The sexual health statistics around sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Aotearoa (New Zealand) suggest two things: many STIs are increasing, and the STI rates are high compared to other 'similar' countries. What sense do ordinary New Zealanders make of these figures? Focusing on heterosexual sex, this paper discusses lay accounts that sought to make sense of Aotearoa's STI statistics. In ...

INTRODUCTION Minority stress processes have been shown to have significant associations with negative mental health outcomes among sexual minority populations. Given that adversity may be experienced growing up as a sexual minority in heteronormative, if not heterosexist, environments, our research on resilience among sexual minority male youth proposes that positive identity development may bu...

This exploratory study investigated the nature of sexual orientation (categorical or spectrum) by assessing the relative ability of sexual and romantic indicators to be predicted by sexual orientation labels. Young adults from a variety of community and college venues (N =292) reported their sexual orientation label on a 9-point scale; from a 10-item list, their sexual identity; and the percent...

Research on HIV among men who have sex with men has focused on individual behavioral and biomedical factors driving transmission risks, but these cannot be fully understood without also understanding the social context within which sexual minorities live. Using data from 703 gay and bisexual men in Atlanta, this study explores the factors associated with homosexual identity formation and disclo...

With the increasing popularity of social networking sites, research has begun to investigate the implications for youth development, with concern for possible negative effects on their relationships and well-being. But for youth who feel somewhat marginalized, these sites could be important sources of social support. Accordingly, our study sought to examine the relations between sexual minority...

INTRODUCTION Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID) is a rare, infrequently studied and highly secretive condition in which there is a mismatch between the mental body image and the physical body. Subjects suffering from BIID have an intense desire to amputate a major limb or severe the spinal cord in order to become paralyzed. Aim of the study is to broaden the knowledge of BIID amongst medic...

BACKGROUND It has been demonstrated that health disparities between lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer (LGBQ) populations and the general population can be improved by disclosure of sexual identity to a health care provider (HCP). However, heteronormative assumptions (that is, assumptions based on a heterosexual identity and experience) may negatively affect communication between patients and HCP...