Makaylla Brooks

Prof Dunham

Eng 1201

20 March 2022

Literature review

How does being apart of the lgbtq+ community impact your mental health. Although

being a part of something special is nice it comes with a lot of hardships. It is scary enough to

even come out but the possibility of not being accepted or discriminated against can really mess

you up mentally. From personal experience I know there are a lot of ups and downs you have to

deal with by yourself mentally when it comes to something even small that has to deal with this.

It messes with your mind when you just walk down the street and get harassed.

One of my interviews is with joi smith. She is a bisexual female who has been out for a

few years now. Her parents were very accepting and she knew they would be. With some

families it is easier to come out to them rather than public and out in the open. When she came

out during school people around her did not want to believe her because she did not “look the

part”. When people would stop and make fun of her it took a big toll on her motivation to do

work. Even though she had a loving family she was still getting bullied and it was lowering her

self esteem.

Destiny cox is also a friend of mine. She has also been out for a couple of years and she

is a gay female. When she came out her dad did not really accept her. He was not the best father

and she was scared to come out to him. Her mother is not in her life but if she was she thinks it

would have been easier to tell her. Ever since she came out to him he has treated her badly like

she is not even his kid. There are so many different types of things that happen to certain people
when they come out. She has recently dropped out of school and moved out to live with her

girlfriend.

My third interview is with my girlfriend Tristain Mills. She has been through a lot and

she has lived with her aunt for about 5 years. A few years ago her sister came out and her sister

helped her get comfortable enough to come out a bit after. Their aunt thought she just wanted to

copy her and she did not believe her. Her aunt tried to accept her and act like she was ok with it

but the people in her house are always doubting her saying she is faking it. She is not allowed to

wear boxers around people because her family is uncomfortable with it. Living in a house where

people talk behind her back really unmotivated her to do things for her future but really

motivates her to do things to be able to leave that house. This is a good example of how often

families push people away because they cannot accept people.

The Effects of Polyvictimization on Mental and Physical Health Outcomes in an LGBTQ

Sample. This is a Journal website that talks about these issues. There are a lot of statistics about

how much violence we as a community get. Studies show lgbtq+ people are more likely to get on

drugs. Homosexual women are also more likely to get sexually asaulted than heterosexual

women.

“The ‘Double Closet’: Why Some Bisexual People Struggle With Mental Health.” This

is a newpaper that talks about bisexual people. One thing I will say about bisexual people before

I get into this is a big thing people don’t think about are the fetishes people have when they hear

about bisexuals. I have some friends that are girls that have said when they date a guy and they

hear they like women too. Usually the guy doesn't get jealous but they want to have threesomes

and they want to see them kiss another girl. People can be really weird and that can also cause

people to be scared to tell their partners about their sexuality. Back to the newspaper this woman
talks about people not believing someone when they say they are bisexual just because they have

dated men in the past. It is hard to express yourself fully when you're stuck in between because

you don’t know where to fit in. Bisexuals have some of the most hate because people always

have something to say which causes their mental health to be worse. When you are constantly

being told to pick one side and you can’t like both it forces you to try to do what they say. People

don’t believe you can be with one sex and still be attracted to the other. To come out as bisexual

or trans are harder than to just come out as gay or queer.

In conclusion, the people who accept you can really affect your future and how you look

at yourself and others. You can live the best life with people around you but will still always face

discriminination, it could be from random people to family members you were really close with.

It can put you in a depressive state which can make you do bad things that can mess with your

future. Noone really thinks about how you feel mentally, people just want you to succeed in

school and life.

Blum, Dani. “The ‘Double Closet’: Why Some Bisexual People Struggle With Mental

Health.” Https://Www.nytimes.com/2021/06/30/Well/Bisexual-Mental-Health-Lgbt.html, 30 June

2021.

Kassing, Francesca, et al. “The Effects of Polyvictimization on Mental and Physical Health

Outcomes in an LGBTQ Sample.” Journal of Traumatic Stress, vol. 34, no. 1, Feb. 2021, pp. 161–71.

EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22579.
Cox, Destiny, personal interview. 3 March 2022.

Mills, Tristan, personal interview, 3 March 2022

Smith, Joi, personal interview, 3 March 2022