Internalized Homophobia in Midwestern Sexual Minorities

Research into internalized homophobia in sexual minorities has identified several factors that tend to lead to higher levels of internalized homophobia. These factors are parental acceptance or rejection, religion, urban versus rural environment, and societal attitudes. There are, however, few studies that have been done on these factors specifically in Midwestern sexual minorities. Twenty participants that identified as non-heterosexual were interviewed for this study. Participants completed a short quantitative survey on internalized homophobia before being interviewed with questions that looked at the known factors of internalized homophobia as well as what they thought needed to happen for future generations to grow up with less internalized homophobia. As previous research had found, parental acceptance or rejection, religion, and societal attitudes were factors that appeared to influence the internalized homophobia of participants. Urban versus rural environment did not seem to have a large influence while gender expectations/roles did seem to. Participants expressed that to reduce internalized homophobia in younger generations involved more acceptance from society, more representation in the media, and giving children more resources and information on sexual minority identities. Advisor: Wayne Babchuk