Coming out in community psychology: personal narrative and disciplinary change

Community psychology as a discipline has not focused its attention on the lives of lesbians, gay men, and bisexual (LGB) people, despite the field's potential to collaborate with this population in dealing with the many psychosocial challenges they face. Professional and personal barriers that community psychologists must confront conducting research and developing interventions with the LGB community are described. Community psychology work with LGB communities is often a 'coming out' experience for LGB community psychologists, and a questioning of sexual orientation fot heterosexual community psychologists. Conceptual analyses and empirical reports are presented that exemplify how community psychologist can contribute to decreasing the pervasive stigma LOB people face. The use of an ecological model, a focus on the development and evaluation of preventive interventions, and a recognition of the diversity within the LOB population are core perspectives that can direct future work by community psychologists. Issues ranging from testing ways to empower young LOB people to analyses of the impact of the sociopolitical climate on LGB lives demonstrate the rich range of contributions community psychologists can make. KEY WORDS: sexual orientation; homosexuality; homophobia; heterosexism.