%0 Journal Article %J Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol %D 2011 %T Measuring multiple minority stress: the LGBT People of Color Microaggressions Scale. %A Balsam, Kimberly F %A Molina, Yamile %A Beadnell, Blair %A Simoni, Jane %A Walters, Karina %K Adaptation, Psychological %K Adolescent %K Adult %K Aged %K Aggression %K Bisexuality %K Ethnic Groups %K Female %K Focus Groups %K Homosexuality %K Humans %K Male %K Middle Aged %K Prejudice %K Self Report %K Sex Factors %K Social Desirability %K Stereotyping %K Stress, Psychological %K Surveys and Questionnaires %K Washington %K Young Adult %X

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals who are also racial/ethnic minorities (LGBT-POC) are a multiply marginalized population subject to microaggressions associated with both racism and heterosexism. To date, research on this population has been hampered by the lack of a measurement tool to assess the unique experiences associated with the intersection of these oppressions. To address this gap in the literature, we conducted a three-phase, mixed method empirical study to assess microaggressions among LGBT-POC. The LGBT People of Color Microaggressions Scale is an 18-item self-report scale assessing the unique types of microaggressions experienced by ethnic minority LGBT adults. The measure includes three subscales: (a) Racism in LGBT communities, (b) Heterosexism in Racial/Ethnic Minority Communities, and (c) Racism in Dating and Close Relationships, that are theoretically consistent with prior literature on racial/ethnic minority LGBTs and have strong psychometric properties including internal consistency and construct validity in terms of correlations with measures of psychological distress and LGBT-identity variables. Men scored higher on the LGBT-PCMS than women, lesbians and gay men scored higher than bisexual women and men, and Asian Americans scored higher than African Americans and Latina/os.

%B Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol %V 17 %P 163-74 %8 2011 Apr %G eng %N 2 %R 10.1037/a0023244 %0 Journal Article %J Sex Transm Dis %D 2010 %T Sexual partner concurrency and sexual risk among gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender American Indian/Alaska natives. %A Cassels, Susan %A Pearson, Cynthia R %A Walters, Karina %A Simoni, Jane M %A Morris, Martina %K Adolescent %K Adult %K Aged %K Alaska %K Bisexuality %K Female %K Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice %K Healthcare Disparities %K HIV Infections %K Homosexuality, Female %K Homosexuality, Male %K Humans %K Indians, North American %K Male %K Middle Aged %K Prevalence %K Risk-Taking %K Sexual Behavior %K Sexual Partners %K Socioeconomic Factors %K Surveys and Questionnaires %K Transgender Persons %X

BACKGROUND: American Indian and Alaska Natives suffer pervasive health disparities, including disproportionately high rates of HIV. Sexual network dynamics, including concurrency and sexual mixing patterns, are key determinants of HIV disparities.

METHODS: We analyzed data from the first national study of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender American Indian and Alaska Natives to examine the prevalence of concurrency, sex and race of partners, and level of risk across different partnership patterns. Egocentric network data were analyzed at the level of the respondents, who were grouped according to the sex of their last 3 partners.

RESULTS: Overall rates of HIV and concurrency were high in this population. HIV prevalence (34%) and cumulative prevalence of concurrency (55%) were highest among men who had sex with only men, while women who had sex with only women reported lower concurrency and HIV. Women who had sex with women and men also had high HIV prevalence (15%) and reported slightly higher concurrency risk and low condom use, making them effective bridge populations.

CONCLUSIONS: The uniformly high rates of Native partner selection creates the potential for amplification of disease spread within this small community, while the high rates of selecting partners of other races creates the potential for bridging to other groups in the transmission network. These findings provide some of the first insights into sexual networks and concurrency among Native gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender populations and suggest that both men and women deserve attention in HIV prevention efforts at individual, dyadic and population levels.

%B Sex Transm Dis %V 37 %P 272-8 %8 2010 Apr %G eng %N 4 %R 10.1097/OLQ.0b013e3181c37e3e