Suicidal gesture and resilience in a group of young gays and lesbians in Costa Rica

Abstract

This scientific article is the result of a qualitative research proposed to analyze the relationship manifested between the suicidal gesture and the process of resilience of a group of young gays and lesbians from the Greater Metropolitan Area in Costa Rica. A
total of eight young people participated in this research (four women and four men. As the main data collection technique, the in-depth interview is used. Among the main findings it was possible to identify the relationship between the social homo-lesbo
phobia and the suicidal gesture underwent by gay and lesbian participants which is permeated by a process of self-acceptance overwhelmed by demands, speeches and concrete experiences involving stigmatization and discrimination. Particularly, situations
linked to internalized homo-lesbo phobia, subjective pain, depression, concealment of sexual orientation, social isolation, and self-destructive practices are evident. All of them explained from processes of social oppression featured in the social homolesbo
phobic and patriarchal society settled in the Costa Rican social formation. As an emerging element of this research, It was necessary to analyze the processes of resilience and resistance experienced by the population subject to study in order to find
expressions of strategies and mechanisms, both personal and from the immediate context, involved when facing experiences of violence. Among this strategies are included: participation in supportive and respectful groups of sexual diversity, de-construction and re-signification of spirituality, and encouragement of latent internal resources.
Keywords: social homo-lesbo phobia, internalized homo-lesbo phobia, suicidal gesture, resilience, gay, lesbian.