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LGBTQ+ Community
Sade M. Hill
COUC 504-Multicultual Counseling, Liberty University
Dr. Angela Corrigan
October 4, 2020
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LGBT COMMUNITY
LGBTQ+ individuals are found in all races, socioeconomic classes, and phases of life.
Several of the letters in the LGBTQ+ acronym generally refer to sexual orientation, such lesbian,
gay, and bisexual, whereas transgender refers to gender identity (Flores, 2020). A person’s
gender identity and their sexual orientation may be completely unrelated. Queer and questioning
can apply to both sexual orientation and gender identity. LGBT activists and sociologists see
LGBT community-building as a counterbalance to heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia,
transphobia, sexualism, and traditional pressures that exist in the larger society (Knee, 2018).
June is internationally recognized as LGBT Pride month, a time when LGBT groups
celebrate with events and parades bedazzled in colorful memorabilia. With the Supreme Court’s
ruling on marriage equality in June 2015, many may have wondered if Pride is still as important
as it had been in decades past (Olson, 2016). The answer is yes. Here are four reasons Pride
matters more than ever:
1. Pride commemorates LGBTQ+ history,
2. Pride celebrates LGBTQ+ accomplishments,
3. Pride allows celebration to LGBTQ+ sexual and gender identities in public, and
4. Pride reminds the world that the LGBTQ+ still have a long way to go (Olson, 2016).
LGBTQ+ adults said pride events are important to making society more accepting, but
not as important as some other things, such as people knowing someone who is LGBT and well
known public figures who are LGBT or who support LGBT rights (Flores, 2020). One of those
most influential Pride Event is the Washington, DC Pride Stride.
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Events Attended
This year due to COVID-19 Pride Stride has taken a virtual approach. Pride Stride is a
nation-wide event in which states such as Georgia, New York, California, Maryland, Florida,
Washington, etc. come together to bring awareness and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.
Because it is virtual, there is not official route. Participants where able to choose their own way
around and complete the 5k/10k event it any time between September 10, 2020 and October 31,
2020. Pride Stride is coast-to-coast, creating one massive yet fabulous fundraising event. Each
city also raises money for their local communities.
Event 1: Pride Stride 2020
The Capital Pride Alliance, through its stewardship of diverse programming and events,
specifically year-round LGBTQ+ Pride festivities centered in Washington, DC and the National
Capital Region, serves to celebrate, educate, support, and inspire our multi-faceted communities
in order to grow and preserve our history and protect our rights for current and future generations
(Capital Pride Alliance, 2014). The Capital Pride Alliance, located in Washington, DC, is a
nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the needs of the LGBTQ+ community and its
partners through educational events, entertainment, community outreach, and celebrations of
diversity. Capital Pride produces each year Trans Pride and the Pride Celebration in the nation’s
capital, one of the largest Pride events in the country, plus a variety of educational and
community events throughout the year (Capital Pride Alliance, 2014).
The first-ever nationwide LGBTQ+ virtual 5k/10k event to celebrate National Coming
Out Day on October 11, 2020. This even takes place September 10, 2020- October 31, 2020.
Pride organizations from across America have come together to create the first-ever Pride Stride.
For the first time ever, over 30 Pride organizations are joining to commemorate National Coming
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Out Day while providing an uplifting, fun, and safe virtual event for LGBTQ+ communities
across the nation during these challenging times. This year many Pride organizations had to
cancel or dramatically scale back its celebrations, and this event is helping bring the community
together (Capital Pride Alliance, 2014). A portion of each Pride Stride registration entry fee will
support local LGBTQ+ non-profit organizations across the United States.
During the event there were many LQBTQ+ celebrities that posted live podcast on the
different cities Pride Stride websites. Individuals were able to connect with one another to
celebrate their differences and have a wonderful time. The different organizations had registrants
post pictures and videos with their rainbow memorabilia of their support. Everyone welcomed
each other. During this time no one was isolated, everyone came together as one big happy
family.
