It's May! Spring is in the air—birds are singing, flowers are blooming and, as of this writing, same-sex couples have the right to be legally married in Massachusetts!
Whether your reaction to this statement is one of bewilderment, awe or 'it's about time!' legalization of our right to marry our (same-gender) partners marks a significant change in public visibility, civil rights, and possibly even social acceptance of lesbians and gay men. Legal same-gender marriage is likely to match Stonewall as a defining historical event in its impact on the lives of women and men who are questioning or coming to terms with a lesbian, gay, or bisexual identity. The Stonewall riots, which began in New York City on June 17, 1969, are heralded as the beginning of the gay liberation movement.
'Coming out' is largely an individual and internal process, but is affected by a variety of external factors such as age, culture and race/ethnicity. When asked to tell their 'coming out' stories, women who identify as lesbian most often describe an internal process of recognizing feelings for and attraction to other women, giving those feelings a name, and then deciding that they are lesbian or bisexual. Disclosing one's lesbian or bisexual identity to others, gradually and over time, typically follows. While women of different age groups or generations generally describe these common steps or phases, the timing and the struggles encountered along the way often differ. Some of the differences reflect changes in the availability of information, public visibility and social acceptance of homosexuality that have taken place in the 35 years since Stonewall.
In the Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women (CHLEW) study, older participants, those who were ages 18 and older at the time of Stonewall (average age 56 years in 2000/'01), on average did not self-identify as lesbian until age 27. They first disclosed their lesbian identity to someone else by age 30. Younger women (average age 41) first identified as lesbian when they were 22-23 and disclosed their sexual identity to someone else less than two years later, by age 24. The youngest group, those who were 18 to 33, self-identified as lesbian by age 19 (on average) and told someone else about their sexual identity within one year. Based on the experiences of CHLEW participants, it appears that younger women self-identify as lesbian earlier and disclose that identity more quickly than older women.
It is not possible to say that historical events such as Stonewall and changes in polices such as domestic-partner benefits have caused these changes, or even that 'coming out' earlier and more quickly is a less difficult process. Yet, with the greater visibility and more tolerant social attitudes that these historical events signify, women who are beginning to question or come to terms with a lesbian or bisexual identity are more likely to have access to needed information and support.
By conducting studies such as CHLEW, we will be able to gain a better understanding of the coming out process and its relationship to other areas of lesbians' lives. Research such as the CHLEW would not be possible without the support of the Chicago lesbian community and of individual women.
The success of CHLEW will depend on our ability to locate and re-interview women who participated in our first interviews in 2000-2001. We have lost contact with about 40 of the 450 women who were interviewed. If you or anyone you know participated in the first phase of the study please call the toll-free number 1-866-933-3459 or contact us via e-mail (chlewstudy@yahoo.com).
No one can replace the original participants (we cannot add lesbians to the study who did not participate in 2000-'01), so it is critically important that we locate each of the missing participants. We very much appreciate your help and look forward to bringing you more interesting and useful information about important health issues in our community.