The mission of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender
Concerns Office (LGBTCO) is to advance psychology as a means of improving
the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)
people, as a means of increasing understanding of gender identity and
sexual orientation as aspects of human diversity, and as a means of reducing
stigma, prejudice, discrimination, and violence toward LGBT people. The
office provides support and guidance to all aspects of APA governance
in activities related to this mission. The office provides high-quality,
timely, and cost-efficient psychological products and services to the
APA membership and to relevant others who look to APA for psychological
resources that promote beneficial change in society for lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender people.
The APA has established the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
and Transgender Concerns Office because psychology as a science and as
a profession has played a central role in policy debates and public discussions
both within the social movement to improve the social status of LGBT people
and within the organized opposition to that movement and because the APA
constituencies concerned about LGBT populations have high expectations
for the organization's contributions to the important social issues related
to the role and status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people
in society.
During the current period, the LGBTCO provided support
to the APA Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns,
the International Network on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns and Transgender
Issues in Psychology, the Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses
to Sexual Orientation, the Task Force on Gender Identity and Gender Variance,
and the Division 19 and Division 44 Joint Task Force on Sexual Orientation
and Military Service.
The LGBTCO also maintained liaison relationships with
APA divisions, especially Divisions 27, 44, and 51, and affiliated state,
provincial, and territorial psychological associations that have an interest
in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues. The Office provides
policy analysis and staff support for APA policy development, and advocates
APA policy on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender concerns in psychology.
It promotes psychological knowledge development and dissemination, and
provides technical assistance, information and referral, and consultation
to APA members, other professionals, policy makers, the media, and the
public. The LGBTCO staff includes Clinton W. Anderson, PhD, Director,
and Charlene DeLong, Administrative Coordinator. The Office includes the
Healthy, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students Project, a $1.6 million cooperative
agreement with the CDC Division of Adolescent School Health. The project
staff includes James F. Bogden, MPH, Director, and Jo-Anne Fournier, Administrative
Coordinator. For more information about the activities of the LGBTCO,
please visit the office
website or
email the LGBC office or telephone at (202)
336-6041. The office currently has two interns: Christine Moe, MPH, and
Stephanie Liotta, JD.
Healthy Lesbian, Gay, & Bisexual
Students Project: The Healthy Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students
Project (HLGBSP) continues its work to strengthen the capacity of the
nation's schools and youth-serving organizations to prevent health risks
and promote healthy outcomes among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth. The
project, which has been funded since its inception by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), began its 10th year of operation
in May 2008. HLGBSP has initiated long-term partnerships with four state
or local education agencies to increase their capacity to provide professional
development for school counselors, nurses, psychologists, and social workers:
The San Diego Unified School District, the District of Columbia Public
Schools, the Massachusetts Department of Education (on behalf of Boston
Public Schools), and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
To date, HLGBSP has provided more than 40 trainings at the national, regional,
and state levels, reaching a combined audience of more than 1,200 school
professionals who were collectively responsible for providing health and
mental health services to nearly 1 million middle- and high-school students.
HLGBSP, in collaboration with APA's Office on AIDS, has established linkages
for building capacity between community organizations and behavioral and
social scientists with expertise in HIV prevention. Learn
more about HLGBSP's mission, history, and future plans.
International Network for Lesbian,
Gay, & Bisexual Concerns & Transgender Issues in Psychology: The
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns Office provided staff
support to the International
Network for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns and Transgender Issues
in Psychology (the Network), in which the Board of Directors authorized
APA participation and leadership in June 2004, as a follow up to the international
conference sponsored by APA and several other national psychological associations
in 2001. The Network has had two major foci: increasing programming in
international psychological congresses-the European (Oslo 2009), Inter-American
(Guatemala City 2009), International Congress of Applied Psychology (Melbourne
2010), and the International Congress of Psychology (Cape Town 2012);
and policy advocacy. Current policy initiatives are focused on the International
Union of Psychology Science anti-discrimination policy and the homosexuality-related
diagnoses in the World Health Organization's ICD.
The Network is composed of national, multinational,
and international psychological associations that are cooperating to achieve
the following aims:
- To increase cross-cultural collaboration among psychological researchers
and practitioners who are concerned about the mental health and well-being
of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations;
- To increase knowledge among psychologists and other mental health
practitioners about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations;
- To apply psychological research and mental health practice guidelines
that address the needs and concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
populations to international health policy;
- To increase the number of national, multinational, and international
psychological associations that formally reject the mental disorder
conception of homosexuality and that promote mental health practice
that is affirmative of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.
APA is represented in the Network by Armand R. Cerbone and Oliva M. Espin
with the oversight of the Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the
Public Interest (Kristin Hancock, PhD), Committee on International Relations
in Psychology (Jeanne Marecek, PhD), Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
and Transgender Concerns (Alicia Lucksted, PhD), Division 44 (Maria Cecilia
Zea, PhD), and Division 52 (Gloria Gottsegen, PhD).
INET, is an electronic forum for individuals who are interested in international
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues in psychology. Individuals
can join by
sending an e-mail message.
Michigan Project for Informed
Public Policy: The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns
Office serves as a consultant to a project of the Rockway Institute/Alliant
International University that is funded by a grant from the Arcus Foundation.
The Michigan Project for Informed Public Policy (MPIPP) includes the Michigan
Psychological Foundation as the local partner. This one-year project will
organize social scientists, mental health experts, and medical professionals
in Michigan to convey accurate information about lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender issues to the public, the media, legislators, courts,
and other policy makers. Learn
more about MPIPP's mission, history, and future plans. This project
is one way in which the LGBTCO is attempting to implement the APA Resolution
on Opposing Discriminatory Legislation and Initiatives in Michigan Aimed
at Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Persons (2007).
Governance Support: Committee
on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns and Other Groups:
The office has also provided support for the Committee on Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns, the Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic
Responses to Sexual Orientation, and the Division 19 and Division 44 Joint
Task Force on Sexual Orientation and Military Service during the latter
half of 2008. The LGBTCO also maintained liaison relationships with APA
divisions and affiliated state, provincial, and territorial psychological
associations that have an interest in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
issues.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender
Resources:
- Transgender,
Gender Identity, and Gender Expression Non-Discrimination
- APA
Policy Statements on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns
- Report
of the Task Force on Gender Identity and Gender Variance
- Amicus
Briefs on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns
- Lesbian
and Gay Parenting
- Just
the Facts about Sexual Orientation and Youth: A Primer for Principals,
Educators, and School Personnel
- Answers to Your
Questions for a Better Understanding of Sexual Orientation & Homosexuality
- Answers to Your Questions
about Individuals with Intersex Conditions
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