Internalized homophobia and health issues affecting lesbians and gay men

This paper investigates the concept of internalized homophobia in both theory and research relating to lesbian and gay health. It offers a contemporary and critical review of research in this area, and discusses a range of recent findings relating to a range of health issues including HIV and AIDS. Whilst the concept has a resonance for gay men and lesbians, and is widely used in 'lesbian and gay-affirmative' interventions, the paper demonstrates that research findings have been equivocal and the term is often used without full consideration of its sociopolitical consequences. The paper concludes that the concept does have a valuable role to play in health promotion work with lesbians and gay men but invites further discussion and examination of the construct.