Do Spirituality, Rurality, and LGBTQ Support Increase Outness and Quality of Health in Gay and Bisexual Men?

ABSTRACT

Although the existing research suggests that spirituality may positively affect health outcomes for gay and bisexual men, it is unclear to what extent it improves the quality of health over and above sociodemographic factors. Furthermore, there remains conflicting evidence regarding the role of residential location on levels of outness for gay and bisexual men. To that end, the present study used hierarchical linear regression analyses to examine the role of spirituality, rurality, and LGBTQ connectedness in outness and quality of health. The sample comprised 2,202 self-identified gay and bisexual men aged 18 and older who responded to the Social Justice Sexuality Project survey; participants represented all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The results indicate that whereas spirituality was positively associated with a greater quality of life, there was no significant difference in outness between rural versus nonrural participants. Moreover, bisexual men endorsed significantly lower levels of outness compared to their gay counterparts. Implications for future research regarding the role of spirituality and rurality in sexual minority health are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Outness
• spirituality
• gay
• bisexual
• quality of health
• minority stress
• intersectionality

Acknowledgments

The author acknowledges Jennifer Gruber, Anuj Gandhi, and Melanie Kroll for their contributions to the preparation of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

No funding reported.