Running Head: STEREOTYPING & PREJUDICE 1

Stereotyping and Prejudice Against Gay Men

Natalie Piganelli

Department of Psychology, Mansfield University

PSY 3309, Stereotype and Prejudice

Dr. Gretchen Sechrist

April 19, 2020

Gretchen Sechrist 10-7-21

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Abstract

Previous research conducted regarding the LGBTQ+ community has a wide range of

problems being assessed. My aim was to find research from multiple angles that concluded in a

wide range of results. I found that mental health, the coming out process, self-acceptance, and

acceptance from others were quite predominant in research. After finding a variety of data, I

conducted an interview with a 52-year-old man that wishes to remain anonymous. I found out

many new things about a person I have known for years. In the end, I realized that I had no idea

what my interviewee has been through in regard to his sexual orientation. Consequentially, I

realized I do not know the full extent of what people in the LGBTQ+ community have gone

through. I am thankful for the opportunity to further my knowledge and understanding about the

LGBTQ+ community.
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Stereotyping and Prejudice Against Gay Men

Research regarding homosexual and bisexual stereotypes as greatly increased in recent

years. This could be viewed as progress because it shows that more people are putting effort into

understanding the hardships that people in the LGBTQ+ community go through. Unfortunately,

however, recent research is finding similar results to past research when it comes to stereotypes,

prejudice, and discrimination. This could indicate that, even though there is more research

conducted, society as a whole still has similar prejudiced view against the LGBTQ+ community

as it has in the past. In mine and my interviewee’s personal lives, we have seen some progress in

society becoming more accepting. These two things combined lead me to believe that, even

though some progress has been made, society still has a long way to go before all members of

the LGBTQ+ community can feel completely accepted and safe.

Mental Health

Mental health of the LGBTQ+ community is an integral part of not only understanding,

but also helping its members. As we learned in class, gay men and lesbians often feel shame

about their sexual orientation. Shame can take a toll on a person’s mental health. We also learned

that LGBTQ+ youth are 2 to 3 times more likely to complete suicide. Boysen, Vogel, Madon, &

Wester (2006) conducted a study using college students and people training to become therapists.

They looked to see what, if any, stereotypes against gay men these groups of people had. They

hypothesized that college students and therapist trainees would exhibit stereotypes towards gay

men that fell in line with certain mental disorders. Their results actually did not support this. This

just provides data that these people did not express these stereotypes, but it did not address the

mental health of members of the LGBTQ+ community directly. Another study looked at how

social support and mindfulness could possibly impact middle-aged gay men. The results found
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that both social support and mindfulness, mindfulness even more so, predicted lower distress

psychologically (Lyons, Alba, & Pepping, 2017).

Coming Out

In regard to research done about coming out, past research aimed to simply observe the

coming out process while more current research aims to help LGBTQ+ youth and their families

understand what coming out means and how to deal with the consequences both good and bad.

Heatherington & Lavner (2008) worked directly with LGBTQ+ youth and their families to

explain that the fear of the consequences of coming out is valid, but also explained that there are

positive outcomes that can happen after coming out. They found that, surprisingly, relationship

connections seem to improve after the coming out process more often than not. Their goal was to

not only further research, but to help enhance future therapy work with LGBTQ+ youth and their

families. Another study conducted interviews similar to the one I conducted. The interviews

focused specifically on the coming out process and how adapted throughout it. It found that one

of the strongest aides in helping someone through the coming out process was finding a local

community of people that also identified as gay males (Belous, Wampler, & Warmels-Herring,

2015). Participants described how they often tried to follow general stereotypes of gay males,

but, after finding a community they felt comfortable in, they were able to just be themselves.

Self-Acceptance and Acceptance from Others

The next thing I found research about in in relation to how accepting members of the

LGBTQ+ community are of themselves and how accepting people outside of the community are

towards members. One study conducted by Burke & LaFrance (2016) looked at bisexuals

specifically. The researchers aimed to find out if bisexuals have stereotypes against themselves

and, if they do have those stereotypes, are they similar to the stereotypes gay, lesbian, and
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heterosexual people hold towards bisexuals. They found that bisexuals did hold some stereotypes

towards themselves, but they were different from the stereotypes held by people of other sexual

orientations. They stated that previous research found that a stereotype towards bisexual people

were “intermediate” concerning their level of masculinity or femininity, but bisexual people in

this study demonstrated that they perceive themselves to be similar to heterosexual people in this

regard (Burke & LaFrance, 2016). The last study I found simply aimed to assess the relationship

between homophobia and stereotypes towards gays and lesbians. The results were exactly what I,

and the researchers, expected. People that scored high on a homophobia measure, agreed with

negative stereotypes towards those that identify as gay or lesbian (Brown & Groscup, 2009).

Interview

My interviewee first explained that he is attracted to both men and women, so he is

technically bisexual. However, he said he identifies more with the sexual orientation of a gay

male because he is mostly attracted to men. One main example of discrimination that he recalled

happened when he attempted to run for a leadership position. He explained that someone close to

him told him it would be harder for him than others to obtain the position simply because he was

gay. He said that even though he was the most qualified and he had the most experience, the

people choosing who would fill the role chose to elect a straight person with less qualifications

and experience. My interviewee then went on to explain that this did not happen in the

workplace, and that he was lucky because he has never experienced discrimination in the

workplace. The only way his sexuality has come into play in relation to his job is that fact that he

does not tell his clients that he is gay. He works as a psychologist and says that not only does he

not feel the need to tell them, but he also worries that some clients would not be accepting of his

sexuality and then refuse to work with him. He says that working in a rural area also affects this
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because, in his experience, people living in rural areas tend to have more religious and

conservative views, which leads them to be less accepting of homosexuals.

