Providing Empathetic Care to the LGBTQ+ Community
By: Jamie Thornley
There are a few different and important topics to discuss when looking at how to provide empathetic care to members of the LGBTQ+ community.
A few of these topics revolve around general knowledge about the LGBTQ+ community, some of the major issues currently affecting the community, how to create an inclusive environment, and how to challenge discrimination. All of these topics are extremely important to me and I feel are all incredibly important to know about the community and to better understand how to be empathetic and supportive for individuals who identify as LGBTQ+.
Who is the LGBTQIA2S+ community?
So, who is the LGBTQIA2S+ community? Most people know exactly what we mean when we say the LGBT community and can name, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. However, the community involves so many more people than that. So, this is not an extensive list of all of the different identities that make up the LGBTQIA2S+ community, instead, this is a lot of the umbrella terms for the different gender and sexual orientations that make up the community. And sometimes people will have slightly different definitions of these ideas based on beliefs around gender identity and sexual orientation and how those two topics interact. But we will go over the very basics of these. So, lesbians, we are looking at identified females who are attracted to females. Gay is for identified men who are attracted to other men. For bisexual we are talking about individuals who are attracted to more than one sex or gender. Transgender individuals are people who identify as a gender that is different than the gender they were assigned at birth. When we are talking about people who identify as queer we are talking about people who identify outside of the gender or sexual binary and sometimes individuals use this term when they don’t want to label themselves or who don’t identify with one specific label. Intersex individuals are born with sexual characteristics that are not typically seen in binary bodies. Asexual individuals tend to experience little to no sexual attraction and agender individuals tend to identify as having no gender or being gender neutral. Lastly, two-spirit is an identity used by Indigenous North Americans for individuals who have both masculine and feminine qualities. The “+” at the end of the acronym represents all of the individuals within the community that fall under the umbrella terms or who don’t feel as if those terms exactly describe them as an individuals. As of 2024, there are 107 different gender identities recognized within the LGBTQ+ community and there are currently over 600 different types of sexuality and sexual orientations. It’s important when working with the community, to ask questions if someone is using a term or label that you don’t understand and to always continue learning and growing as the community continues to become more inclusive.
Be Aware of Issues Affecting the LGBTQ+ Community
So, this is the point where people tend to start asking why should I care. It’s 2024, LGBTQ+ people have the same rights as everyone else, so why should this community get special treatment? What makes the LGBTQ+ community so different from everyone else and why should they get special consideration? Here are a few statistics that show why this is important:
Most recent census rates show that around 7.6% of the US population, or around 14 million people identify within the LGBTQ+ community.
Last year, 39% of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered suicide. Which is a drastically higher rate compared to their cis-gendered and heterosexual peers.
Last year, 1 in 10 LGBTQ+ people attempted suicide.
Less than 40% of LGTBQ+ youth report having an affirming and accepting home and family.
Within the United States, 17% of people within the LGBTQ+ community will experience homelessness. And of current homeless youth, over 40% of them identify as being LGTBQ+.
According to the FBI, between 2021 and 2022, hate attacks based on gender identity increased by 32.9% and attacks based on sexual orientation were up by 13.8%.
In 2022, more than 1 in 5 hate crimes were solely based on the victim’s status in the LGBTQ+ community and negative biases around the community. So far this year, over 26 individuals have lost their lives solely due to identifying as trans or gender expansive.
So far this year, over 530 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced throughout the United States. These bills range from redefining sex, censorship in schools, sports bans, forced outings in schools, religious exemptions, restricting healthcare, banning affirming state IDs, and expression restrictions just to name a few.
How to Create an Inclusive Environment
These statistics and facts continue and build upon one another, creating severe feelings of depression and anxiety within the LGBTQ+ community. Due to that, it’s so important to create an inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ clients and people so they feel safe and know they have environments where they can be themselves. So, how do we create an inclusive environment? So, here are a few ways to help with creating an inclusive environment:
Don’t put people into a box. Gender and sexuality are such expansive topics to discuss and understand that it becomes really hard to stick just one label on someone and this be all that they are and fully describe them. It’s also important to remember that gender and sexuality can change and grow over time so people need to be given the space to grow and learn more about themselves without judgment.
Always ask and respect people’s pronouns and chosen names. Show respect for others and their identity.
When talking to people, use neutral language. For example, instead of saying hey guys or hey ladies, switch up language to saying hey everyone or remove ma’am and sir from the language, especially when we don’t know someone’s identity. This makes sure you are never assuming someone’s identity and that everyone feels included and welcome. Never assume anything about someone based on their voice, their haircut, or their clothing.
Never out anyone. Sadly, I’ve talked to so many people who have been outed by friends, family, therapists, teachers, and doctors and this puts people in such dangerous situations. Not only to mention, it’s not your story or truth to tell to anyone and it’s not fair to take that away from someone else.
Be a good ally to the community and make it known that you are a safe space for people in the community. This can be done by introducing yourself with your pronouns, volunteering within the community, or putting a pride flag in public spaces to show others they are safe with you.
So keep learning and educating yourself about the community. The LGBTQ+ community is constantly changing and growing to become more inclusive, so just keep trying to learn more and ask questions from people within the community to learn if you don’t know about things they are talking about.
Lastly, have an open mind and try to check your judgments as they come up.
Challenge Your Biases
There are a lot of biases around the LGBTQ+ community and who makes up the community. A lot of times, people hold prejudices and stereotypes without realizing it. Homophobia and transphobia remain very unconscious forms of biases and can be hard to challenge and notice, sometimes even for people within the community based on ideals they were raised on. Due to this, it is incredibly important to pay attention to your thoughts and beliefs and challenge any of these thoughts that may be negatively biased. You may be wondering how to recognize and challenge biases. So, here are a few quick tips on how to recognize and challenge biases.
If you hear comments about a community or person, ask yourself how you would feel if you were in their situation or if someone would say this comment about you.
Engaging in mindfulness and meditation can be incredibly helpful and insightful for looking at your thoughts and why these may be there.
Take time to educate yourself about communities that are different from yours and learn more about what is important to those communities.
Talk to others and ask about their experiences and what is important to them about their community.
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