Event 2: Pimp (2018)
An urban gritty drama set on the streets of the Bronx. Wednesday (played by Keke
Palmer), a female pimp, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he is gone, she is left
looking after her prostitute mom, and her girlfriend Nikki, Haley Ramm. In need of more money
to survive, Nikki turns tricks changing their luck. Rising in the game, Wednesday continues to
hustle hard for a dream of a better life for her girls and a ticket out of the ghetto. But when
Wednesday pulls a stripper named Destiny, she comes face to face with a male Pimp who runs a
more dangerous game. In a ferocious battle for survival of the fittest, Wednesday fights for love
and risks all to protect Nikki.
The message for women in this film is profound. From the first frame you are sucked in.
From start to finish, the story and the performances had me mesmerized, The directing is savvy,
confident and kinetic, the music is exciting, and the ride is emotionally engaging, though
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sometimes hard to watch and unnerving for all of its rawness, the whole way through. This is a
powerful movie. It is harshly dark, as is life on the street. It makes no apologies and does not
glamorize that life. It looks gorgeous, which reminds you as the viewer that this is a narrative
film. However, it is so realistic at times, as if a documentary; you can feel the chill in the air,
smell of car exhaust, and suffocating nature of life in the ghetto. Keke Palmer makes such a turn
in this movie as a young, tough female pimp trying to make it happen for herself and those she
cares for, while juggling the violence and cutthroat nature of the streets and profession which she
was raised in.
Interview: LaDe`ja Phillips via Facetime
LaDe`ja Phillips is the wife of Danta’ Farrar, sister in law of Sade’ Hill.
LaDe’ja Phillips suggested the movie to get an insight that not all LGBTQ+ individuals live or
have a glamorous life. Mrs. Phillips explained that the movie portrayed how to be one’s self. “It’s
a story we do not often see” (Phillips, 2020). It is clear every actor involved was deeply
committed to not just their characters, but to the narrative. “So, the beginning of the movie was
good and pretty cohesive... it set the premise for the storyline” (Phillips, 2020). Mrs. Phillips
stated that this connected with her because she grew up without a father figure and having to
support her mother. She grew up around mostly boys and very few female friends. “This movie
is all about women, the hustle and the hard roads we are given. This film is the most honest piece
of cinema for women out there. I have never seen anything like it” (Phillips, 2020
LaDe’ja Phillips indicated that she has attended Gay Pride and other Pride events. She
described her experiences as “welcoming and felling at home” (Phillips, 2020). She described it
as being able to be herself without any judgment. She gave appreciation to someone taking the
time to learn about the community she holds in her heart.
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Comparison with Expectations
LGBT+ community certainly challenge superficial notions of ‘normal’ gender identity
and sexual orientation that most people were brought up to understand and live by. Many in our
society have been taught that anything outside of this narrow understanding is to be feared and
ridiculed (Simons, Brian, & Bahr, 2018). A person’s self-identification is not something to be
feared, ridiculed, or questioned and is not a negative attribute, nor is it up for discussion. There is
no right or wrong answer.
Emotional Impact
The attitudes of our culture about homosexuality cannot change the sinfulness of it.
God’s verdict is the only one that matters throughout eternity, and his remains the same. Because
God has remained consistent in his moral judgment about homosexuality all the consequences
for that sin remain even though unbelievers will try to suppress the truth in unrighteousness
(New international version, 1984; Rom 1:18). This means the cultural embrace of this sin cannot
change the pain that homosexuals will experience because of their sin. No popular acceptance of
homosexuality will alter the fact that many will experience the painful consequences of their sin,
will desire help, and will want to change (Bozard Jr., & Sanders, 2011).
Key Things Learned
Allowing individuals to explain the importance and relevance of each of their identities
and acknowledge that they interconnect. Let clients guide you as to whether their LGBTQ
identity is relevant to their present behavioral health concerns. Many of the terms that LGBTQ
community use to describe themselves fall within the structure of gender identity, sexual
orientation, and gender expression. An important point to remember is that these three
components are distinct, although they interact (Wynn, & West-Olatunji, 2009). For example, an
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individual who is transgender (gender identity) may not in any way identify as gay, lesbian or
bisexual (sexual orientation) and may present themselves as masculine or feminine, androgynous
or may cross society’s gender norms in their appearance (gender expression).
