Human Rights at Home and Abroad: Past, Present, and Future

individual‘s identity, the individual will begin to take pride in their identity. They have not only accepted
that their sexual identity is a part of them, but that it is a positive part of their life. The final stage is
identity synthesis. This final stage is life long after the other stages have been successfully passed
through. In this stage the individual‘s sexual identity is incorporated into their larger identity and is not
usually considered the defining characteristic of who they are. They are gay, lesbian or bisexual, but they
realize that this identity is not all of who they are; it is only part of their whole person.
Internalized homophobia signifies a failure in the coming out process to ward off heterosexist stigma and
overcome negative self-perceptions and attitudes (Morris et al., 2001). It first appears in a person, usually,
during the early stages of this process and can prevent later stages from being successfully passed
through. In some individuals, the manifestation of internalized homophobia can occur later in the coming
out process, even after the acceptance of their identity and may never fully dissipate (Meyer, 2003). This
means that gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals maintain varying degrees of residual antigay attitudes
that are integrated into their self-perception. Gorsiorek (1988) describe this as residual, covert,
internalized homophobia and said that covert forms of internalized homophobia are more common and
less noticeable because these individuals will have accepted their identity, yet sabotage themselves in
various ways.
Since internalized homophobia can be so ingrained in a person, there are undoubtedly effects on
mental health. There have been many studies conducted on mental health and how it correlates to
internalized homophobia and because of that there have been several theories developed on what exactly
is influencing these mental health outcomes. No theory is more convincing than the Minority Stress
Theory.
Meyer (2003) proposed model on minority stress and how different aspects of life can influence
mental health outcomes that can be both positive and negative depending on various factors (Figure 1).
Minority stress is a part of every aspect of life and plays vital role in all of life‘s stressors. The first box in
Meyer‘s model Box (a) pictures circumstances in the environment. These are parts of everyone‘s life
whether they are part of a minority group or not. Meyer references socioeconomic status and how a
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