LGBTQIA+ People’s Perspectives on LGBTQIA+-Targeted State Policies and Mental Health

What are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQIA+) people’s perceptions of the mental health impacts of recent US LGBTQIA+-targeted policies?In this qualitative study, 61 LGBTQIA+ adults living in states that recently proposed or enacted LGBTQIA+-targeted policies were interviewed. Participants described 3 perceived mental health impacts, including chronic worry and hypervigilance, social isolation, and hopelessness and powerlessness; they also described that these policies’ perceived negative mental health impacts are more pronounced for those most targeted (transgender and nonbinary people, youths) and for socially and economically marginalized and geographically isolated communities.In this study, LGBTQIA+ people perceived LGBTQIA+-targeted policies to negatively impact their mental health.

Corresponding Author: Briana S. Last, PhD, Stony Brook University, Psychology Bldg B, Stony Brook, NY 11794 (briana.last@stonybrook.edu).

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