![]() Transgender people may experience distress due to the incongruity between their biological sex and gender identity. Similarly, in our survey, one-third (33%) of adults who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or other reported experiencing suicidal thoughts or feelings because of concerns about their body image, compared to 11% of the adults who identified as heterosexual. Among adults who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or other, 53% felt anxious, and 56% felt depressed because of their body image compared to one-third (33%) of the adults who identified as heterosexual. In our survey, a higher proportion of individuals who identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual reported feelings of anxiety and depression because of their body image. A similar pattern was found for women who identify as bisexual (130). However, other studies find a similar level of concern between heterosexual and lesbian women regarding the perceptions of their bodies and their perceptions of what an ‘ideal’ body looks like (128). ![]() One study suggested a small difference, finding that lesbian women may be slightly more satisfied with their bodies than heterosexual women (129). Some research suggests that lesbian women have a similar level of concern around their body image as heterosexual women (127,128), though research is mixed on this point. As in the wider research, studies focused on gay, and bisexual men have found a connection between higher levels of body dissatisfaction, an increased likelihood of experiencing depressive symptoms and increased sexual anxiety and poorer sexual self-efficacy (123). One review of the research (126) found that gay men are more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to experience a desire to be thin, which can sometimes manifest in higher levels of eating disorder symptoms. Some research suggests that sexual minority men may be more likely to internalise an appearance ideal that is centred around looking athletic (124) and that there may be a greater emphasis on physical appearance in the gay community, which can negatively affect body image (125) through pressure to match this ideal. Heterosexual men have been found to report higher levels of body appreciation than gay and bisexual men (123,124). ![]() How does body image vary across the LGBT community? While people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) experience body image concerns in ways that are generally similar to those who identify as heterosexual, their experience and relationship with their bodies are likely to differ in specific ways.
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