Abstract
In the above quote Cochran (2001) claims that a relationship exists between “sexual orientation and gender atypicality” and the “onset of psychiatric disorders at an early age.” Extending this further, Cochran maintains that this “relationship” is due to the “early psychologically stressful experiences arising from stigmatisation” (937). What is clearly problematic is the way in which this statement attempts to connect lesbians and gay men to psychiatric disorders.
Minority sexual orientation and gender atypicality are early magnets for maltreatment.… An implication is that lesbians and gay men may be more vulnerable than heterosexual women and men to the onset of psychiatric disorders at an early age because of early psychologically stressful experiences arising from stigmatisation.
—Cochran 2001, 937; emphasis added
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© 2004 Mary Louise Rasmussen, Eric Rofes, and Susan Talburt
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Harwood, V. (2004). Subject to Scrutiny. In: Rasmussen, M.L., Rofes, E., Talburt, S. (eds) Youth and Sexualities. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403981912_5
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