Jay A. Irwin

Correlates of Suicide Ideation Among LGBT Nebraskans

The aim of this investigation is to outline correlates of suicide ideation among LGBT individuals living in Nebraska. A community-based participatory research approach was utilized to develop a 30-minute, online anonymous survey. Almost half of the sample had seriously considered suicide at some point in their lives. Significant correlates of increased likelihood of suicide ideation are age, gender, transgender identity, income, depression, and discrimination. Suicide ideation is a serious concern for the health of LGBT Nebraskans. Steps should be taken to incorporate individuals who fall into these high-risk categories in suicide outreach programs.

LGBT Health in the Midlands: A Rural/Urban Comparison of Basic Health Indicators

Research into the health and wellbeing of rural lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations is limited. A community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach was used to develop an online survey for LGBT Nebraskans. The 770 participants replied to an array of questions on social determinants of health and basic health outcomes. Only significant differences in having health insurance were found between urban and rural participants. Social determinants of health were explored. Results of this study suggest that regional culture may be more salient to health for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons living in the Midwest than rural or urban residence.

Using the Minority Stress Model to Understand Depression in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Individuals in Nebraska

Previous studies demonstrated the utility of the minority stress model in understanding health disparities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations. Since most research has considered large metropolitan areas, predominantly in coastal regions of the United States, this research focuses on a midwestern state, Nebraska. This study sought to assess the relationships between depressive symptoms experienced by participants (N = 770) and minority stress variables, including experiences with violence, perceptions of discrimination, and respondents’ degree of self-acceptance of their LGBT identity. Regression analysis revealed that after controlling for demographic variables, self-acceptance, and perceived discrimination were correlated with depressive symptoms. These findings have implications for policy makers, public health planners, and health care providers.

Suicide Ideation and Suicide Attempts Among White Southern Lesbians

Several studies find suicide behaviors to be more prevalent among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) populations than their heterosexual counterparts. Studies of non-LGB populations reveal 13% prevalence of lifetime ideation and 4% prevalence of lifetime attempts. This study analyzed data from the Lesbian Social Life (LSL) study, a primarily online, survey-based research project focusing on lesbians living in the southern United States, and found that more than 40% of participants had seriously considered suicide and more than 15% had attempted suicide. We estimated the likelihood of suicide ideation and attempts by utilizing known general risk factors and lesbian-specific indicators within hierarchical logistic regression. Predictors of suicide ideation and attempts included depressive symptoms, discrimination, social support, self-esteem, and stigma. Results highlight the magnitude of suicide behaviors in southern lesbians and important predictor variables. Analysis shows support for the minority stress theory, and policy and clinical recommendations are provided.

The South Carolina LGBT needs assessment: a descriptive overview.

Limited quantitative information exists about the demographics and needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in South Carolina, a predominately rural Southern state. Responses to a needs assessment survey (n = 715) were analyzed to understand the diversity and needs of members of the LGBT community in SC. The purpose was to inform future programming and guide the development of a more comprehensive portfolio of services to be offered by a local LGBT community center. Findings suggest that a diverse LGBT community exists in SC and needs include increased programming for community members as well as efforts to provide policy-level support and increased acceptability and understanding of LGBT persons in South Carolina.

Relationship among gender-related stress, resilience factors, and mental health in a Midwestern U.S. transgender and gender-nonconforming population

ABSTRACT  Background: Transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals experience more discrimination than their cisgender peers, and this discrimination can be associated with poorer mental health. This study used the gender minority stress model as a framework to examine the relationship among gender-related stressors and resilience factors and mental health outcomes. The study particularly aimed to increase knowledge of the gender-nonconforming population. Methods: A community sample of 83 individuals that identify as a gender different than the sex assigned to them at birth completed an online survey. Depression and anxiety were assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), respectively. The Gender Minority Stress and Resilience measure was used to assess distal and proximal stressors and resilience factors. Results: The median CES-D and BAI scores were 16 and 13, respectively. Forty percent had a history of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), 75% had experienced suicidal ideation, and 45% had attempted suicide. Proximal stress was found to be a positive predictor of depressive symptoms. Resilience was a weak negative predictor of anxiety symptoms. Distal stress was a positive predictor of suicide attempts, and resilience factors and hormone use were marginal negative predictors of suicide attempt. Trans women were significantly less likely to have engaged in NSSI, but had a significantly higher proximal stress score than trans men and gender-nonconforming individuals. Conclusion: Our study found high rates of mental health problems in the trans and gender-nonconforming sample. Our findings in part support the gender minority stress model, with gender-related stress predicting certain mental health problems and resilience being a negative predictor. Overall, gender-nonconforming individuals have had similar experiences and mental health findings as transgender individuals.

