Trauma among Sexual and Gender Minority Populations

This chapter describes the current state of the literature on trauma in sexual minority and transgender and gender-diverse populations. The authors begin by critically defining “trauma” and highlighting some consequences of the way trauma is defined. The authors describe how the subsequent mental health responses are understood and categorized psychiatrically (i.e., posttraumatic stress disorder). The authors describe relevant theoretical contributions to the literature on the cumulative burden of stress on sexual and gender minority individuals. Epidemiologic data are presented showing that trauma—especially in the form of interpersonal victimization—is an unfortunately common experience in the lives of sexual and gender minority individuals, especially those who hold additional devalued and stigmatized identities, such as being a racial or ethnic minority in addition to having a sexual and gender minority identity. Suggestions are presented for future directions for the field of trauma research among sexual and gender minority populations.