Forty years of research on homosexuality in the Tijdschrift voor Seksuologie

  • Auteur:
    Henny Bos, Alexis Dewaele
  • Pdf openbaar:
    Yes

In this article we reflect on two studies, published in the Tijdschrift voor Seksuologie, which relate to homosexuality. We selected a Flemish study on risky sex behavior among gay men and a study from the Netherlands on homosexual identity development. Both topics are still relevant today and allow us to outline an evolution in this field of research. Our analysis shows how the focus of the study of homosexuality widened at a social level. A rather narrow view on sexual (risk) behavior among gay men evolved into a variety of themes such as sexual identity, social acceptance at school and at work, and attention for specific subgroups such as older gay and bisexual men and women. Moreover, on a theoretical level, we see that these studies become better integrated into psychological and sociological contemporary theories with a specific focus on the minority stress model. The latter model explains the fragile mental and physical health of gay and bisexual men and women by the fact that they are facing exclusion, discrimination, and prejudice. In addition, researchers increasingly explain the health problems of gay men from a syndemic approach. This suggests that the synergistic interaction of two or more diseases that occur simultaneously, give rise to excessive vulnerability. Recent studies show that the social and scientific attention for homosexuality is still a necessity in view of the vulnerability of this group.

ISSUES