The experiences of minority stressors endured by people who identify as Lesbian and Gay and a member of the Global Majority within the United Kingdom: A systematic thematic synthesis
Published on 11 March, 2025.
The difficulties faced by Lesbian and Gay People (LGP) within the United Kingdom (UK) are multifaceted (Dunlop & Lea, Citation2023a). In comparison to heterosexual peers, LGP experience higher rates of psychological distress (King et al., Citation2008), poorer mental health (Semlyen et al., Citation2016; Woodhead et al., Citation2016), anxiety (Jones et al., Citation2017) and substance difficulties (Woodhead et al., Citation2016). This can be understood using Minority Stress Theory (MST; Meyer, Citation1995, Citation2003, Citation2010), which has been developed to understand and explain the unique external and internal stressors experienced by sexuality diverse people (Meyer, Citation2003); gender diverse people (Meyer, Citation2015); and Lesbian and Gay People of the Global MajorityFootnote1 (LGP-GM) (Meyer, Citation2010); thus providing a framework to research and investigate these experiences (Gosling et al., Citation2022). A thematic synthesis of 16 qualitative studies exploring LGP-GM experiences of minority stressors using the lens of Minority Stress Theory was conducted. Unique minority stressors are identified for LGP-GM, clinical implications and future research are discussed.