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Lesbians and gay men frequently make decisions about concealing or disclosing their stigmatized identity. Past research has found that disclosing one's sexual orientation is often beneficial. This study aimed to answer the question, "why?". Specifically, this study tested a model in which perceived social support, emotional processing, and suppression mediate the association between disclosure and well-being. To capture disclosure decisions in real time, participants completed a 2-week daily diary study and a 2-month follow-up survey. As expected, participants generally reported greater well-being on days when they disclosed (vs. concealed) their sexual orientation. Perceived social support was a consistent predictor of well-being and mediator of the association between disclosure and well-being. Although less consistent across time and measures, emotional processing and to a lesser extent suppression were also significantly associated with disclosure and well-being. This research advances the scientific understanding of concealable stigmatized identities and their impact on individual well-being.

As the social context in which gay men live changes due to greater visibility, greater acceptance, and easier access to gay subculture, gay males may self-identify and take part in gay social activities at earlier ages than in the past. This study examined whether developmental milestones associated with sexual orientation for gay men have changed over the past several decades. A large and diverse sample of 2,402 gay men who responded to a 1994 survey published in a national magazine provided retrospective information on the age at which they reached individual psychological, social, and sexual behavior developmental milestones. We found evidence that individual psychological and sexual behavior milestones (e.g., awareness of attraction to males, having an orgasm with other male) are slowly moving toward earlier chronological ages (by 1 year of age every 8-25 years, p < 0.05), whereas social milestones (e.g., coming out) are moving more rapidly in a similar direction (by 1 year of age every 2-5 years, p < 0.001). The authors perform an innovative sensitivity test to demonstrate the persistence of the finding after correcting for the bias attributable to underrepresentation of those who have not yet self-identified as gay in such samples.

Background: The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Society for Adolescent Medicine recommend discussing sexual orientation as part of the health supervision of all adolescents. Little is known about whether lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth hide their orientation from health care providers, which can potentially lead to missed opportunities in identifying individual health risks and provide appropriate screening and counseling., Objectives: To describe the health care experiences of a nonclinical sample of LGB youth and identify factors associated with disclosure and nondisclosure of orientation to physicians., Design: Community-based participatory study using a self-administered questionnaire., Setting: Los Angeles youth empowerment conference held in October 2003 targeting high school-aged LGB youth., Participants: One hundred thirty-one youth aged 14 to 18 years who identified themselves as LGB. Main Outcome Measure Physician's knowledge of participant's sexual orientation., Results: Thirty-five percent of the sample reported that their physician knew they were LGB. Bisexual youth were less likely than gay and lesbian youth to have disclosed. The strongest predictor of disclosure was having discussed sex or sexual health of any kind with a physician (odds ratio, 15.47; 95% confidence interval, 4.34-55.18). When asked what a physician could do to make talking about being LGB more comfortable, 64% of participants chose the survey response, "Just ask me.", Conclusions: Even among a nonclinical sample of LGB youth who were open enough about their orientation to attend a conference on the subject, only 35% reported that their physician knew their orientation. The results indicate that physicians had not discussed sexuality with most LGB youth in the study and that most youth would welcome such a discussion.

Gay men and lesbians must make decisions about disclosure of their sexual orientation. Past research has focused on an individual's overall level of disclosure or on disclosure to a specific subset of individuals. This study used a new measure, the Disclosure Grid, to assess the disclosure patterns of 89 gay men and 55 lesbians across their entire social network. In addition to assessing disclosure to each network member, the Grid also assessed perceived relationship quality prior to disclosure and currently. Finally, the Grid assessed perceptions of each network member's initial and current acceptance of the gay or lesbian person's sexual orientation. Data provide a rich portrait of disclosure patterns among a heterogeneous, urban sample of lesbians and gay men. Analyses also found support for three hypotheses about disclosure, relationship quality, and acceptance. For example, it was found that participants have better relationships with individuals they have directly told about their sexual orientation than with people who found out in an indirect manner.

This study examines perceived HIV stigma in AIDS caregiving dyads in the United States, assessing the measurement of and correlates of personal stigma (among care-recipients living with HIV), courtesy stigma (among caregivers), and dyadic stigma. Survey data from 135 dyads in which the caregiver is a midlife or older mother or wife, and the care-recipient is her HIV-infected adult son or husband, are analyzed with individual-level and multilevel regression models. Results indicate that: (1) perceived stigma can be reliably measured among both persons living with HIV (PLH) and caregivers; (2) personal stigma can be distinguished from courtesy stigma; (3) perceived stigma is relatively low in this sample, and is higher among PLH than caregivers, higher among caregiving wives than mothers, and similar between PLH who are husbands and sons; (4) dyadic stigma is influenced by the caregiver's HIV status, the ethnic composition of the dyad, caregiving duration, and household income; (5) stigma discrepancy within dyads is a function of health discrepancy within dyads; and (6) differences in multivariate correlates of perceived stigma at the individual-level, in comparison to the dyad-level, suggest that dyadic stigma is a unique construct. A recognition that perceived stigma bears its own unique influence on the caregiving dyad is important for understanding how best to allocate resources aimed at alleviating stigma among individuals and families impacted by HIV.

Abstract Lesbians often begin romantic relationships with high hopes that their relationships will be satisfying and long-lasting. Why do some women maintain committed and stable relationships while others do not? This article considers factors that affect commitment and stability among lesbian couples. We begin by reviewing previous empirical research on the topic. Next, we test a leading model of commitment using survey data from 301 lesbian couples who participated in the American Couples Study (Blumstein & Schwartz, 1983). According to Caryl Rusbult's model (1983), an individual's commitment to a relationship is affected by three general factors: satisfaction, the quality of alternatives to the current relationship, and investments made in the relationship. In turn, a woman's degree of commitment influences relationship stability. Path analysis provided strong support for Rusbult's model. Nonetheless, this model did not fully explain the sources of commitment and stability in lesbian relationships. Consequently, we consider unique aspects of the social environment that may affect commitment and stability in lesbian relationships.