Embodied, Situated, and Co-Constructed: Young Sexual Minority Men’s Experiences of Intersectional Identity and Minority Stress

The temporal intersectional minority stress model: Reimagining minority stress theory

“…For example, circumstances such as homelessness may disproportionately have a negative impact on trans queer individuals compared to cisgender queer individuals (Shelton et al, 2018). This visual and theoretical change from the original model underscores that one's identities are mutually influential upon each other and represents the empirical expansion by scholars to better represent the experiences of queer individuals and families (e.g., McConnell et al, 2021; Neilands et al, 2020; Schmitz, Robinson, Tabler, et al, 2020). Lastly, in Meyer's (2003) model, he stated that the characteristics of a minority identity (i.e., valence, prominence, and integration) could influence how stress is experienced and internalized by minority individuals.…”

“…Integrating intersectionality, MST, and socio‐ecological theory, the researchers found that participants experienced varying levels of stress related to their sexual identity and specific forms of stress related to the intersection of their racial, gender, and sexual identities. Further, McConnell et al (2021) also contextualized sexual minority men's experiences within specific neighborhoods and spaces (e.g., dating apps) to highlight how marginalization can vary for sexual minority men with different intersectional identities in diverse contexts. Their study emphasized the importance of scholars researching the experiences of queer populations to utilize an intersectional approach that not only looks at identities but includes how the intersections of identities interact with specific spaces and how the systemic oppressions in these spaces work to produce stress for queer individuals with diverse identities.…”

“…In another study, McConnell et al (2021) explored the experiences of young white, Black, and Latino sexual minority men who lived in Chicago at multiple levels of the social ecology. Integrating intersectionality, MST, and socio-ecological theory, the researchers found that participants experienced varying levels of stress related to their sexual identity and specific forms of stress related to the intersection of their racial, gender, and sexual identities.…”

“…Many of the limitations of MST have been addressed by empirical work wherein MST has been applied to expanded populations (e.g., gender minority individuals; Tan et al, 2020;Testa et al, 2015) and integrated with life course (e.g., Bishop et al, 2020;Frost et al, 2020) and intersectionality perspectives (e.g., McConnell et al, 2018McConnell et al, , 2021Nicholson et al, 2022;Schmitz, Robinson, Tabler, et al, 2020). Despite these extensions, a comprehensive theoretical model has not been introduced in the literature.…”

Marginalized within the Margins: Minority Stress and Identity Centrality

“…While several respondents perceived their identities to be separate and able to be ranked in importance, for others, they felt that their identities were equally important and unable to be detangled. Previous studies have documented how different levels of centrality matter for health outcomes; higher levels of centrality differentially impact wellbeing, especially among minoritized communities (McConnell, Tull, and Birkett 2021). This study suggests that there is not a “one size fits all” explanation to how people perceive multiple types of identity importance.…”