WORLD LEISURE No. 212004 O Copyright by the authors
Coping with stress among gays
and lesbians: Implications for human
development over the lifespan
YOSHIIWASAKI,
JANICE RISTOCK
University of Manitoba
Abstract
Gays and lesbians are at risk of being exposed to high levels of stress because of their
marginalized social identities and social locations in dominant cultures. Given the prevalence and
significance of stress in the lives of gays and lesbians regardless of their age, stress-coping is one
of the key axes of their development over the lifespan. The purpose of the present study was to
examine the ways in which gays and lesbians cope with stress in their lives, including the potential
contribution of leisure t o stress-coping. A series of focus groups were conducted with gays and
lesbians (n = 30) in a western Canadian city to explore their lived experiences and meanings of
coping. The findings suggest that the use of effective coping methods is a survival technique in
their lives. The key themes identified are concerned with a wide range of coping techniques - per-
sonal, social, behavioral, psychological, attitudinal, spiritual, and cultural. These findings empha-
size the importance of using the strengths and resilience of gays and lesbians in coping with stress.
Particularly, our data suggested that a leisure space is considered an oasis for gays and lesbians
to re-charge themselves physically, emotionally, and psychologically, which facilitates a sense of
empowerment to proactively cope with stress in a world where homophobia and heterosexism
still exist.
***
The lives of gays and lesbians appear they survive and grow over the lifespan
stressful (Garnets, 2002; Walker, 200 1 ). It (Sanders & Krall, 2000). Thus, stress-coping
has been shown that the key sources of stress is one of the key axes of their development
experienced among gays and lesbians (that over the lifespan.
are either directly related or unrelated t o their Researchers have only recently begun to
sexual orientations) represent a wide spec- give an increasing attention to coping strate-
trum of their lives (Flowers & Buston, 200 1 ; gies among gays and lesbians. In his discus-
Lewis, Derlega, Berndt, Morris, & Rose, sion of aging and sexual orientation, Kimmel
2001). Not only have the domains of family, (2002) suggested that aging gays and lesbi-
employment, and social relationships been ans have the potential of developing "crisis
identified as major stressors, but discrimina- competence" over the lifespan, showing "sur-
tion and identity issues have also been found vival of the fittest" rather than being consid-
to be key stress factors (Miller, Forest, & Jurik, ered "a group of walking wounded individu-
2003; Walker, 2001 ). To deal with the stress- als" (p. 23-24). Similarly, Greene (2000) em-
ful nature of their lives, effective coping strat- phasized, "lesbians and gay men as a group
egies seem essential for gays and lesbians, as are not the harbingers of psychopathology"-
, Stress-coping among gays and lesbians
rather, "a special kind of resilience" can be A growing body of literature on leisure and
seen among them (p. 5). From intervention gaysllesbians emphasizes the significant role
and therapeutic perspectives, one central issue of leisure in the lives of gaysllesbians (e.g.,
discussed by Sanders and Kroll (2000) for Caldwell, Kivel, Smith, & Haynes, 1998;
helping gay and lesbian youth and their fami- Grossman, D'Augelli, Hershberger, 2000),
lies was the development of resilience to cope with respect, for example, to identify forma-
with or adapt to a socially oppressive world. tion (e.g., Johnson, 199912000; Kivel &
Particularly, social support has been high- Kleiber, 2000). In their study on the lives of
lighted as an important stress-coping resource older lesbians, Jacobson and Samdahl (1 998)
among gays and lesbians (Burgess et al., found that despite their experiences of stigma
2000; Haas, 2002). For example, Wilson and and discrimination, these women actively cre-
Miller's (2002) interview study revealed that ated "safe spaces for their own private com-
African American gay men build support sys- munity" or "an alternative community that
tems to manage stress related to their minor- served to provide the support and validation
ity status as gay men of colour. Other specific that was lacking in [their] public networks"
coping strategies that might be helpful for (p. 247). Indeed, their "private leisure" acted
gays and lesbians include: "affirmation of mi- as a "meaningful" space to facilitate this proc-
nority culture and minority values" (Flowers & ess (p. 245). More recently, within the context
Buston, 2001, p. 52), reinterpreting one's of Manchester's gay village in UK, researchers
identity problems to construct a positive iden- emphasized the importance of lesbian's own
tity (Walker, 2001 ), maintaining hope (Watts, space (Pritchard, Morgan, & Sedgley, 2002),
2001), and spirituality (Mcguffey, 2001 ). Also, as well as of understanding the relationships
Rothschild, Brownlee, and Gallant's (2000) among leisure space, sexuality, identity, and
case study discovered that the use of mean- legitimation (Skeggs, 1999). Furthermore,
ing-centred coping is essential for a 53 year- Bialeschki and Pearce (1997) found that
old gay man living with AIDS through recog- through the use of role negotiation strategies,
nizing and honouring the meaning that had lesbian mothers proactively created their lei-
been given to his life. sure into three related contexts - leisure for
Finally, Cruess et al. (2002) found that a self, leisure for the couple, and leisure for the
cognitive-behavioral stress management inter- family. They concluded,
vention among HIV-infected gay men was ef- "leisure was a critical context for the lives
fective in significontly reducing psychological of these lesbian mothers. They designed
distress. The intervention implemented in their negotiation strategies and made conscious
study focused on "cognitive restructuring, cop- decisions around household and childcare
ing skills, assertiveness, anger management, responsibilities that maximized their
social support utilization, and relaxation train- ability to experience leisure within the
ing" (p. 388). Specifically, active coping, social parameters of their family's temporal and
support, acceptance, positive reinterpretation economic conditions. Within leisure, these
and growth, and reassurance of worth were women provided themselves an opportu-
found as key contributors to the reduction of nity to develop their own sense of family
distress. and also challenged the status quo by
Despite the recent growth in research on being socially visible as a family"
stress-coping among gays and lesbians, one (p. 1 27- 1 28).
central theme that appears to be lacking in The purpose of the present focus-group
the current literature is the possible role that study was to examine the ways in which gays
leisure might play in helping gays and lesbians and lesbians cope with stress in their lives, in-
cope with stress in a meaningful or effective cluding the potential contribution of leisure to
way. An examination of such potential seems stress-coping. Though not specifically refer-
to have important implications both theoreti- ring to gays and lesbians, it has been shown
cally and practically. that leisure plays a key role in helping people
