What the Experts Say
Getting Down to Basics Tool Kit
Published 12/06/06
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The overwhelming consensus among the country’s leading and most respected child welfare, social service, behavioral and medical health, and legal organizations is that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (“LGBTQ”) youth and adults deserve respect and support from professional service providers. The following policies and position statements are based upon decades of peer-reviewed and published research and subject matter expertise. The child welfare community, which includes representatives from all of these organizations, should reflect the shared professional opinion that mistreatment of LGBTQ individuals is unacceptable, and should adhere to best practice standards.
american academy of child & adolescent psychiatry
“Whereas sexual orientation is unrelated to judgment, stability, reliability or vocational capability, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry deplores all public and private discrimination based on sexual orientation of persons of any age.…Further, recognizing that individuals and institutions have historically used sexual orientation as a reason to restrict lesbians and gay men from activities relating to delivery of services, care, treatment to children and adolescents, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry finds that there is no evidence that lesbians and gay men, per se, represent any threat to the development of children or adolescents and condemns any restriction on employment or service based on sexual orientation in positions involving the delivery of services or treatment to children and adolescents.”
www.aacap.org/page.ww?section=Policy+Statements&
name=Sexual+Orientation+and+Civil+Rights
“Parents need to clearly understand that sexual orientation is not a mental disorder.…Therapy directed specifically at changing sexual orientation is not recommended and may be harmful for an unwilling teen. It may create more confusion and anxiety by reinforcing the negative thoughts and emotions with which the youngster is already struggling.”
www.aacap.org/page.ww?section=Facts+for+Families&
name=Gay%2C+Lesbian+and+Bisexual+Adolescents
american academy of family physicians
“The AAFP opposes all discrimination in any form, including but not limited to, that on the basis of actual or perceived…sexual orientation [or] gender identity.”
www.aafp.org/online/en/home/policy/policies/d/discrimination.html
“Family physicians should be aware that their adolescent patients may be dealing with issues of sexual orientation that impact their psychosocial and physical health. Asking open questions about sexuality rather than assuming a teen is heterosexual can open a dialogue on family relationships, safe sex, suicide risks and other issues confronting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender adolescents, in a sensitive and accepting atmosphere.”
www.aafp.org/online/en/home/policy/policies/a/adolescent.html
american academy of pediatrics
“The AAP reaffirms the physician’s responsibility to provide comprehensive health care and guidance in a safe and supportive environment for all adolescents, including nonheterosexual adolescents and young people struggling with issues of sexual orientation.”
pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/113/6/1827
american bar association
“The American Bar Association opposes legislation and policies that prohibit, limit or restrict placement into foster care of any child on the basis of sexual orientation of the proposed foster parent when such foster care placement is otherwise appropriate under the applicable law of the state, territory or tribe.…Every child deserves a permanent home and all the love and care that good parents can provide. Prospective foster and adoptive parents should be evaluated on the basis of their individual character and ability to parent, not on their sexual orientation, and courts should grant adoptions when they are determined to be in the child’s best interest.”
www.abanet.org/leadership/2006/midyear/daily_journal/102.doc
american counseling association
“The American Counseling Association strongly encourages counselors to actively participate in the elimination of all discrimination based on sexual orientation in matters of adoption, child custody and visitation, foster care and reproductive health services in their practice, research, education and training.”
www.counseling.org/PressRoom/NewsReleases.aspx?
AGuid=244405dc-044e-46ae-aeac-60ca1c8bd6dc
“In 1999, the Governing Council adopted a statement ‘opposing the promotion of “reparative” therapy as a cure for individuals who are homosexual.’ The belief that same-sex attraction and behavior is abnormal and in need of treatment is in opposition to the position taken by national mental health organizations, including ACA…The Committee members agree that counselors who offer conversion therapy are providing ‘treatment that has no empirical or scientific foundation’…and, therefore, ‘must define the techniques/procedures as “unproven” or “developing” and explain the potential risks and ethical considerations of using such techniques/procedures and take steps to protect clients from possible harm.’ ”
www.counseling.org/PressRoom/NewsReleases.aspx?
