Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans-gender community
The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community is one among the unique set of cities which is yet to be fully acknowledged and accepted as a part of the general population.
This is mainly propelled by the fact that some part of the general population has not accepted this kind of relationships and thus the prejudice and homophobia that come with it, resulting in social and health problems such as drug and alcohol addiction
Issues related to the LGBT community
- Homophobia- this refers to the various forms of negative attitudes exerted upon the lesbians and the gays due to their sexual orientation
- Use of some specific languages, for instance, “family” and Bill W, to mean their colleagues. This is mainly to create a sense of belonging
- The LGBT community has been fighting for acceptance and respect their efforts including several activist groups to champion for their rights and freedom
- There is also the use of specialized treatment programs for the LGB addicts to foster their sense of pride and belonging
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Challenges faced by the LGBT community
- Failure of the federal law to protect the LGBT community- For instance, the collapse of the government to consider gay targeted abuse as hate and stereotypic crime
- Homophobia- Owing to the fact that this particular set of the population has not been adequately acknowledged, there still exists discrimination, violence, and stigma based on their sexual orientation
- Denial- drawing from the fact that this population is not entirely accepted it leads to rejection and thus one of the main resulting factors to drug and alcohol abuse and addiction
- Lack of specialized practitioner treatment for the gays and lesbians- LGBT population addicts, find it hard to get specialized treatment which takes into consideration their sexual orientation
- The LGBT community is also faced with the challenge of loss if they expose their sexual identity which tends to result in them opting to abuse drugs
- Practitioners homophobia is also another challenge for this unique population given the fact that it leads to poor treatment and that could to more harm than good
Factors contributing to addiction for this group
- Denial- As a result of rejection from the general population and considering their small numbers, they tend to opt for alcohol and drug abuse to overcome stress and loneliness
- Poor access to opportunities to which could reduce the exposure to drug and alcohol abuse such as a parent or marital partner
- Socialization in places and venues to which tend to promote drug and alcohol abuse such as the gay clubs
- The high chances of being exposed to discrimination, stigma, and violence tend to push these particular set of the population to opt for drug abuse and addiction
- Self-identification is yet another critical challenge since before an individual gets to accept oneself as a homosexual, a person can easily find themselves abusing drugs
How a human service worker can enhance services for the LGBT community
- Creation of places such as gays social sites which gives them a chance of interacting with one another without the fear of judgment
- Provision of safe sex education for precisely this set of population
- Increasing the specialized treatment programs for this set of population
- Education of the public on the importance of treating this set of community just like the general population