| Message from the
President of ALGBTIC, Anneliese A. Singh, Ph.D.,
LPC, NCC
Strengthening Our Community, Supporting
Our Queer Youth, and Social Justice
Welcome to all of our valued members and those
who visit our website! We are fortunate to have
a strong website, full of important resources
to support LGBTQ-positive resources in counseling.
Please do not hesitate to email me at
to
make suggestions, suggest links, or ask questions.
We have a strong leadership team within our division
and invite you to visit our leadership page and
consider joining one of our many committees!
For the next year, my goals for ALGBTIC are
to strengthen our community, support queer youth,
and address social justice issues. From our first-class
journal and newsletter to our conference events,
I will ensure our members stay connected to the
most current and pressing issues in LGBTQI counseling.
Our division was initially created as an attempt
to survive heterosexism within our profession,
and now it is time for our division to thrive.
We welcome new members and also celebrate our
long-time members. I would like to see our division
break 1,000 members this year, and we will also
be working on establishing our first divisional
conference.
My second goal of supporting queer youth is
a must for our division. With the recent
murder of 15-year old queer adolescent Lawrence
King by his 14-year old classmate and with suicide
continuing to be the number one cause of death
of queer teens, we must find ways to
support and nurture the resilience of our all youth
to express their gender and sexual identity within
safe family, school, and community environments.
The third goal of social justice is a fitting
one considering the recent re-emergence of those
within ACA who support conversion therapy. Our
division is a voice of reason, research, and
advocacy that will be at the ACA table to counter
those who believe gender and sexual identity
can be “changed.” I will also work
on building strong relationships with other divisions
to ensure that ALGBTIC is joined in our leadership
in the best legal and ethical practices with
queer clients. Our division will continue to
address the ways racism, sexism, classism, and
ableism affect our community, and ensure that
transgender member and client concerns are central
to our division. Encompassed in all these goals
is my commitment to making ALGBTIC a beloved
community for all those who believe
we are all liberated when we work to end heterosexism
and build queer and ally relationships.
“Without community, there is no liberation.”
~ Audre Lorde
“The ultimate measure of a person is not
where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience,
but where s/he stand in times of challenge and
controversy.”
~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Highlights from ALGBTIC.org
At the Fall 2007 Board Meeting held in Columbus, Ohio during the recent ACES Convention, ALGBTIC President Phyllis Mogielski-Watson presented a donation to a local community organization, Stonewall Columbus.
Executive Director Karla Rothan accepted the $200 donation, earmarked for "Project Stefanie" which seeks to provide medical assistance to Transgender individuals while they are transitioning. The fund is named after a well known local woman, who, sadly, died because she could not afford her blood pressure medication. The ultimate injustice, according to Executive Director Karla Rothan, was the fact that Stefanie's family insisted on burying her as a male.
Stonewall Columbus was founded in 1981 as a grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of gay men and lesbians in Central, Ohio. At the time, its supporters marched with bags over their heads to hide their identities. Since then, the organization has undergone many changes, and it recently purchased a 4,000 square foot building in the LGBT district, where it operates a Community Center.
If you would like to check out this wonderful organization, and see the amazing work they do, please go to http://www.stonewallcolumbus.org.
Submitted by Edward Cannon, Board Trustee
Other highlights:
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The
Fenway Institute at Fenway Community Health is
pleased to announce the publication of Bisexual
Health: An Introduction and Model Practices for
HIV/STI Prevention Programming.
The report is available in two formats,
print copies (limited supply) and as a .pdf file
that you can download at the following link: http://www.thetaskforce.org/reports_
and_research/bisexual_health.
Published in conjunction with the National Gay
and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute and BiNet
USA, this report was born out of the grassroots
efforts of countless bisexual community members
and health care professionals, who for more than
35 years have worked to bring about greater visibility,
understanding and inclusion of bisexuality in
public health discourse. The report builds on
these initial efforts, aiming to fill the current
void in academic and professional literature
regarding bisexual health practices and needs.
Co-author and sex educator Amy André answers
key questions, including “What is bisexuality?” and “How
many people in the U.S. identify as bisexual
or are attracted to both men and women?” Intersections
of race, ethnicity and bisexuality are explored,
including the sensationalized and purported “down
low” phenomenon. The report also includes:
• An explanation
of the impact of biphobia and bi invisibility
on health
• A timeline of
milestones in bisexual health activism
• A chapter on the
groundbreaking BiHealth Program at Fenway Community
Health
• Information on
replicating bisexually-inclusive HIV/STI prevention
program model theories, policies and practices.
Again, the full PDF version of this report is
always available for free online at the following
link: http://www.thetaskforce.org/reports_
and_research/bisexual_health.
Call for Special Edition Submissions
The Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender
Issues in Counseling (ALGBTIC), a division of
the American Counseling Association (ACA) is
inviting submissions for our next special edition
of "The Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling".
This edition will focus on Counseling and Research
for LGBT Issues and the Military. The intent
of this special edition is to publish articles
relevant to working with sexual minorities around
issues pertinent to this special focus, and that
will be of interest to counselors, counselor
educators, and other counseling related professionals
that work across a diversity of fields, including
in schools, mental health settings, family agencies,
and colleges and universities. Read More >>>
ACA Responds to Pentagon Document
ACA responds to the Pentagon's document that
classifies homosexuality as a mental disorder.
This document was recently released and includes
outdated information about sexual orientation.
From the Associated Press, "the document
outlines retirement or other discharge policies
for service members with physical disabilities,
and in a section on the defects lists homosexuality
alongside mental retardation and personality disorders."
In response, ACA President, Patricia Arredondo,
sent a letter requesting that the Department of
Defense updates this document. The
complete letter is included here... Please
feel free to thank President Arredondo for her
support of lgbt issues.
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