One key aspect contributing to this extra stress is society’s impact. Stereotyping, discrimination, and rejection play significant roles in exacerbating stress levels among gay and bisexual men. These individuals often find themselves pigeonholed into rigid stereotypes by others in the workplace or society in general. This can lead to feelings of inadequacy and thus, a constant need to prove themselves. Discrimination can take place without the people concerned even being aware they are doing something illegal. According to the Human Rights 1998 article 14 we all have the right not to be discriminated against because of our sexual orientation and many “other status”. The fear of being judged and ostracised by society can create a constant state of anxiety and stress.

This can happen in many ways even without the persons causing the stress understanding that they are doing it. It might be after years of trusting someone they suddenly become fearful of being close to that person for reasons that are based around sexuality and or sexual identity. This sort of rejection can cause a serious negative impact on mental wellbeing.

Why discrimination like this happens is a hard question to answer as there will be as many different reasons as there are different people. However, it maybe the perpetrator is reinforcing societies heteronormal attitudes toward sexuality because they have a false and outdated belief that heterosexual life is the only way to live. Alternatively, they maybe bolstering their own heterosexual identity by persecuting and discriminating against those that are different to themselves because they are seeking approval from others or their own misinformed conscience. There may also be some personal stress arising that they feel they have to deal with by personally attacking (verbally or physically) those who are different or have different views to themselves. The perpetrator maybe worrying that association with others with different attitudes toward sexuality could create a backlash against them from their family, friends and or work colleagues and thus feel the need to discriminate, attempting to bully or shame someone into changing their beliefs. As I said so many reasons, I cannot cover them all but, it will be obvious that this sort of thing causes extra stress.