Olympia Dorsey

On Monday, I attended a virtual WeConnect meeting for people part of the LGBTQ+ community. Before going, I spent a lot of time reflecting on my own attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs of this support group. As a bisexual woman in a heterosexual relationship, I am often perceived as straight I’m curious to hear from people with different experiences as openly queer. I expected to gain a better understanding of the challenges LGBTQ+ people face.

Prior Perceptions

I expect to hear people talking about their struggles with identity and relationships that have been effected due to them coming out. I think this will enlighten me on the issues facing LGBTQ+ people, and make me more empathic and able to help the community. Personally, I am bisexual though I am currently in a heterosexual relationship and often get perceived that way. So I am very interested to interested to hear from people with different experiences as openly queer people.  I mainly hope to gain a better understanding of the challenges they faced to become a better ally. I expected that family rejection would be a big part of people’s experiences. I expected that most of the people would be on the younger side since it’s a virtual meeting.I expected financial situations to affect access to resources. I assumed self-expression and identity would be very important. And I expected to hear people clearly state their pronouns.

Intercultural Sensitivity Reflection

I am very familiar with interaction enjoyment and respect for other cultures, but I still need to learn more about interaction confidence. I think this may have to do with me growing up in an area with a lot of diversity and constantly interacting with people different than me. I also enjoy learning about other culture and sharing experiences different than my own. My need to improve in the interaction confidence, likely comes from me being an introvert and having difficulties speaking to anyone no matter cultural background. However, I do have a plan to fix this by trying to put myself in different social setting and practice speaking up. 

Reason for Selecting the Event

I choose this activity because I wanted to gain a better understanding of the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals. I’ve also never been to a support group or any type of group therapy since I don’t like talking to others about my life. I hoped to enhance my interaction confidence, and I’d say I definitely did. I felt comfortable sharing and actively listening to others stories and I broadened my perspective of certain issues like transgender rights and discrimination.

Insights and Knowledge Gained

I learned a lot about issues facing people from many different backgrounds within the LGBT community. I learned about issues in the transgender community like lack of access to gender affirming care, discrimination, and violence. This really opened my eyes to intersectionality in the LGBTQ community and the different challenges faced.

Observed Components of Inclusion

During the meeting, I saw different components of inclusion:

Recognition of humanity: everyone was treated with respect.

Solidarity: offering support to each other.

Sense of belonging: everyone was encouraged to share.

Principle of social justice: discussed systemic inequalities and the lack of rights.

Significant Interaction

The interaction that impacted me the most, was hearing a young transgender girl still in high school talk about her experiences getting bullied at school and it made her feel isolated and alone. She also shared that she struggled with suicidal thoughts and it broke my heart because she’s so young to be going through this pain.

Inclusive Strategies

The host of our event used different strategies to insure inclusivity:

ABCD model: being welcoming and creating a safe space for people to talk.

Power sharing: allowing participants to lead discussions and share experiences equally.

Reflective practice: allowing people to reflect after sharing

Barrier removal: providing emotional support and accessibility.

Engagement of facilitators/resources: giving information for helpful resources

Remaining Questions:

1. What can I do to support the LGBTQ+ community as an ally?

2. How can schools help students with bullying and mental health issues?

3. Why did the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration end its LGBTQ youth suicide hotline?

Reflection and Action

This experience has changed how I view of cultural sensitivity. I am very familiar with Interaction enjoyment and respect for other cultures, but I still need to learn more about Interaction confidence. I think this may have to do with me growing up in an area with a lot of diversity and constantly interacting with people different than me. I also enjoy learning about other culture and sharing experiences different than my own. My need to improve in the interaction confidence, likely comes from me being an introvert and having difficulties speaking to anyone no matter cultural background. However, I do have a plan to fix this by trying to put myself in different social setting and practice speaking up. 

References

Bennett, M. J. (1993) Towards ethnorelativism: A developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. In R. M. Paige (Ed.), Education for the intercultural experience (pp. 21–71). Intercultural Press.

Morris, Pamala (2022) Building Cultural Competence. Course materials.

Lecture 4.2: Human Capital Management for Public Managers. (n.d.). Arizona State University.