Eating Disorders in the LGBTQ+ Community

It's unfortunate but true. Eating disorders are big in the LGBTQ+ community. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, 42% of the males that have eating disorders are gay, and gay and bisexual boys are significantly more likely to restrict, purge, and/or use diet pills to control their weight. Gay males were seven times more likely binge and 12 times more likely to purge than heterosexual males. Women that identified as lesbian, bisexual, or bicurious were twice as likely to binge at least once per month in the last year than heterosexual women.

Because eating disorders are often about changing the way one's body looks, people that suffer from body dysphoria, the feeling of one's identity not alining with their body, are at a higher risk for developing an eating disorder. Trans individuals will try to change their appearance through dieting and exercise to resemble the gender they identify with.

There are a few reasons for the development of eating disorders in LGBTQ+ individuals:

• Discrimination based on gender or sexual identity
• Bullying because of sexual identity
• Internalized negative beliefs
• Unrealistic body image ideals or goals that are prevalent in LGBTQ+ cultures
• Trauma
• Fear of rejection
• Psychological stress related to a disconnect between gender identity and biological sex
• Not being accepted by friends and/or family for sexual identity

Overall, eating disorders don't discriminate. They affect each and every identity. I thought I couldn't have an eating disorder because I was masculine presenting. There's a stigma around eating disorders, but specifically around men with eating disorders. The world acts like eating disorders don't affect men. Because of this I convinced myself that I couldn't have an eating disorder because I'm not feminine. It took me a few weeks of treatment to accept that I could have an eating disorder even if I dressed like a 12-year-old boy.