“I feel as if I’m lying to them”: Exploring Lesbian Muslims’ Experiences of Rejection, Support, and Depression

Abstract

The current exploratory study utilized a mixed-methods design to study 18 lesbian Muslims’ mental health in relation to familial and online social support (M Age = 24, Sd = 9). Due to the threat of familial rejection, the majority of participants (n = 11) selectively disclosed their sexual identity and four participants publicly disclosed. Half of participants scored as mildly to severely depressed on the Beck Depression Inventory (M = 15, Sd = 9). Participants reporting changes in their familial relationships due to their sexual orientation scored as the most highly depressed, F (2, 15) = 4.75, p = .025. Participants’ depression scores varied significantly between those that belonged to online support groups addressing religion and sexuality (n = 8, M = 8.712, SD = 6.183) and those that did not (n = 10, M = 20.250, SD = 7.772), t(16) = 3.416, p = .004. Future research would benefit from exploring how therapeutic alliances and family of choice networks can help buffer lesbian Muslims’ experiences of familial rejection.