Liberating and Empowering Effects of Critical Reflection on Collective Action in LGBT and Cisgender Heterosexual Individuals

Critical consciousness represents the transformation from a passive target of oppression to an active actor with an increased capacity to analyze and negotiate conditions of oppression. It is considered as an antidote for oppression that can liberate people from oppressive ideologies and empower them to resist social injustice. Building on the theory of critical consciousness and the Social Identity Model of Collective Action, this paper examined the liberating and empowering effects of critical reflection on collective action for minority rights. Results of a cross-sectional study in 1,050 LGBT individuals (Study 1) showed that critical reflection was associated with lower levels of internalized oppression and higher levels of collective efficacy, which in turn were associated with greater intentions to undertake collective action for LGBT rights. Findings from a prospective longitudinal study in 428 cisgender heterosexual individuals (Study 2) indicated that critical reflection was associated with lower levels of internalized domination and heightened levels of efficacious beliefs, which positively predicted actual participation in collective action at a subsequent wave. The findings supported the effects of critical reflection on collective action mobilization and offered leads for future research and praxis on how to orient different sectors of society to work toward social equity.

Gender and sexuality in mental health: perspectives on lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) rights and mental health in the ASEAN region

This perspective piece focuses on and analyzes several lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) individuals' rights and their limitations in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, including the limited recognition of self-determined gender identity, limited legal provisions for LGBT marriage, inadequate anti-discrimination policies, and the criminalization of homosexuality. These inadequacies in LGBT rights may stem from colonial, religious, and cultural factors. Moreover, these limited LGBT rights and their societal repercussions may contribute to the minority stress of LGBT individuals, leading to their higher rates of mental health problems. Thus, there may be a need to uphold, recognize, and protect LGBT rights as the region pursue equitable mental health. Toward this pursuit, the region may possibly benefit from culturally adapting gender-affirming practices, increasing their social support, opposing the practice of conversion therapy, and decriminalizing homosexuality. It may also be necessary to explore, analyze, and study the intersection of LGBT identity and mental health, especially longitudinal and interventional studies.

Santo Domingo's LGBT social movement: At the crossroads of HIV and LGBT activism

The emergent Dominican LGBT movement in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, has been embedded in local and global structures and discourses related to HIV/AIDS, women's health, and identity. This article explores how ongoing sociocultural changes, increased international HIV funding, and elite support facilitated a surge of collective actions and the institutional reconfiguration of the movement. However, the entry of new cohorts of leaders and the alignment of leaders with global discourses of gender and human rights exposed some rifts within the movement, including over the framing of identity, confrontational tactics, and the role of health issues. While creating political opportunities, international HIV/AIDS funding also consolidated the social movement around HIV at the expense of other issues. The rapid consolidation of the LGBT movement towards HIV issues in the Dominican Republic raises questions about the role of international health funding and health-related NGOs on a movement's discourses, strategies, and consolidation, and about the recruitment of social movement leaders as public health professionals. I suggest that the trajectories of new movements, when social and political opportunities arise, are ultimately defined by their ability to bridge over generational and ideological rifts, engage in a broader spectrum of strategies, and embrace intersectional collective actions.

Protecting the fabric of society? Heterosexual views on the usefulness of the anti-gay laws in Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago

This study evaluated the extent to which people living in Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago believe that the anti-gay laws currently in place: (1) reflect moral standards; (2) stop the spread of homosexuality; (3) are important from a public health perspective; and (4) protect young people from abuse. Analysis reveals that demographics, religion, interpersonal contact and beliefs about the origin of homosexuality all influenced an individual's views on the usefulness of the anti-gay laws in these states, but the significance of their impacts varied substantially across the arguments.

Sexual orientation and the European Convention on Human Rights: What of the "L" in LGBT?

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has long been celebrated for its role in advancing LGBT rights. This article adopts an intersectional feminist approach in order to critically examine the trajectory of the Court's LGBT case-law from a gendered perspective. In doing so, it foregrounds the portrayal, experience and, indeed, invisibility of lesbian applicants. Adopting an intersectional approach that considers the gender dimension of sexual orientation claims provides a somewhat different perspective on the struggle for LGBT rights before the ECtHR and suggests that lesbian voices and experiences have been marginalized and excluded in the struggle for LGBT rights.