Many LGBTQ people have supportive people in their lives and positive identity-related
experiences. Others have had hardships related to their sexual orientation and gender identities,
but through those experiences may have developed a complex set of coping strategies. Through
activism, mutual support, and personal growth in the face of adversity, LGBTQ individuals can
bring enormous strengths to their communities.
Counseling Theories
Theory and research agree that connects to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
(LGBT) community is an important concept to account for understanding issues related to health
and well-being among gay and bisexual men. However, the measurement of this construct among
lesbian and bisexual women or racial and ethnic minority individuals has not yet been
sufficiently examined.
Culture-Centered Counseling Theory and LGBT Clients
Ethnically diverse LGBT clients are often marginalized by racism in mainstream LGBT
culture as well as by heterosexism and homophobia in their ethnic communities, leaving them at
risk for isolation, estrangement, and increased psychological vulnerability. Internalization of
oppression can result in identity confusion and self-hatred (Wynn, & West-Olatunji, 2009). As a
result, ethnically diverse LGBT people may present in counseling with any number of mental
health concerns (Wynn, & West-Olatunji, 2009).
Culture-centered theory provides a framework for the accurate conceptualization of
presenting issues with ethnically diverse clients that is critical to successful outcomes (Wynn, &
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West-Olatunji, 2009). A culture-centered approach requires client-centrality wherein counselors
avoid imposing their own reality by conceptualizing presenting issues from the client's
worldview. Additionally, culture-centered theory considers factors in conceptualization and
treatment (Wynn, & West-Olatunji, 2009) therefore enabling counselors to better understand the
impact that family dynamics, religion, racism, and heterosexism have on their clients’ mental
health. Working within a culture-centered paradigm also incorporates an understanding of
sociocultural conditions that includes issues of oppression and discrimination, historical
experiences, and social positioning in the workforce, education, and the media. With a minimal
knowledge of social-cultural influences, counselors can better conceptualize the needs of
ethnically diverse individuals (Wynn, & West-Olatunji, 2009).
Rational-Emotive Therapy and LGBT Clients
Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) is a type of cognitive behavioral therapy that
focuses on helping clients change irrational beliefs (Moody, 2019). The goal of REBT is to help
people change irrational beliefs and negative thinking patterns to overcome problems and
distress.
LGBTQ community are more susceptible to being fated to forced to isolation because of
their nondominant sexual and gender identities (Moody, 2019). Continuous disconnections can
also lead to negative internal schemata about the self concerning others, known as relational
images (Jordan, 2017). For the LGBTQ community, who often faces prejudice and
discrimination, the influential social images include withdrawal and shame. A primary goal of
REBT is to bring awareness to these negative relational images and to help reformulate such
images into healthier, self‐affirming ones (Jordan, 2017). This current theoretical approach can
assist LGBTQ community to explore how conflicting public thoughts affect their internal views
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and ways to move toward reconnection with others. REBT provides LGBTQ college students an
avenue to reclaim power and to redefine how they see themselves within relationship (Jordan,
2017).
Reparative Therapy and LBGTQ+ Clients
Reparative therapy is a counseling approach developed by secular psychologists to help
people turn away from their struggles with homosexuality (Beck, & Wikoff, 2019). Many
assume that all efforts to help homosexuals change are equivalent. Such an assumption is in
error. In our day there are two secular approaches to understanding homosexuality. The first and
most popular is the view that advances complete cultural acceptance of homosexuality (Simons,
Brian, & Bahr, 2018). The second is the view of reparative therapy, which believes
homosexuality to be problematic and seeks change through secular therapeutic techniques
(Simons, Brian, & Bahr, 2018).
