LGBQ

By Jennifer Perlman, Lexi Klein, Amina Drine, Chad Obzud

ICE BREAKER
WHAT DOES LGBQ STAND FOR

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Questioning

Acronym emphasizes a diversity of sexuality
Homosexual/Heterosexual activity does not define sexual orientation
"I think defining yourself as 100 percent anything is kind of near-sighted and close-
minded. In a f---ing year I could meet a guy and be like, 'Whoa, I'm attracted to this
person.' I've met guys all the time that I'm, like, 'Damn, that's a good-looking guy.'"-
Josh Hutcherson
9 million Americans identify LGB
19 million have engaged in same-sex behavior and one-fourth have some level of
same-sex attraction
LGBQ couples doubled in last decade to 660,000; 1 in 5 couples raising children
30 years has seen a lot of positive growth!!
COMING OUT

United States society has a heterosexual nature

Secrets cause isolation which can lead to stress and depression for LGB folks
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT DECISION
Bisexual individual affected the most
LGB youth have higher likelihood of being victimized in schools
High LGBQ identity development correlates with feelings of hope, optimism
and life engagement
Leelah Alcorn
What is Victimization?

Victimization is the action of singling someone out for cruel or unjust treatment.
Types:
YOUTH: Discrimination and harassment in the school environment is common
with middle and high school students, over 80% of LGBT students reported
harassment issues (Sue & Sue, 2016)
CYBERBULLYING: 55% were exposed to this through text messages, email and
internet posting.
Risk factors can be:
Psychological, behavioral, and academic problems, sexual risk, and school
problems
Bullying can lead to social withdrawal, self-criticism, or self-harm.
What is homophobia?
It is a dislike or prejudice against homosexual people
It is a fear within heterosexuals that they might possess
homosexual feelings with themselves.
This may include mannerisms or actions that might
suggest homosexuality and the desire to suppress those
feelings.
Homophobia can mask itself in many different ways
including:
queer-bashing
psychiatrys attempt to cure the homosexual
discriminatory laws and employment practices,
inability on the part of social service agencies to deal with
the homosexual,
the medias demeaning and stereotypical images of the
homosexual
STATS IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM

95% of pupils hear the word gay being used as an insult or something they
don't like
Only 9% of pupils thought that a pupil or member of staff would feel safe
telling people they were LGB in school
Over half of pupils had witnessed homophobic bullying in school
28% of pupils felt that homophobic language or bullying was dealt with well in
school
75% of staff had witnessed homophobic bullying in school
58% did not feel that their school was a safe and welcoming place for lesbian,
gay or bisexual pupils
Drug and Alcohol

Across all age groups LGB people are much more likely to use drugs: 35% of
respondents had taken at least one substance (excluding alcohol) in the last
month. This is likely to be 7 times higher compared to the general population.
34% of gay and bisexual males and 29% of lesbian and bisexual females
reported binge drinking at least once or twice a week.
 Minority Stress Across
the Life Span
References
Dispenza, F., Brown, C., & Chastain, T. E. (2015). Minority stress across the career-
lifespan trajectory.Journal of Career Development,43(2), 103-115.
doi:10.1177/0894845315580643
Minority Stress Across the Career Life
Span
The minority stress frame work focuses on how
conflict of ones own values can effect a person of
LGBQ within our dominant culture leading to
significant life strains/burdens
Types of macroaggressions consists of:
Experiencing homophobic maltreatment
Being subject to blame
Being subject to derogatory
terminology(dyke,fag)
Being considered sinful
Being social deviants
Being excluded from social activities
Social maltreatment
Internalized Heterosexism
Is an oppressive force that many LGBQ
experience in a life span:

Its associated with:

Hiding ones sexual identity

Having the expectation of
rejection
Having the expectation of
bulling
Difficulty in sexual identity
formation
Difficulty in identity
management
Having low self esteem
High reports of psychological
distress.
 Developmental contextual approach to
appraisal and development interventions
with sexual minorities
Developmental- Contextualism
Distal Factors(e.g., cultural, Stages of Lifespan Development
political, economic) Youth/Adolescence
Proximal Factors(e.g., family, Adulthood
employer, friends) Older Adulthood

Appraisal of Minority Stress

Exposure to prejudice,
discrimination, and Appraisal of Psychological
macroaggressions Process
Expectations of rejection Emotional regulation
Concealment Social and Interpersonal
Internalized heterosexism functioning
Cognitive Process
Adaptability and Coping
Responses Affirmative Developmental
Approaches
Develop coping strategies Youth/Adolescences
Identifying support systems Adult hood
Maximizing personal strengths Older adult hood
 Class Participation
Discussion Questions:

1) Who feels nervous to admit about how uncomfortable they felt?

