Internalized homophobia in lesbians

D. Szymanski, Y. Chung

In this article we discuss the importance of studying internalized homophobia and provide a rationale for studying internalized homophobia in lesbians apart from gay men. We review published scales used to assess internalized homophobia in lesbians and describe recent studies on the correlates of internalized homophobia in lesbians. We discuss concepts of internalized homophobia as minority stress and identify variables that have been theoretically linked to internalized homophobia in lesbians but have not been empirically examined. Implications for practice and research are also discussed.[Copies are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Center. The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580, USA]