Given the role of social/structural factors (e.g., prejudicial attitudes, discrimination) in the development of mental health problems in the LGB community, many have recognized the need to intervene at the societal level (Link & Phelan, 2001; Meyer, 2003). The recent Connecticut and Iowa Supreme Court decisions to allow same-sex marriage, and the 2007 Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (Matthew Shepard Act), which passed the U.S. House of Representatives, are important examples of such efforts. In addition to changes in social policy, interventions are needed to alter various social environments in which prejudice-inspired stressors develop and/or proliferate, including work-place discrimination against LGBT adults (Waldo, 1999) and school violence targeting sexual minority youth (Russell et al., 2001).