AGuid=b68aba97-2f08-40c2-a400-0630765f72f4
american medical association
“The AMA reaffirms its long-standing policy that there is no basis for the denial to any human being of equal rights, privileges and responsibilities commensurate with his or her individual capabilities and ethical character because of an individual’s sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or transgender status…”
www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/14754.html#4
“[The] AMA…opposes, the use of ‘reparative’ or ‘conversion’ therapy that is based upon the assumption that homosexuality per se is a mental disorder or based upon the a priori assumption that the patient should change his/her homosexual orientation.”
www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/14754.html#6
american psychiatric association
“APA affirms its 1973 position that homosexuality per se is not a diagnosable mental disorder. Recent publicized efforts to repathologize homosexuality by claiming that it can be cured are often guided not by rigorous scientific or psychiatric research, but sometimes by religious and political forces opposed to full civil rights for gay men and lesbians. In the last four decades, ‘reparative’ therapists have not produced any rigorous scientific research to substantiate their claims of cure. Until there is such research available, APA recommends that ethical practitioners refrain from attempts to change individuals’ sexual orientation, keeping in mind the medical dictum to first, do no harm.”
www.psych.org/psych_pract/copptherapyaddendum83100.cfm
american psychoanalytic association
“Same-gender sexual orientation cannot be assumed to represent a deficit in personality development or the expression of psychopathology. As with any societal prejudice, anti-homosexual bias negatively affects mental health, contributing to an enduring sense of stigma and pervasive self-criticism in people of same-gender sexual orientation through the internalization of such prejudice…Psychoanalytic technique does not encompass purposeful efforts to ‘convert’ or ‘repair’ an individual’s sexual orientation. Such directed efforts are against fundamental principles of psychoanalytic treatment and often result in substantial psychological pain by reinforcing damaging internalized homophobic attitudes.”
www.apsa.org/AboutAPSAA/PositionStatements/tabid/191/Default.aspx
american psychological association
“APA has a long-established policy to deplore ‘all public and private discrimination against gay men and lesbians’ and urges ‘the repeal of all discriminatory legislation against lesbians and gay men’…. [T]here is no scientific evidence that parenting effectiveness is related to parental sexual orientation: lesbian and gay parents are as likely as heterosexual parents to provide supportive and healthy environments for their children…. [T]he APA opposes any discrimination based on sexual orientation in matters of adoption, child custody and visitation, foster care and reproductive health services.”
www.apa.org/pi/lgbc/policy/parents.html
“The ethics, efficacy, benefits, and potential for harm of therapies that seek to reduce or eliminate same-gender sexual orientation are under extensive debate in the professional literature and the popular media…The American Psychological Association opposes portrayals of lesbian, gay and bisexual youth and adults as mentally ill due to their sexual orientation and supports the dissemination of accurate information about sexual orientation, and mental health and appropriate interventions in order to counteract bias that is based in ignorance or unfounded beliefs about sexual orientation.”
child welfare league of america
“Based on more than three decades of social science research and our 85 years of service to millions of families, CWLA believes that families with LGBTQ members deserve the same levels of support afforded other families. Any attempt to preclude or prevent gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals or couples from parenting, based solely on their sexual orientation, is not in the best interest of children.”
www.cwla.org/programs/culture/glbtqposition.htm
“The family foster care agency should not reject foster parent applicants solely due to their…sexual orientation.”
www.cwla.org/programs/culture/glbtqstandards.htm
“All applicants [for adoption] should be assessed on the basis of their abilities to successfully parent a child needing family membership and not on their…sexual orientation.”