When asking him about his mental health, I asked how he felt before and after coming

out. He talked about how he struggled greatly with depression for a long before coming out. He

still struggles with his mental health, but he says it is not necessarily related to his sexuality and

that he has improved mentally since coming out. He told me a story about a friend he had in high

school that was bullied and disowned from their family because of their sexuality. That friend

ultimately completed suicide. My interviewee explained that after his friends passing, he

struggled with intense anger. He was mad at the world for not being accepting, and he was mad

at himself for not telling his friend that they were not alone. He started working through that

anger and depression and he said that the first step was coming out and being his true self.

My interviewee and I then discussed how accepted he feels by other people. He explained

that he generally feels accepted in today’s society and especially in the LGBTQ+ community,

but that there are always exceptions. He talked about how he believes society has gotten better at

being generally accepting of all sexual orientation but, again, there are exceptions. He also

explained that he believes he has an easier time being accepted because he is “straight passing”

and white. Even though he considers society to be more accepting than it has been in the past, he

still says that we are far from being fully accepting of the entire LGBTQ+ community. He

pointed out that homosexuality is still illegal in some parts of the world and that it can even be

punishable by death. I asked him what he thinks we can all specifically do better, and he feels

that discussion is the most important thing. He recalled that he does not often see people calling

out their loved ones when they say something prejudiced. He said that allies to the LGBTQ+

community need to work harder to hold their loved ones accountable and even attempt to educate
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them on why their views and comments are hurtful. Even though he sees that society is

progressing, he still has lost relationships with his loved ones due to his sexual orientation. He

had to completely cut out his mother from his life due to her refusing to accept him being gay.

Also, he said that some people stop being friends with him when they find out his sexual

orientation, and he has had to choose to stop being friends with others due to them turning out to

be more toxic than accepting of him. The last thing I asked him to tell me was if there were any

specific stereotypes others have towards him that stick out. He said that the most common and

annoying thing he has come across is when straight men find out he is gay, and they assume he is

attracted to them. He described how it is sometimes hard to make male friends because of their

assumption that he is attracted to them simply because he is attracted to men. He explained that

he has to make a point to say he isn’t attracted to every man that he meets. Honestly, I did not

expect the answer he gave, but I am glad to have learned from him.

Conclusion

After all of my research and my interview, I feel like I know a lot more about the

LGBTQ+ community. I do not believe I had prejudiced feeling towards people of sexual

orientations different from my own before this, but I definitely did not understand the full extent

of what the LGBTQ+ community goes through on a daily basis. Like my interviewee, I agree

that society as a whole has progressed in being accepting but, as research shows, we still have a

lot more work to do.

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References

Belous, C. K., Wampler, R.S., & Warmels-Herring, T. (2015). Gay male adaptation in the

coming-out process. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 19(1), 55-71.

http://dx.doi.org.proxy-mansfield.klnpa.org/10.1080/19359705.2014.921265

Boysen, G. A., Vogel, D. L., Madon, S., & Wester, S. R. (2006). Mental health stereotypes about

gay men. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 54(1–2), 69–82. https://doi-org.proxy-

mansfield.klnpa.org/10.1007/s11199-006-8870-0

Brown, M. J., & Groscup, J. L. (2009). Homophobia and acceptance of stereotypes about gays

and lesbians. Individual Differences Research, 7(3), 159–167. https://web-a-ebscohost-

com.proxy-mansfield.klnpa.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=13511352-fc71-

4350-b66f-c617e39d6fb9%40sdc-v-sessmgr02

Burke, S. E., & LaFrance, M. (2016). Stereotypes of bisexual people: What do bisexual people

themselves think? Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 3(2), 247-

254. http://dx.doi.org.proxy-mansfield.klnpa.org/10.1037/sgd0000168

Heatherington, L., & Lavner, J. A. (2008). Coming to terms with coming out: Review and

recommendations for family systems-focused research. Journal of Family Psychology,

23(3), 329-343. http://dx.doi.org.proxy-mansfield.klnpa.org/10.1037/0893-

3200.22.3.329

Lyons, A., Alba, B., & Pepping, C. A. (2017). The impact of social support and mindfulness on

the mental health of middle-aged and older gay men: A longitudinal cohort analysis.

Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 4(4), 472-480.

http://dx.doi.org.proxy-mansfield.klnpa.org/10.1037/sgd0000247
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Appendix

Interview Questions

1) What is your sexual orientation?

2) Have you encountered stereotypes, prejudice, or discrimination based on your sexual

orientation?

3) If so, please provide an example that sticks out to you.

4) How has your mental health been affected since coming out?

5) How was your mental health before coming out?

6) Do you feel accepted in today’s society?

7) Do you feel accepted in the LGBTQ+ community?

8) Have you lost friendships or other relationships due to others not being accepting of your

sexual orientation?

9) Have you experienced stereotyping, prejudice, or discrimination in the workplace?

10) Do you feel society is more or less accepting of your sexual orientation than it has been

in the past?

11) What, if anything, do you think society can do better regarding homophobia and

heterosexism?

12) Are there any specific stereotypes towards your sexual orientation that especially bother

you?