Contextualising family microaggressions and strategies of resilience among young gay and bisexual men of Latino heritage

Abstract

Young Latino gay and bisexual men experience discrimination due to heterosexism and racism from within and beyond their communities. Although most research has emphasised overt forms of discrimination, a growing body of research is examining the effects of microaggression, or indirect forms of discrimination, on racial and sexual minorities. The purpose of this study was to explore the contexts of various types of microaggression, as well as describe resilience strategies used by young adult Latino gay and bisexual men living in Los Angeles, California. A sample of 21 young Latino gay and bisexual men aged 18 to 29 years were recruited to complete qualitative, in-depth semi-structured interviews following a phenomenological approach. Three contextual themes relevant to microaggression emerged: (a) microassaults, (b) microinsults, and (c) microinvalidations. Three themes emerged around the resilience strategies to overcome these experiences: (a) self-discovery, (b) adaptive socialisation, and (c) self-advocacy. Family and community-based efforts to reinforce and expand resilience repertoires are needed to help young Latino gay and bisexual men.

Intersectional Family Systems Approach: LGBTQ+ Latino/a Youth, Family Dynamics, and Stressors

“…Although most participants underscored the broader impact of familial resistance to their LGBTQ+ identities on stressors, they also stressed the distinct influence of familial religious pressure as damaging to their emotional and mental health. LGBTQ+ Latino/a young adults also enacted identity management strategies within family interactions to handle their mental well-being, highlighting these marginalized young people's ability to foster resilience in the face of adversity (Li et al, 2017). Through an intersectional family systems approach, this study underscores the importance of examining racial and ethnic diversity within LGBTQ+ familial processes (van Eeden-Moorefield et al, 2017) and promotes more explicitly queer family scholarship (Acosta, 2018) that provides nuance to participants' varying experiences and the role of power dynamics and structural influence in family systems surrounding familial resistance to LGBTQ+ youth's identities.…”

“…For LGBTQ+ youth queried in a national survey, positive encounters with religious ideologies can enhance youth's self-esteem (Dahl & Galliher, 2010) even when family networks may not be accepting. In the face of cultural prejudice and discrimination, especially from family members, LGBTQ+ Latino/a young adults establish self-empowering strategies to promote their well-being and resilience, such as developing supportive peer networks (Li et al, 2017). Some LGBTQ+ Latino/a young people acknowledge the importance of maintaining family relationships when disclosing their sexual identities (i.e., familism; Acosta, 2013).…”

Navigating double marginalisation: migrant Chinese sexual and gender minority young people’s views on mental health challenges and supports

“…Recent studies in the USA and UK indicate that double minority youth can develop coping strategies for resiliency in the face of double marginalisation (Li et al 2017; Rios and Eaton 2016;Jaspal and Williamson 2017). These strategies include skills in identity management, whereby double minority youth learn to selectively prioritise aspects of their identity that are less stigmatised and seen as appropriate to the given social context (Wang, Bih and Brennan 2009;Szymanski and Sung 2013;Jaspal and a The term sexual and gender minority refers to all gender diverse people who are not cisgender (i.e.…”

Violência e vulnerabilidade ao HIV/AIDS em jovens homossexuais e bissexuais

“…(12)(13)(14) Unhealthy and aggressive environments negatively affect the health of young homosexuals, bisexuals, and other men who have sex with men, leading to isolation and silence with regard to sexuality, and placing them at risk of infection by HIV. (15) The high prevalence of domestic, sexual, and institutional violence implies changes in the meaning of interpersonal power, socialization, self-knowledge, self-judgement, and images that are constructed from domestic and institutional spaces, and territories of conviviality, (16)(17)(18) as shown in the narratives of the participants interviewed.…”

“…(19) In the case of this study, young men with a more fragile look, more delicate physical features, or effeminate were considered inferior than men who followed prevalent standards of masculinity, rooted as one of the greatest "Latin heritage". (6,17) Seeking support from a reliable person, friend, or family is common to everyone who experiences situations of violence, since expressing feelings may be a way to face reality. However, support found by young homosexuals and bisexuals was fragile, because of the fear of disclosing aspects of their lives that could generate judgment.…”