www.cwla.org/programs/culture/glbtqstandards.htm
evan b. donaldson adoption institute
“Based on both the available research and growing experience, adoption by gays and lesbians holds promise as an avenue for achieving permanency for many of the waiting children in foster care…. Against a backdrop of increasing public acceptance, social science research concludes that children reared by gay and lesbian parents fare comparably to those of children raised by heterosexuals on a range of measures of social and psychological adjustment…. Laws and policies that preclude adoption by gay or lesbian parents disadvantage the tens of thousands of children mired in the foster care system who need permanent, loving homes.”
national adoption center
“We believe that every child has the right to a loving, nurturing and permanent family, and that people from a variety of life experiences offer strengths for these children. Therefore, it is the policy of the National Adoption Center that no person should be denied consideration in the adoption process solely based on marital status, sexual orientation [and/or] lifestyle…”
www.adopt.org/whoweare/policy.html#
Adoptive%20Parent%20Assessment
national association of school psychologists
“NASP recognizes that students who become aware of or question their own minority sexual orientation and those who question their sexual orientation may be at risk for a number of dangerous and destructive behaviors as well as harassment, discrimination and poor self-esteem due to psychosocial stressors. A successful program to address these issues educates both those who discriminate and those who are discriminated against because of sexual orientation.”
www.nasponline.org/information/pospaper_glb.html
national association of social workers
“It is the position of the NASW that same-gender sexual orientation should be afforded the same respect and rights as other-gender orientation. Discrimination and prejudice directed against any group is damaging to the social, emotional and economic well-being of the affected group and of society as a whole. NASW is committed to advancing policies and practices that will improve the status and well-being of all lesbian, gay and bisexual people. NASW reaffirms its support of the Transgender and Gender Identity Issues policy statement, recognizing the intersection of oppression among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people.”
www.socialworkers.org/resources/abstracts/abstracts/lesbian.asp
“NASW recognizes that there is considerable diversity in gender expression and identity among our population and believes that people of diverse gender — including those sometimes called ‘transgender’ — should be afforded the same respect and rights as any other person. Discrimination and prejudice toward anyone are socially, emotionally, physically and economically damaging. A nonjudgmental attitude toward gender diversity enables social workers to provide maximum support and services to those whose gender departs from the expected norm. Social workers must encourage the development of supportive practice environments for those struggling with gender expression and identity issues, including both clients and colleagues.”
www.socialworkers.org/resources/abstracts/abstracts/transgender.asp
national foster parent association
“t is crucial that child welfare agencies develop plans to assure safe and proper care consistent with the child’s best interest and special needs, it is also crucial that child welfare agencies establish standards, policies and training programs to protect all foster children and youth including gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth, and…Be it resolved that the National Foster Parent Association acknowledges gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth are present in the foster care system and encourages and supports establishment of standards, policies and training programs for foster care providers and professionals based on nondiscrimination principles and sensitivity to the sexual orientation of all foster children and youth.”
nfpainc.org/aboutNFPA/positionStmnt.cfm#GAY
north american council on adoptable children
“Children should not be denied a permanent family because of the sexual orientation of potential parents…NACAC believes children and youth in the foster care system who are, or who are perceived to be, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) deserve loving and permanent families and should be afforded the same rights, services and protections as those who are [or are perceived to be] heterosexual. Unfortunately, many LGBTQ youth are in care solely because of their family’s reaction to their sexual orientation or gender identity. The prejudice, family rejection and mistreatment experienced by LGBTQ youth — or those who are perceived to be LGBTQ — have a tremendous negative impact…NACAC strongly opposes the use of conversion or so-called reparation services that are designed to involuntarily change the sexual orientation of youth.”
nacac.org/pub_statements.html#LGBTQyouth
the world professional association for transgender health
“The general goal of psychotherapeutic, endocrine or surgical therapy for persons with gender identity disorders is lasting personal comfort with the gendered self in order to maximize overall psychological well-being and self-fulfillment.”
www.hbigda.org/Documents2/socv6.pdf
The many other components of Getting Down to Basics offer additional support.
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