Homophobic Violence, Coping Styles, Visibility Management, and Mental Health: A Survey of Flemish Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Individuals.

The understanding of how lesbians, gays, and bisexuals cope with homophobic violence is limited. Therefore, on the one hand, this study focuses on avoidance, problem-oriented, and emotion-oriented coping as general coping styles. On the other hand, special attention is paid to visibility management as a coping strategy that can be applied in a heteronormative context. Moreover, the moderating role of general coping styles and visibility management in the relationship between homophobic violence and negative mental health outcomes is studied. Data were collected from 1,402 Flemish lesbians, gays, and bisexuals. Stepwise regression analyses shows that coping styles and visibility management have a direct effect on mental health; however, no evidence for a moderating effect is found. Additionally, visibility management and emotion-oriented coping are found to exert a combined effect on mental health.

The Relationship Between Childhood Gender Nonconformity and Experiencing Diverse Types of Homophobic Violence.

Experiences of homophobic violence seem to differ for various sexual-minority subgroups. Previous research has outlined that experiences differ for men and women, and for gender conforming and nonconforming lesbian, gay, and bisexual men and women (LGBs). In this article, these relationships are studied by making a distinction between four types of homophobic violence: verbal, physical, material, and sexual. In 2013, an online survey was designed to ask Flemish LGBs about their experiences of homophobic violence. The final sample consists of 1,402 Flemish sexual-minority individuals. The results show that gay and bisexual men experienced significantly more physical, material, and sexual violence during their lifetime than lesbian and bisexual women did. Moreover, LGBs who reported more childhood gender nonconformity also reported more homophobic violence, and this positive relationship is confirmed for the four forms of violence. For verbal and physical violence, however, the relationship between childhood gender nonconformity and violence varies according to the gender of the respondents. This relationship is much stronger for gay and bisexual men than for lesbian and bisexual women.

Coping With Antigay Violence: In-Depth Interviews With Flemish LGB Adults.

In view of the possible negative mental health outcomes of antigay violence and the limited understanding of how lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) men and women cope with such experiences, this study examined the coping and social support-seeking strategies that victims adopt. In 2012, in-depth interviews were conducted with 19 Flemish sexual minority victims of violence. These in-depth interviews show that antigay violence can generate profound negative outcomes. However, the respondents employed a range of coping strategies, of which four were discerned: (1) avoidance strategies, (2) assertiveness and confrontation, (3) cognitive change, and (4) social support. Applying a diverse set of coping strategies and actively attaching meaning to negative experiences helps victims of antigay violence to overcome negative effects such as fear, embarrassment, or depressive feelings. However, the presence of a supportive network seems an important condition in order for these positive outcomes to occur.