Sexual Minority Populations and Health

Sexual orientation and gender minority populations face stressors that contribute to health disparities within this population. Minority stress theory has been a recent major advance in our understanding of health disparities within this population. The present review uses the minority stress model to provide a framework for understanding the links between social processes and individual and group health disparities among sexual orientation and gender minorities. The basic links among social and personal processes are reviewed, along with the application to sexual orientation and gender minorities and health disparities. Examples of observed health disparities for this population, including substance use, sexual risk behaviors, and obesity, are reviewed.