Understanding the Well-Being of the LGBTQI Population: An Introduction

Course overview

Course Description: This course is based upon material published by the National Academies of Sciences website and is available as an open-access article. More than 11 million lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals live in the United States according to 2019 estimates. The past decade has brought remarkable changes in the social, political, and legal status of these individuals. A majority of Americans approve of same-sex relationships and support legal protections. Despite increased visibility and social acceptance of sexual and gender diverse (SGD) populations, discriminatory policies and practices remain. Many people who are members of SGD populations particularly those who are also members of other marginalized populations, such as racial and ethnic minorities continue to experience stigma, discrimination, and violence where they live, work, play, and pray. This work highlights the need to understand more fully how current U.S. legal, social, and cultural shifts are affecting LGB people, their families, and their communities. There is a dearth of research on how transgender, non-binary, and intersex individuals are affected by changes to state and local policies. This report is designed to describe the opportunities and challenges facing these populations. This course on the LGBTQI population is designed for social workers, professional counselors, psychologists, nurses, and substance abuse counselors, who do clinical work. In addition, this course is appropriate for beginning, intermediate and advanced level practitioners who wish to learn more about the LGBTQI population. It may also be useful for licensed clinicians who require continuing clinical education courses for license renewal. Authors: National Academies of Sciences Learning Objectives: This course will provide the practitioner with detailed information regarding Understanding the well-being of LGBTQI population. Specifically, a professional will: Identify some of the challenges in studying LGBT populations. Describe identities within LGBT populations. Identify some of the challenges facing LGBT populations. Citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2020. Understanding the Well-Being of LGBTQI Populations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.