Few societal attitudes and opinions have changed as quickly as those regarding sexual minority people and rights. In the context of dramatic social change, there have been multiple policy changes toward social inclusion and rights for lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people, and perceptions that the sociocultural context for LGB people—perhaps particularly for youth—has improved. Yet recent evidence from the developmental sciences points to paradoxical findings: in many cases there have been growing rather than shrinking health disparities. The authors suggest that there is a developmental collision between normative adolescent developmental processes and sexual minority youth identities and visibility.

很少有社会态度和观点像有关性少数群体和权利的态度和观点改变得那么快。在巨大的社会变革的背景下，针对女同性恋、男同性恋和双性恋 (LGB) 人群的社会包容和权利发生了多项政策变化，并且人们认为 LGB 人群（尤其是年轻人）的社会文化背景有所改善。然而，最近来自发育科学的证据却指出了矛盾的发现：在许多情况下，健康差距非但没有缩小，反而在扩大。作者认为，规范的青少年发展过程与性少数青少年的身份和知名度之间存在发展冲突。