Publications

PURPOSE

This scoping study sought to provide an overview of existing interventions, programs and policies that address family-based stigma and discrimination against LGBTQ youth.

METHODS

A keyword search in three online databases identified relevant scientific publications. Because it located a relatively small number of peer-reviewed publications, additional grey literature references were included, identified through consultation with specialists and through anonymous peer-review. Research, policies and interventions were categorized using an adapted ecological framework.

RESULTS

There is very little peer-reviewed research on interventions to reduce family stigma and discrimination against LGBTQ youth. Most on-going work to improve family environments for LGBTQ youth appears to be currently conducted by city governments and non-governmental organizations. Very few interventions or programs provide any outcome data. Theoretical frameworks and approaches vary widely.

CONCLUSIONS

Given the widely recognized importance of a supportive family environment for a healthy transition to adulthood for LGBTQ youth, there is an urgent need for scientific research on policies and interventions to address stigma and discrimination and create supportive environments within families. Tackling family-based stigma and discrimination will require interventions and policies at each level of the ecological framework, including individual- and interpersonal-level interventions as well as community-level programs and structural-level policymaking.

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are lymphocytes that do not express the type of diversified antigen receptors expressed on T cells and B cells. ILCs are largely tissue-resident cells and are deeply integrated into the fabric of tissues. The discovery and investigation of ILCs over the past decade has changed our perception of immune regulation and how the immune system contributes to the maintenance of tissue homeostasis. We now know that cytokine-producing ILCs contribute to multiple immune pathways by, for example, sustaining appropriate immune responses to commensals and pathogens at mucosal barriers, potentiating adaptive immunity, and regulating tissue inflammation. Critically, the biology of ILCs also extends beyond classical immunology to metabolic homeostasis, tissue remodeling, and dialog with the nervous system. The last 10 years have also contributed to our greater understanding of the transcriptional networks that regulate lymphocyte commitment and delineation. This, in conjunction with the recent advances in our understanding of the influence of local tissue microenvironments on the plasticity and function of ILCs, has led to a re-evaluation of their existing categorization. In this review, we distill the advances in ILC biology over the past decade to refine the nomenclature of ILCs and highlight the importance of ILCs in tissue homeostasis, morphogenesis, metabolism, repair, and regeneration.