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AbstractSexual minorities (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals; LGBT) experience workplace discrimination that leads to decreased physical and emotional well‐being, and negative job outcomes. LGBT individuals may also experience microaggressions and ostracism in the workplace. Microaggressions are brief and subtle slights or insults that can be either conscious or unconscious, which have negative consequences similar to direct "old‐fashioned" forms of discrimination. Ostracism, being ignored and excluded, has similar negative outcomes. Microaggressions and ostracism are often ambiguous and difficult to substantiate legally, whereas other forms of discrimination can be observed directly. We review the literature on microaggressions and ostracism, which have recently been investigated with LGBT populations, suggesting future research directions. We suggest practices for encouraging an organizational climate of acceptance. Copyright © 2017 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This blog is based on an article in Social Policy and Society by Sam Wai-Kam Yu and Jack Wai Chik Yue. Click here to access the article. In recent years, notable strides have been made in Hong Kong towards accepting and legally protecting sexual minorites. The decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1991 stands as a significant… Continue reading Mutually Compatible? Exploring the Rights of Sexual Minorities and Confucianism →

This study presents associations between the perceived social rejection of sexual minorities and tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis consumption and unprotected sexual intercourse in the capital of Greece, Athens. This is the first Greek study to evaluate the concept of the minority stress theory on sexual minorities' substance use and unprotected sexual intercourse. In addition, this is among the first international studies to examine whether periods of adverse economic conditions are associated with sexual minorities' substance use and unprotected sexual intercourse. Two panel datasets covering the periods 2013-2014 and 2018-2019 were used to determine the perceived social rejection, that is, whether sexual minorities have been rejected by friends, treated unfairly in educational and/or workplace environments, treated negatively in social situations and received poor health and public services due to their sexuality. The estimates indicate that perceived social rejection is associated with the increased consumption of tobacco (by 9.1%, P ﹤0.01), alcohol (by 7.1%, P ﹤0.01), and cannabis (by 12.5%, P ﹤0.01), as well as unprotected sexual intercourse (by 6.5%, P ﹤0.01). In the first three cases, the magnitude of the associations is stronger for men than women and there is increased cannabis consumption during periods of deteriorated economic conditions (by 5.5%, P ﹤0.01). In the European Union, reducing stigma, substance use, risky sexual behaviours, and health inequalities for sexual minorities is a goal of public health. If minority stress is correlated with substance use and risky sexual behaviours leading to detrimental physical/mental health outcomes then prevention and support interventions should be designed.

Summary Social workers are expected to challenge the exclusion and oppression of marginalised populations which requires the critical interrogation of prejudicial views, discriminatory attitudes, and oppressive practices. In this regard, social work practitioners need to be vigilant of their own attitudes toward the people they serve. This is relevant to social work practice with sexual minorities. This paper presents the results of a mixed-methods study informed by a critical theoretical frame that explored Vietnamese social work practitioners' attitudes toward sexual minorities. The findings presented in this article were drawn from a survey of 292 social work practitioners based in Hanoi, Vietnam and 12 semi-structured interviews with volunteers recruited from the pool of survey participants. Findings The findings suggest that practitioners who participated in this study held relatively positive attitudes toward people who identify as lesbian or gay. However, those who had what could be considered moderate to positive attitudes were not necessarily free from prejudicial and discriminatory views, particularly when it came to certain matters such as those relating to their own families and work with young children. Applications The discussion of the findings illustrate the relevance of the broader social context to Vietnamese social work practitioners' attitudes toward sexual minorities. It highlights the potent influence of dominant ideologies in shaping prejudicial views and attitudes and points to the need for practice at a broader level targeting Vietnamese society and culture as a whole.