The legal treatment of and attitudes toward sexual minorities has changed considerably over recent decades in the United States, highlighting the role of historical context in the unfolding of human lives. Yet, a full application of the life course perspective to the topic of structural inequalities faced by sexual minorities is missing from the scholarly literature. Through synthesizing and analyzing research findings from the past 15 years, we explain how the five tenets of the life course framework apply to sexual minorities, including (1) the interplay of history and human lives, (2) the timing of lives, (3) linked lives, (4) human development and aging as lifelong processes, and (5) human agency. In doing so, we argue that a life course perspective is crucial for understanding the nature and consequences of prejudice and discrimination faced by sexual minorities. We end with discussion of the need for additional research and methodological innovations regarding distinctive aging experiences, cumulative inequality, and intersectionality.

中文翻译：

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对性少数群体的生命历程视角：对同性恋偏见和歧视研究的启示

近几十年来，美国对性少数群体的法律待遇和态度发生了很大变化，凸显了历史背景在人类生活发展中的作用。然而，学术文献中却缺乏将生命历程视角全面应用于性少数群体面临的结构性不平等这一主题。通过综合和分析过去15年的研究成果，我们解释了生命历程框架的五个原则如何适用于性少数群体，包括（1）历史与人类生活的相互作用，（2）生命的时间安排，（3） ）将生命联系在一起，（4）人类发展和衰老是终生的过程，以及（5）人类能动性。在此过程中，我们认为生命历程的视角对于理解性少数群体面临的偏见和歧视的性质和后果至关重要。最后我们讨论了关于独特的老龄化经历、累积不平等和交叉性的额外研究和方法创新的必要性。