Counseling Techniques
Understanding how being LGBT+ affects an individual’s experience will help improve
your skills as a counselor. It is not uncommon for LGBT+ people to face physical and verbal
abuse, so it is not surprising that being in counseling can take a lot of nerve. The role of effective
communication and patient-centeredness is providing safe and high-quality care to diverse client
populations. Effective patient–provider communication has been linked to an increase in patient
satisfaction, better adherence to treatment recommendations, and improved health outcomes
(Simons, Brian, & Bahr, 2018). Patient-centered care includes qualities of compassion, empathy,
and responsiveness to the needs, values, and expressed preferences of the individual patient.
Combining the elements of effective communication and patient-centeredness into care delivery
has been shown to improve patients’ health and health care (Simons, Brian, & Bahr, 2018).
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The Goals, Renewal, Action, Connection, and Empowerment (GRACE) model is offered
to evaluate and combine religious identity with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients in the
counseling process (Beagan & Hattie, 2015). An essential part of being a counselor is fairness.
This means that being judgmental and giving advice have no place when working with clients
(Bozard Jr., & Sanders, 2011). In fact, it is the job of a counselor to help clients make their own
choices and develop their own beliefs and values about every phase of their lives. Whether or not
a therapist is Evangelical, Catholic, Muslim, or Orthodox Jewish, it should make no difference
when it comes to carrying out their professional duties in relation to clients who are in the office
to seek help. The very fact that a person is feeling vulnerable when they seek professional help
means that they are not to be taken advantage of in any way (Wood & Conely, 2014). However,
in the real world, things are often not as we wish. Despite their best efforts, counselor can do if
he or she finds themselves making judgments and having opinions about clients that are not
helpful, then the counselor is expected to seek guidance from supervisors and enter
psychotherapy, just for the purpose of working out their issues with certain clients in order that
they do not allow their personal feelings to affect the progress of their patients (Bozard Jr., &
Sanders, 2011) . The problem is that there are those counselors who do not seek guidance from
supervisors and attempt to hide their views from clients. There are also those who attempt to
influence clients even though they should not (Bozard Jr., & Sanders, 2011).
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References
Beagan, B. & Hattie, B. (2015). Religion, spirituality, and LGBTQ identity Integration. Journal
of LGBT Issues in Counseling, 9(2), pg. 92-117.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15538605.2015.1029204
Beck, M. & Wikoff, H. (2019). LGBT families and school community partnerships: a critical
role for school counselors. Journal of School Counseling, 17(5). http://jsc.montana.edu
Bozard Jr., R. & Sanders, C. (2011). Helping christian lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients recover
religion as a source of strength: developing a model for assessment and integration of
religions identity in counseling. Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling, 5(1), pg. 47-74.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15538605.2011.554791
Capital Pride Alliance. (2014). About capital pride alliance.
Jordan, J. V. (2017). Relational‐cultural theory: The power of connection to transform our
lives. The Journal of Humanistic Counseling, 56, 228– 243. doi:10.1002/johc.12055
Knee, E. (2018). Gay, but not inclusive: boundary maintenance in the LGBTQ space. p 449-
515. https://doi-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1080/01490400.2018.1441767
Olson, E. (2016). An exploration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender pride festival
sponsors. Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 18(1).
https://doi.org/10.1080/15470148.2016.1230531
Phillips, J. (2020). Personal communication.
Moody, R. (2019). REBT with LGBTQ clients. REBT with Diverse Client Problems and
Populations. P 359-381. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02723-0_18
Simons, J., Brian, H., & Bahr, M. (2018). School counselor advocacy for lesbian, gay, and
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bisexual students: intentions and practice. Professional School Counseling,
https://doi.org/10.5330/1096-2409-20.1a.29
The Holy Bible, New international version. (1984).
Wood, A. & Conely, A. (2014). Loss of religious or spiritual identities among the LGBT
population. Counseling and Values, 59(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-
007X.2014.00044.x
Wynn, R., & West-Olatunji, C. (2009). Use of culture-centered counseling theory with ethnically
diverse LGBT clients. Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling, 3(3-4), 198-214.
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