The prism of identities and stress among LGBTQ+ Latino/a young adults

By Dr. Rachel M. Schmitz

How do people’s diverse social locations and identities influence their mental health experiences? This question motivated our research published in Society and Mental Health in 2020. People inhabiting socially marginalized categories often face disproportionate experiences of prejudice and discrimination in their lives. Exposure to societal stigma stemming from one’s social locations and identities can shape mental health challenges like anxiety and depression, known as minority stress. People who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or queer (LGBTQ+) as well as people of color tend to face multiple sources of oppression and structural stigma, such as anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and racism, defined as intersectionality. Much research has highlighted intersectional minority stress in nationally representative surveys where LGBTQ+ people of color face some of the highest rates of mental health disparities. People of color are also not a monolith, with Latino/a people navigating distinctive cultural stressors, such as xenophobia and anti-immigration beliefs. Young adults are also managing multiple unique aspects of development, such as coming out to family. Our study advanced an intersectional minority stress perspective to better understand processes of people’s interpretations of stigma and mental health by elevating the qualitative narratives of LGBTQ+ Latino/a young people.

What We Did

We recruited 41 young adults from the Rio Grande Valley in Southernmost Texas between the ages of 18-26 who identified as both LGBTQ+ and Latino/a. All young adults participated in one semi-structured, in-depth interview lasting approximately one hour that was conducted face-to-face and was tape-recorded for future transcription. Participants were asked the same series of open-ended questions surrounding their LGBTQ+ and racial/ethnic identities and mental health. Examples of interview questions include: How do your identities impact your health? How do you manage stereotypes related to your identities? Data analysis was conducted in the qualitative data analysis program NVivo 11 to code for overarching patterns and themes in participants’ narratives for how they understood multiple sources of stigma in the context of their mental health.

What We Learned

We found that LGBTQ+ Latino/a young adults interpreted the impacts of structural stigmas on their mental health in a variety of ways, often using emotional labor strategies to manage the psychological stress of experiencing prejudice and discrimination.

Conceptions of Structural Racism – Young adults struggled with mental health being stigmatized in their Latino/a families. They often attributed this invalidation of mental health challenges to a widespread cultural belief that values independence and strength (“you just need to take care of yourself, forget about it, and move forward”), which can help offset racism and anti-Latino/a beliefs from the dominant white culture. Stereotypical notions of masculinity and gender roles also constrained how young people could express their LGBTQ+ identities.
Experiences of Gender Policing – Young queer women felt pressured to conform to dominant, stereotypical ideals of femininity, which often conflicted with their own diverse queer identities. Women participants felt their sexuality was dismissed as invalid or framed as a taboo topic while growing up (“it’s hard to take care of yourself when you don’t know what you’re taking care of”). Young queer men also experienced distress at feeling they needed to repress their gender expression and “hide femininity” for fear of backlash. Some young adults, meanwhile, reframed their subordinated identities as sources of empowerment (“it’s a really great thing for my health”).
Anti-LGBTQ+ Religious Discourses – Structural stigma from religious ideologies also created mental health challenges for young adults, especially within their close-knit Latino/a families. Religious beliefs reinforced in families often made participants feel shame and pressure to confirm to dominant ideals of gender and sexuality (“parents made me go to church every weekend because they thought it would be therapy”). Some participants coped with religious prejudice by rejecting institutionalized religion or reshaping their beliefs to be supportive of their identities (“even if my parents don’t accept me, I know that He will no matter what”).

Major Takeaways

Acknowledging people’s lived experiences of intersectional minority stress and how this shapes their mental health is critical to addressing health inequalities. LGBTQ+ Latino/a young adults often must engage in labor-intensive strategies to navigate multiple sources of stigma in their lives. Mental health services and interventions should therefore be tailored to meet young people’s holistic well-being needs.

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Article Details
LGBTQ+ Latino/a Young People’s Interpretations of Stigma and Mental Health: An Intersectional Minority Stress Perspective
Rachel M. Schmitz, Brandon Andrew Robinson, Jennifer Tabler, Brett Welch, and Sidra Rafaqut
First Published May 8, 2019
DOI: 10.1177/2156869319847248
Society and Mental Health

About the Author

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Rachel M. Schmitz, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Oklahoma State University. Her research and teaching interests include gender and sexuality, the family, LGBTQ+ identity development and experiences, and qualitative methods. Dr. Schmitz’s research has been published in journals such as Society and Mental Health and Sexuality Research and Social Policy. Her current work emphasizes the voices and lived experiences of multiple marginalized LGBTQ+ people in rural regions and their understandings of health, as well as expanding notions of kinship to include companion animals.