President Obama has come out in support of marriage equality for gay and lesbian people in a heartfelt statement on ABC News.
The president stated: “I have to tell you that over the course of several years, as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors, when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or Marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.”
Here are some other items in the news:
Gay teen conversion therapy may be banned in
California (www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/08/gay-teen-conversion-therapy-california_n_1501150.html?ref=topbar).
A study indicated that homophobia was linked to lack of aware
ness of one’s own sexual orientation, as well as authoritarian
parenting (medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-homophobia-linked-lack-awareness-sexual.html).
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Kansas City hosted an LGBT Roundtable meeting last month, discussing
ways in which the organization can better serve LGBT individuals
and their families.
The Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and
Transgender Elders (SAGE) held a meeting last month to
organize a new chapter in the Kansas City area.
The International AIDS Conference will be held July 22-27
in Washington, D.C. (www.aids2012.org)
The LGBT Cancer Network now directs patients to 400 screening facilities across the county that offer “safe, affordable,
welcoming care to all LGBT people.” The directory, which
includes the new transgender-friendly designation, is viewable
at www.cancer-network.org/screenings/facilities.
A new study conducted through UCLA found that older gay men’s mental health is jeopardized by sexual minority stress
(williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/press-releases/pressrelease-11912).
A Toronto-based LGBT smoking prevalence study found
relatively higher rates among LGBTTQ youth, bisexual and
gender queer people
(www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22530537).
Another gay teen committed suicide in April in Utah after being subjected to anti-gay bullying at school (www.huffington
post.com/2012/04/29/jack-reese-gay-teen-suicide_n_
1462594.html).
Jeff Lubsen is the organizer of the LGBT-Affirmative Therapists Guild of Greater Kansas City, a grass-roots organization of licensed psychologists, social workers and professional counselors, who offer support and resources for sexual minorities. He also works with individuals and their families who are dealing with relationship, depression, anxiety, self-esteem, sexual identity and gender identity issues.
