A look at “The role of social rejection and trauma in homosexual women with gambling problems” by A. Fernández-Villardón, L. Macía and A. Estévez (2026)
A gentle note: this post discusses trauma and rejection in general terms.
When we picture someone struggling with gambling, the image that often springs to mind is a man in a betting shop. Women’s gambling has been under-researched, and lesbian women’s experiences have been almost entirely invisible. This small Spanish study listened to six lesbian women in treatment for gambling disorder to understand their stories.
What they found
The researchers gathered data through focus groups, an individual interview and life-story narratives with six lesbian women aged 28 to 50, all in outpatient treatment for gambling problems. Several themes emerged.
- Lives shaped by isolation and rejection. Many described emotional isolation, rejection related to their sexuality, and complicated, ambivalent relationships with family. Some had experienced trauma.
- Gambling as emotional escape. The type of gambling, often games with a mild strategic element, resembled patterns more common among men. But the reason for gambling matched patterns more typical of women: a way to escape painful emotions.
- Struggles with emotion regulation. Gambling often happened in the context of difficulty managing emotions, alongside other mental health difficulties.
- Complex relationships. Romantic relationships were sometimes a source of both support and strain.
- Wider harms. The authors note that, for some, gambling became tangled up with other risks, including involvement in sex work, a theme they say needs further, dedicated exploration.
The authors call for gambling treatment that’s sensitive to gender, sexual orientation and emotional history.
A grain of glitter ✨
This study brings visibility to a genuinely overlooked group, and its stories are powerful. But with just six participants, its findings are exploratory. The authors acknowledge that the interviews were originally designed for a broader study, not specifically to explore sexuality, so some important questions may not have been asked. There was no comparison group, so we can’t tell which experiences are specific to lesbian women. The paper uses the dated term “homosexual women”, and it’s unclear how bisexual, queer or trans women might fit into the picture.
It’s also worth being careful not to over-read: these are women in treatment, whose experiences may be more severe than average, and their stories don’t mean lesbian women in general are at high risk.
Why this matters
If you’re a queer woman and gambling has become a way to escape difficult feelings, you’re not alone, and there’s no shame in it. Rejection and isolation can leave deep wounds, and gambling can feel like temporary relief. The most helpful support is likely to address both the gambling and the pain beneath it, with someone who understands what it means to be a queer woman. In the UK, the National Gambling Helpline (0808 8020 133) is free and confidential, any time.
A unicorn that’s been pushed out of the herd may look for any escape route. The way home is through connection, not more chips on the table.