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

person‘s minority status (b) can and does play a role in these general environmental factors. Based on the
environment the person is in different life stressors (c) will appear. General stressors can include things
like the death of a family member or friend, or job loss. Once again these are things that everyone can
experience. One‘s minority status can affect the general life stressors in that the job loss could be directly
related to coming out at their place of employment and being fired because of it.
Next, Meyer moves on to stressors that are unique to minority populations, those that identify
with the minority group (e), which are the distal and proximal minority stress processes. The distal
stresses are things like prejudicial events such as discrimination or violence targeted towards individuals
in the minority group. These are the events that occur outside the person which cause stress in their life.
Proximal stresses are the stresses that are internal, the expectations of rejection or discrimination based on
experiences the person has had, witnessed or heard about. These proximal stresses also include
concealment and internalized homophobia. Here, internalized homophobia is seen as the most proximal of
the minority stressors. The weight these stresses, both distal and proximal, will carry largely depends on
the characteristics of the minority identity (g). When the minority identity is more prominent in the
person‘s self-view the stressors will have a greater impact verses if the minority identity isn‘t the primary
way the person identifies themselves.
One of the most important counterbalances in Meyer‘s model is the coping and social support
aspect (h). Being able to cope with not only every day stresses, but the minority stresses faced by LGB
individuals every day and having the support from family, friends and the surrounding community is a
significant factor in the mental health outcomes. If the individual has a strong system of support they are
more likely to be able to cope (positive mental health outcome) with the stress than if they feel isolated
and alone (negative mental health outcome). All of these factors contribute to the mental health of the
individual and Meyer‘s proposed model shows that if all the factors are kept in balance the individual can
have a positive outlook.
The minority stress theory has been used in a great deal of studies concerning internalized
homophobia and the negative effects it can have on the well-being of an LGB individual. Waldo (1999)
98