Rural LGBT Health: Introduction to a Dedicated Issue of the Journal of Homosexuality

The social, political, and public health landscape as it relates to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons has dramatically shifted both in the United States and across the globe in the last 20 years. An increasing social acceptance of diverse sexual identities has been represented in popular opinion polls, nationally representative samples, and studies of college students (Hicks & Lee, 2006; Hinrichs & Rosenberg, 2002; Loftus, 2001), though acceptance of transgender people lags behind (Norton & Herek, 2013). Further evidence of a shifting landscape can be seen in the rise in the number of social support and service agencies serving LGBT populations and increased media portrayals of LGBT persons in television shows, movies, and the press. Political hurdles once thought unimaginable have crumbled, resulting in 16 countries legally recognizing same-sex marriages, including 13 states in the United States at the time of this writing (Freedom to Marry, n.d.). Other political milestones have seen policy shifts to allow military service personnel to serve openly as LGBT, employment and accommodation laws to protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and global condemnation of discriminatory practices against LGBT persons as a form of human rights violations. Finally, the world

Researching Non-Heterosexual Sexualities:

are inseparable. Pechlaner masterfully describes the double standards and contradictions in the David-versus-Goliath cases. As described in the opening paragraph of this review, Pechlaner seems to be using the Marxian concept of expropriation to describe the capitalist seizure of agricultural seed supplies. However, rather than acknowledge that connection, she instead uses the one reference to Marx in the book to claim a distinction. ‘‘The term ‘expropriationism’ differs from its conventional legal and Marxist usage of expropriation conducted by a public body ostensibly for public good’’ (p. 26). Pechlaner certainly is defining expropriation as something other than the current legal definition of seizing property for the public good. But Marx did not define it that way. Instead, Pechlaner follows in the Marxian tradition of describing the underlying logic of capitalism and the ways that logic manifests in economic and social arrangements. Pechlaner’s decision to engage the debates from the 1980s on how agriculture is different from manufacturing, because of the reliance on natural processes in agriculture, is helpful only to a point. Those debates documented the myriad ways that capital accumulation can occur, even in a non-wagelabor process. However, assuming the uniqueness of smallholder farming in the United States and Canada reifies wage-labor as the measure of industrialism capitalism. Farmers in the United States and Canada have been petty capitalist enterprises at least since the early 1900s. And the demise of small farming as a primary source of family income is not so different from the story of big-box retail eliminating mom-and-pop retail stores or the demise of local banks in the face of the rise of too-big-to-fail banks. Furthermore, portraying farmers as outside of industrial capitalism is simply not accurate. According to a recent analysis by the United States Census of Agriculture, around 12 percent of large farms (annual sales exceeding

Health Behaviors and Health Care Utilization of Southern Lesbians

250,000) account for 84 percent of the value of agricultural production (Hoppe and Banker 2010:iv). Farm operators may not be wage laborers, but it is misleading to portray them as something other than capitalist firms that supply raw materials to a thoroughly industrialized and capitalistic agricultural system. None of this takes away from the basic narrative and argument of the book, which is very valuable and timely. News headlines regularly alert us to cases of farmers fighting agribusinesses over seed patents. As recently as May 13, 2013, the United States Supreme Court sided again with Monsanto in a case against a farmer who planted soybeans that he had purchased as grain. Pechlaner gives the reader the tools to make sense of the dynamics behind such headlines. In that sense, the book is useful for the general public. It might even suit a course on intellectual property law. The book is also useful for demonstrating how expropriation is occurring in the twenty-first century, over 100 years after Marx explained that process. Therefore, it would be valuable on an agriculture and food sociology syllabus or a classical theory syllabus. In fact, I just recently added it to my classical theory syllabus.