This study focuses on the challenges faced by U.S. college students who identify as gay or lesbian and choose to study abroad in Latin American countries. The focus is on the challenges to the formation and negotiation of a gay or lesbian identity in a new cultural construct. The study incorporates information from identity development and identity negotiation perspectives in an effort to explain the problems that these students face. There is also an emphasis placed on how these students receive support while on site, and how these supports help students continue a successful negotiation of a gay or lesbian identity while in a new cultural environment. Recommendations for providing effective support to gay and lesbian students are included.