The Word: The LGBTQ+ Plight

THE WORD

The LGBTQ+ Plight

EDUCATION, UNDERSTANDING, ACCEPTANCE

BY: MICHAEL RIORDAN @COMPASSCENTER WWW.COMPASSGLCC.COM

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Laws attacking the LGBTQ+ community have continued to spring up all over the country—the most notable: a rash of laws prohibiting transgender citizens equal rights to the law.

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THE WORD

and prohibiting transgender youth AND their families from seeking medical treatment for Gender Dysphoria. This condition explains the disconnect transgender people face when their internal gender identity does not correspond to their physical bodies. Bans on medical treatment stop transgender youth from transitioning (a life-saving process by which a transgender person seeks to make their bodies match their internal gender identity).

These laws prevent youth from receiving treatment from mental health professionals as well. Conversion therapy, a barbaric practice that uses electroshocks, and worse, to “convert” LGBTQ+ youth into cisgender, heterosexual people, is still legal in many states. The practice was banned in Palm Beach County, only to be reinstated by the Florida Supreme Court.

The hope that June 26, 2015, represented the “end” of the fight was clearly misplaced. However, the future remains bright for LGBTQ+ people.

• Michael Presenting

On June 26, 2015, hundreds of people gathered

outside the United States Supreme Court holding signs adorned with “Love is Love.” A sea of Pride flags waved in the air as the crowd eagerly waited for the answer they had been asking for decades: will the love we experience finally be recognized by our families, friends, and the highest law of the land?

The 5-4 decision confirming the right of ALL Americans to marry any adult they wanted was guaranteed under the 14th amendment in a watershed moment. In addition, the court found that states who had passed marriage equality bans had violated the U.S. Constitution.

Like most decisions by the Supreme Court, there were wide-ranging impacts for the future of the LGBTQ+ community and those who discriminate against it. A decades-long fight for validation, a battle to be seen and heard, was over. LGBTQ+ Americans were guaranteed the rights enjoyed by all other consenting American adults.

Many believed the decision reached on June 26, 2015, was the end of the fight. Nearly seven years later, we know that has not been the case. Laws attacking the LGBTQ+ community have continued to spring up all over the country—the most notable: a rash of laws prohibiting transgender citizens equal rights to the law.

In North Carolina, a law prohibiting transgender people from using the bathroom that corresponded to their gender identity was passed in 2016 (less than a year later, it was off the books following intense public and corporate outcry).

Today, laws have been passed from Florida to Texas targeting transgender adolescents. The bigotry-de-jour is focused on preventing transgender girls from participating in school sports

The community has always understood the importance of mental health services: it’s crucial to find a trusted mental health professional to help deal with the familial and societal rejection that many LGBTQ+ people face. The essential need for mental health services in our society grows every day. Walk into any LGBTQ+ space, like Compass Community Center, Palm Beach County’s only LGBTQ+ community center, and you will find resources and access to mental health services. Hopefully, this is a practice that will spread into all segments of our society.

For the community to make progress, it needs to be understood. There is no better way to reach an understanding than being seen AND heard. The media we consume is leading this charge. More and more LGBTQ+ people are being seen in the media; from television commercials to actual roles in TV and film, the LGBTQ+ community has never been as visible as it is now.

That visibility comes with a responsibility to educate those who do not know about the community. Education leads to understanding, and understanding leads to acceptance. Organizations like Compass Community Center are leading the charge by providing LGBTQ+ cultural competency training courses to organizations and businesses worldwide. These courses add to our collective understanding of the human experience and will lead to a more tolerant world.

The future of the community is the same future for which we all yearn: to be seen as human beings.

The Word is a broad topic space for contributing writers (a.k.a the community) to share your stories of behavioral health or anything self-care related i.e. fitness, health, educational, parenting, hobbies, wellness, etc. To contribute, send your article ideas to thewell@bewellpbc.org with “The Word” in the subject line.

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