Running Head: EFFECTS OF NON-AFFIRMING RELIGIONS 1

Effects of Non-Affirming Religions on the Mental and Physical Health of Homosexuals

Azaria I. Perez
Cerritos College











EFFECTS OF NON-AFFIRMING RELIGIONS 2

Religion in a prevalent force in the lives of billions of people around the world. It offers
faith and guidance to people around the world. However, some are not welcomed by certain
religions. Some religions put forth the belief that homosexuality is a sin. Because of this those in
the gay community are not always welcomed. Also an allowance has been made for violent,
hateful, and ignorant acts and words toward those of the gay community. It has resulted in the
creation of laws and attitudes that criminalize, stigmatize, and dehumanize homosexuals and
homosexual behavior. So, how does exposure to non-affirming religions affect the health of
those in the gay community? Do non-affirming religions contribute to internalized homophobia?
In other words, does religion contribute to self-hate?
The authors of Religious affiliation, internalized homophobia, and mental health in
lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals investigated the relationship between exposure to non-affirming
religious environments and internalized homophobia and mental health in a sample of lesbians,
gay men, and bisexuals (LGBs) in New York City. Guided by the minority stress theory, the
authors hypothesized that exposure to non-affirming religious settings would lead to higher
internalized homophobia, more depressive symptoms, and less psychological well-being. The
authors also hypothesized that Black and Latino LGBs would be more likely than White LGBs to
participate in non-affirming religious settings and would therefore have higher internalized
homophobia than White LGBs.
The participants were 355 LGBs recruited through community-based venue sampling and
were evenly divided among Black, Latino, and White race or ethnic groups and among age
groups within each race or ethnic group, as well as between women and men. The results
supported the general hypothesis that non-affirming religion was associated with higher
internalized homophobia. There was no main effect of non-affirming religion on mental health,
EFFECTS OF NON-AFFIRMING RELIGIONS 3

which was an unexpected finding. Latinos, but not Blacks, had higher internalized homophobia
than Whites, and as predicted, this was mediated by their greater exposure to non-affirming
religion.
Similar results, from a larger pool, were found by the authors of Religiosity, internalized
homophobia and outness in Christian men who have sex with men. The author theorized that
when exposed to their congregations' negative views of homosexuality, Christian gay men
frequently struggle to reconcile their religious and sexual identities, possibly contributing to
negative emotional states and behaviors associated with HIV/STI infection. To examine the
influence of religiosity on internalized homophobia and outness among Christian men who have
sex with men, the author used survey data from 1165 men who answered questions about their
religious beliefs and sexual behavior. The participants were stratified based on religious
affiliation groupings: Catholic, Mainline Protestant and Evangelical Protestant.
After using confirmatory factor analysis to verify that the selected measures of religiosity
were equivalent between groups, the author used the structural equation modeling to examine the
relationship between religiosity, internalized homophobia and outness. Among Catholics and
Mainline Protestants, religiosity was not associated with internalized homophobia or outness.
However, among Evangelical Protestants a group more likely to ascribe to religious
fundamentalism increased religiosity was associated with increased internalized homophobia,
which contributed to decreased outness.
Non-affirming religions effect on internalized homophobia was also shown to trickle
down to the physical health of gay men. As proven by the author of The Relationship of
Internalized Homonegativity to Unsafe Sexual Behavior in HIV-Seropositive Men Who Have Sex
with Men. The author studied internalized homonegativity (IH), also known as the
EFFECTS OF NON-AFFIRMING RELIGIONS 4

aforementioned internalized homophobia, in 675 HIV positive gay men. The men, from six
epicenters across the U.S. were found in HIV prevention workshops. Participants included 300
African American and over 150 Hispanic White and White non-Hispanic men. Higher IH was
significantly associated with African American race.
Compulsive sexual behavior, outness, sexual comfort, depression, education level, and
importance of religion also were associated with IH and independently predicted a third of this
outcomes variance. The lower the importance of religion, the lower IH and the higher
importance, the higher IH. For those with higher IH, two significant paths led to unsafe sexual
behavior: first, to serodiscordant unprotected anal intercourse (SDUAI) through being less
outthus disclosing positive status to secondary partners less frequently, and second, to lower
condom self-efficacy and SDUAI through lower sexual comfort. The result found offer an
indication of the paths through which IH is associated with serodiscordant risk behavior in HIV-
positive gay men.
Most religious environments in the United States do not affirm homosexuality.
Intolerance of the gay community is commonly propounded in the most popular religion in
America, Christianity. It is hard to believe that ones own religion could possibly be negatively
impacting the health of anyone. But the overall results show that religion does significantly
contribute to internalized homophobia. The self-hate, low self-esteem, stress, depression, and
unsafe sex practices in gay men tell the truth of how damaging a non-affirming religion can be.



EFFECTS OF NON-AFFIRMING RELIGIONS 5


References
Barnes, D. M., & Meyer, I. H. (2012). Religious affiliation, internalized homophobia, and mental
health in lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 82(4),
505-515. doi:10.1111/j.1939-0025.2012.01185.x
Ross, M. R. (2008). THE RELATIONSHIP OF INTERNALIZED HOMONEGATIVITY TO
UNSAFE SEXUAL BEHAVIOR IN HIV-SEROPOSITIVE MEN WHO HAVE SEX
WITH MEN. AIDS Education & Prevention, 20(6), 547-557.
Wilkerson, J. (2012). Religiosity, internalized homonegativity and outness in Christian men who
have sex with men. Sexual & Relationship Therapy, 27(2), 122-132.