2) What was your first thought about the activity?
3) Did you learn something about yourself?
4) Were you surprised by your reaction to the questions?
5) Were you surprised by others reactions in the group?
6) Was there one question particular that stood out to you and why?
Implications for School Counselors

It is important for school counselors

To take an affirming position that validates and
helps normalize the students identity.
Develop their coping & survival skills and
expand environmental supports.
Help students replace negative strategies and
cognitions with self-affirming and positive
coping strategies.
 Two Levels

System & Individual

System
Advocate for inclusion of LBGQ issues in their curriculum.
Promote opportunities for social skill development, provision of adequate
social services, and a nondiscriminatory school environment.
30% offer any education regarding diversity
Less than 30% of school districts provide training for teachers and staff
regarding challenges faced by LGBQ students
We need to
Encourage school personnel to consistently enforce policies that protect LGBQ
students from harassment & violence.
DASA: Dignity for All Students Act

All persons applying to the NYS Education

Department for an administrative or
supervisory service, classroom teaching service
or school service certificate or license, must
complete six (6) clock hours of coursework or
training in harassment, bullying and
discrimination prevention and intervention.
Support Groups!
Become familiar with community-based support groups such as hotlines, youth
clubs!
Parents, Families, and Friends of Gays and Lesbians:
PFLAG is the nation's largest family and ally organization.
The Trevor Project:
The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and
suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ)
young people ages 13-24.
Gay-Straight Alliances
Empowers and trains queer, trans and allied youth leaders to advocate, organize, and
mobilize an intersectional movement for safer schools and healthier communities.
The Gender Spectrum
Provides resources in working with children and youth with gender issues. Such
organizations defuse possible harassment and violence in schools and allows students to
gain support and openly express their sexual identities.
Individual Level
Bullying can lead to an internalized negative
attitudes by LGBQ youth and the development of
dysfunctional shame-focused coping strategies such
as social withdraw, self-criticism, or self-harm.
The counselor can help their clients to realize that
they are not responsible for the bullying and
replace negative strategies and cognitions with
self-affirmations and positive coping strategies.
Strength of LGBQ

According to Sue & Sue text, many cite

positive aspects of being a lesbian or gay man,
such as belonging to a supportive community,
being able to create families of choice, serving
as positive role models, living authentically,
being involved in social justice and activism,
and freedom from gender-specific roles.
What can we do as School Counselors?
Examine your own views regarding heterosexuality and determine their impact on work
with LBGQ students. Understand heterosexual and cisgender privilege. A way to
personalize this perspective is to assume that some of your family, friends, or coworkers
may be LBGQ.
Ensure your lessons and language are free of heterosexist bias and include question on
sexual behavior, attraction, or orientation. Be aware that LBGT students may have
specific concerns regarding confidentiality.
Do not assume that presenting problems are necessarily the result of sexual orientation.
Typical problems may include relationship difficulties, self-esteem issues, depression, and
anxiety. Keep in mind that societal factors may play a role in these problems.
Remember that mental health issues may result from stress due to prejudice,
discrimination, internalized homophobia, the coming out process, a lack of family, peer,
school or community support; experiences of sexual victimization or physical assault;
suicidal ideation or attempts; substance abuse. Ethnic minorities may be dealing with
rejection from their ethnic communities and marginalization within the LBGT community.
Assess spiritual and religious needs. Many LBGT individuals have a strong religious faith
but encounter exclusion. Religious support is available. For example, for individuals of
the Christian faith, the Fellowship United Methodist Church accepts all types of diversity
and is open to gay congregation. Explore different options.
Because many LBGT people have internalized the societal belief that they cannot have
long-lasting relationships, access to materials that portray healthy and satisfying long-
term LBGT relationships can help counteract these stereotypes.
THE END
References:

Chesir-Teran, D., & Hughes, D. (2009). Heterosexism in high school and victimization among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
questioning students.Journal of Youth and Adolescence,38(7), 963-75.

Dispenza, F., Brown, C., & Chastain, T. E. (2015). Minority stress across the career-lifespan trajectory.Journal of Career
Development,43(2), 103-115. doi:10.1177/0894845315580643

Dragowski, E. A., McCabe, P. C., & Rubinson, F. (2016). Educators reports on incidence of harassment and advocacy
toward lgbtq students.Psychology in the Schools,53(2), 127-142. doi:10.1002/pits.21895
Facts and figures. (2017).

Guittar, N. A. (2013). The meaning of coming out: From self-affirmation to full disclosure.Qualitative Sociology
Review,9(3) Retrieved from
http://sage.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwnV05T8MwGP0E7cLCjaAUyRNbSuI4h1lQCKmQOM
UxMFU-UaW2KT0G_j35kpQKKjGwRfISOfbL5-fvvQfg047r_MIExkzkSRYZYU1EpVXSulaEvhGlaRgyBbcpfctYlvCbWtSPTEH1t
RcgWSK3zhWS5mceC2KO_lHsYvzhYIwUXrfWmRrr0CzqekYb0LzM7h-fFuCMVijBCuyW_5LuFrz_JFA62Nq14m67tGn899ttw2Zd
bpKkWh87sGZGu9D6VqmQU1Lpc0llF_K5B2mxcMidEciXkNySAjDw6WE-OyfdST4kz2ZgncTafq16JLOc4EGWXPWnapAj47gPr93
sJb126qQFZ4yOo04gBV4_Ss58La2gypWoATe0tOcLC0xgvhKeDFylDY81Bj0yzVQchMLX3PgH0BjlI3MIhMdYU2GhUpy0tNQ8LO
BWCOnyyHpcB0fQXkxYr94u095ytlp_Dx_DBi3zKLBftg2N2WRuTqoevC8jFbpC
Moe, J. L., Dupuy, P. J., & Laux, J. M. (2008). The relationship between LGBQ identity development and hope, optimism,
and life engagement.Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling,2(3), 199-215. doi:10.1080/15538600802120101

Walker, J. A., & Prince, T. (2010). Training considerations and suggested counseling interventions for LGBT
individuals.Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling,4(1), 2-17. doi:10.1080/15538600903552756