Critical psychology perspectives on LGBTQ+ mental health: current issues and interventions

Sexual and gender minorities continue to face inequalities, discrimination and hostility, and in some parts of the world, significant threat. While in a country like the United Kingdom, many equalities for gay, lesbian and bisexual (LGB) individuals have been won (less so for, trans individuals), homonegativity and transnegativity remain significant issues. In other parts of the world, homosexuality is still considered a pathology and a crime, and LGBTQ+ individuals are actively persecuted. In the UK, research has shown that LGB individuals manifest greater prevalence of poor mental health, health risk behaviours and psychological distress, as compared to their heterosexual counterparts (Semlyen et al., 2016). Despite improvements in matters of equality and inclusion in the UK, and, seemingly, general societal acceptance, comparisons between epidemiological surveys from 2007 and 2014 indicate that the proportionately poorer mental health among lesbian, gay and bisexual people, compared to the heterosexual population, has not improved (Pitman et al., 2020).