Is mental health related to expressions of homonegative stigma and community connectedness in Mexican lesbian and bisexual women?

Résumé 0

Despite the need to understand lesbian and bisexual women’s vulnerability to mental health affections in connection with expressions of stigma, LGBT studies in Mexico often do not take them into consideration. Current data show that among lesbians and bisexual women, variables such as internalized homonegativity and community connectedness correlate with mental health indicators. The specific relationship between mental health outcomes, community connectedness, and stigma in the forms of internalized homonegativity, discrimination, and violence has not been explored for Mexican lesbian and bisexual women. This paper attempts to identify if this relationship exists through the participation of 150 lesbian and bisexual women who were asked to answer a survey at the annual Sexual Diversity and Pride March in Mexico City 2015. The same survey was available online; both explored internalized homonegativity, community connectedness, discrimination, violence, depression, and alcohol use and abuse. Results show that internalized homonegativity and community connectedness are the strongest predictors of mental health. These results are indicative of how lesbian and bisexual women suffer from the cognitive and emotional consequences of homonegativity in connection to mental health rather than direct discrimination and violence. Lastly, it is recommended that more research be undertaken on this relationship to find interventions that focus on the eradication of discrimination and violence against non-heterosexual women.