exposure to distal stressors, insofar as it only occurs because LGB individuals are exposed to negative societal attitudes toward same-sex attraction. Rejection sensitivity represents a third proximal stress among sexual minority individuals. Rejection sensitivity refers to chronic, anxious expectations of rejection based on one's stigmatized status. Among sexual minority individuals, rejection sensitivity emerges from experiences of rejection from parents and is associated with internalized homophobia, unassertiveness, depression, and anxiety. Thus, previous experiences with prejudice are associated with proximal stress among LGBTQ+ individuals, including concealment of their sexual identity, internalized homophobia, and rejection sensitivity. Proximal stressors among gender minorities In comparison to cis (non-transgender) individuals, gender variant minorities face a higher rate of distal stressors, including exclusion, verbal trans bashing, as well as physical and sexual violence. The more distal stressors are sourced in family, friends, partners, neighbors, co-workers, acquaintances, strangers, and even the police, the more likely it is for gender variant people to experience proximal stress, including internalized transphobia. Internalized transphobia may initially appear as anxiety and depression, marked by a severe decrease in self-tolerance or self-empathy, yet needs to be understood diagnostically within the context of minority stress. Proximal stressors among African Americans Among African Americans, proximal stressors were described by early social psychological theorists. For example, Erving Goffman observed that racial minorities approach social interactions with a high degree of anxiety, because they have been discriminated against in the past. Similarly, Gordon Allport asserted that African American individuals display vigilance after exposure to prejudice, actively scanning the social environment for potential threats. Such vigilance is presumed to be taxing, sapping emotional and cognitive energy from minority individuals and thus becoming stressful. Proximal stressors also have been demonstrated among African Americans in terms of stereotype threat. Researchers have shown that, when African Americans are reminded of their racial minority status in an academic context, they face a high degree of anxiety, causing their intellectual performance to suffer. General proximal stressors among minority individuals The proximal stress processes reviewed above are unique to specific minority groups; for example, internalized homophobia is a proximal stressor unique to LGBTQ+ individuals who experience prejudice about their sexual and or/gender orientation/expression, and vigilance against racism is unique to racial minorities who fear future experiences with race-based discrimination. It is also possible that more general psychological processes act as proximal stressors for minority individuals. For example, exposure to prejudice may lead to rumination, which