By Rae Garringer — 2017
In July 2013 I founded an oral history project called Country Queers out of intense frustration at the lack of rural queer visibility.
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Experts and researchers use terms like “epidemic” and “crisis” to characterize the mental health challenges currently facing American college students. Statistics back up these claims.
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What began as a proud assertion of identity has itself become a trope; the stereotype of a gay man now is one who goes to the gym and takes care of himself.
Body image is particularly important to discuss in the context of the LGBTQIA+ community, due to the prevalence of eating disorders and similar issues that disproportionately impact those who identify as LGBTQIA+.
More athletes are reporting mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, psychiatric conditions and eating disorders.
Conversations surrounding eating disorders, body image, and beauty standards are generally centered on the narratives of straight, cisgender* women. However, these conversations often exclude the experiences of many LGBT people who also struggle with body image concerns and disordered eating.
Eating disorders have historically been believed to primarily afflict heterosexual, affluent, cisgender, thin, white women.