The Beneficial Outcomes of Being Gay

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Being gay or lesbian is often times automatically deemed as being a negative thing. From the thought process that the person is “different” and a minority, to being looked down upon by both society,peers, and family, being gay is not primarily connected to positive traits. Being same sex oriented does however give these people a unique life experience and perspective. Being a minority automatically gives them their own unique set of characteristics and cultural norms, some of which may be positive. Having an increase in resilience, a healthy body image,creating families of choice, freedom from gender-specific roles, exploring sexuality and enjoying egalitarian relationships are the many examples of some of the overlooked benefits that come with identifying as same sex oriented. It is of value to explore these psychological and social strengths. Looking at the positive aspects that can come from being openly gay or lesbian may help change the negative stigmas that some members of society may uphold. The journal article Resilience in Older Gay Men and Lesbians by Susan Hrostowski , discusses the notion that older gay men and lesbian women show high resilience even though throughout their lives they are in a position where they tend to be victimized more often. Being gay or lesbian puts these people at a higher risk for depression and suicide. Being that all these negative factors are being put into play against these folks, it is important to see just how they gain the positive trait of reliance. Diversity and its correlation with adaptation is how Hrostowski describes reliance and further elaborates to state that it is a development of certain strengths and abilities that would not have been nurtured had it not been for the op... ... middle of paper ... ...nd often unthought question of, what are the positive aspects of being gay or lesbian? References Works Cited Hrostowski, S. (2006). Resilience in Older Gay Men and Lesbians. n.p.: ProQuest, UMI Dissertations Publishing. Kurdek, L. (2005). What do we know about gay and lesbian couples?. Current Directions in Psychological Science,14(5), 251-254.. Lippa, R. (2007). The relation between sex drive and sexual attraction to men and women: A cross-national study of heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual men and women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36(2), 209-222. Patterson, C. (2000). Family relationships of lesbians and gay men.Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(4), 1052-1069. Peplau, L. , Frederick, D. , Yee, C. , Maisel, N. , Lever, J. , et al. (2009). Body image satisfaction in heterosexual, gay, and lesbian adults. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38(5), 713-725.

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