limit substance use in heterosexual people (Hughes and Wilsnack, 1997) . Nonacceptance of self (Kus, 1988) or internalized homophobia or transphobia; internalized homophobia/transphobia refers to the acceptance of negative societal stereotypes and attitudes about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people, and can result in lower self-esteem and feelings of low self-worth (Ghindia and Kola, 1996) The greater the number of stigmatized identities (e.g., nonwhite race/ ethnicity, disability), the greater the likelihood of experiencing these risk factors. Because of the effects of societal stigma and associated risks, LGBT clients may have somewhat different treatment needs than the general population, needs that are largely overlooked in drug and alcohol user treatment programs (CSAT, 2001).…”

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered People and Chemical Dependency: Exploring Successful Treatment

“…Therefore, this instrument only measures attitudes about sexual orientation that are based in the latter four stages of identity formation (tolerance, acceptance, pride, and synthesis). This instrument is particularly relevant to this study, as Finnegan and McNally (2002) noted that several studies (Kus, 1987(Kus, , 1988McNally, 1989, as cited in Finnegan & McNally, 2002 have shown that lesbian women and gay men were not able to move beyond Stage 3 while still actively abusing alcohol or other drugs, as their cognitive, affective, and judgment abilities were impaired. Thus, the use of this scale allows for measurement of where the respondents are in terms of attitudes toward their own sexual orientation.…”

O preconceito sexual internalizado por homossexuais masculinos

“…Em vez de odiar-se a si mesmo o indivíduo passa, a partir deste momento, a dirigir seu descontentamento para alvos externos, isto é, para as instituições sociais que favorecem o preconceito (Margolies, Becker & Jackson-Brewer, 1987). De acordo com Kus (1988), também é necessário que o sujeito reconheça os sentimentos de raiva e rejeição anteriormente direcionados ao self, trabalhando-os individualmente (utilizando biblioterapia 8 , por exemplo) ou através de uma psicoterapia adequada, isto é, realizada por um profissional que esteja familiarizado com os estudos mais recentes ligados à homossexualidade, incluindo a questão do preconceito internalizado.…”

“…Além de assumir-se como homossexual, entrar em contato com indivíduos similarmente estigmatizados e frequentar grupos militantes ou de apoio-mútuo, também tende a reduzir o preconceito internalizado, favorecendo uma melhoria na qualidade de vida (Kus, 1988). De acordo com Sophie (1987), ter amigos homossexuais que atuem como modelos positivos e que contradigam estereótipos é extremamente importante na superação do preconceito internalizado e na assunção da homossexualidade.…”