Coun 6723 Week 6 Discussion question: Gender Socialization and Sexual Minorities
Discussion Post Option Two-Understanding Sexual Minorities:
Individuals who identify as LGBTQIA experience prejudice and discrimination in complex ways. Awareness of these issues is important when working with LGFBTQIA individuals in counseling. The acronym, LGBTQIA, covers many sexual and gender identities. Here are brief definitions for the acronym:
Lesbian: Women who are primarily attracted romantically, physically, and/or emotionally to some other women.
Gay: Individuals who are primarily attracted romantically, physically, and/or emotionally to members of the same sex and/or gender. More commonly referring to men who are attracted to other men, but can be applied to women as well.
Bisexual: Individuals who are attracted to both men and women romantically, physically, or emotionally.
Transgender: Individuals whose assigned sex at birth (biological sex) is different than the gender with which they identify. Sometimes, the term “born in the wrong body” is used, however, this depends on the individual.
Transsexual: Individuals who have physically altered their body in order to better match their gender identity. It is a term that refers to biology, not to identity necessarily, and it is indicative of a change in one’s physiology.
Queer: An all-inclusive term that encompasses non-cisgender and non-heterosexual people. While it was previously a derogatory term and in some cases still is, “queer” has been reclaimed by many in the LGBTQIA community. This is often considered an “in group” term to only be used by individuals who self-identify as queer. Queer attempts to reject the idea that the labels of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender are able to explain any one person’s identity.
Questioning: Individuals who are questioning their sexuality and/or gender identities.
Intersex: Individuals whose development of sex differs from what medical professionals consider to be “male” or “female.” Often, individuals with intersex conditions have different combinations of chromosomes, gonads, hormones, internal sex organs, and genitals from the two expected patterns of male or female.
Asexual: A person who has a lack of or low level of sexual attraction to others.
Ally: A person who does not identify as LGBTQIA but supports the rights and safety of those who do.
For this discussion, consider the issues unique to LGBTQIA individuals. Think about the implications of these issues for counseling.
With the above thought in mind:
Post a description of at least two unique issues facing a specific sexual minority and at least one common bias counselor may have about this group.
Explain how gender socialization might affect your and/or others’ work in counseling.
Required Resources
Readings
Sue, D. W., & Sue, D. (2016). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Chapter 23, “Counseling LGBT Individuals” (pp. 659-681)
Chapter 26, “Counseling Women” (pp. 725-742)
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
“Gender Dysphoria” (pp. 451 –459)
