Trauma, recovery, and community: Perspectives on the long-term impact of anti-LGBT politics.

Abstract

Research conducted since the early 1990s has suggested that elections designed to delimit the rights of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals carry the potential for significant negative psychological consequences. Research has also suggested that some LGB people use these elections as opportunities for positive individual and social change. Virtually all of the research on the psychological impact of anti-LGB elections has focused on the immediate aftermath of these political events. This article reports results from a qualitative study designed to explore community members ’ perceptions of the longer term impact of the full cycle of Colorado’s Amendment 2, including the campaign, election, and judicial reversal. The results from interviews with a purposive sample of LGB and heterosexual informants offer commentaries on the enduring impact of Amendment 2 at the levels of individuals, the LGBT community, and the broader community. Keywords anti-LGBT politics, LGBT community, resilience, trauma Recent years have seen more than 100 elections addressing the rights of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB)1 people in the United States (Gamble, 1997). Most of the early elections focused on efforts to exclude sexual orientation from munici-

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