Q: What types of resources would be most helpful to the LGBT community in West Tennessee? A: Most anything. The LGBT community needs all of the resources they can get. They need all of the support they can get.
Q: What community resources are available in your area for the LGBT community--affirming congregations, gay bars, community groups, support groups? A: Gay bars
Q: Are you a member of the LGBT community or an ally? A: Ally of the LGBT community
Felicia Wise
answered
2014-11-07 11:35:47 -0600
Q: What types of resources would be most helpful to the LGBT community in West Tennessee? A: Outreach groups, services that aren’t partial to helping out LGBT kids, teens or adults.
Felicia Wise
answered
2014-11-07 11:34:42 -0600
Q: Have you heard or seen elected officials or candidates for office use anti-LGBT messages A: No
Felicia Wise
answered
2014-11-07 11:34:32 -0600
Q: Have you heard anti-LGBT messages on the radio in West TN? A: No
Felicia Wise
answered
2014-11-07 11:34:24 -0600
Q: What are the barriers to LGBT people being out in West TN? A: There are a lot of people who react negatively. Most keep their orientation under wraps.
Felicia Wise
answered
2014-11-07 11:33:23 -0600
Q: What community resources are available in your area for the LGBT community--affirming congregations, gay bars, community groups, support groups? A: None to my knowledge.
Felicia Wise
answered
2014-11-07 11:32:47 -0600
Q: In which West Tennessee county do you live? A: Henderson
Felicia Wise
answered
2014-11-07 11:32:35 -0600
Q: Are you a member of the LGBT community or an ally? A: LGBT community member
Q: Whom do you consider to be leaders of the LGBT community in West Tennessee? A: I have had experience with TEP, the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, and the University of Tennessee at Martin Allies student organization.
Q: What types of resources would be most helpful to the LGBT community in West Tennessee? A: TTPC recently distributed advice for what action to take if I, as a transgender person, were to experience difficulty at a polling booth while voting, and I appreciated that very much. Similar information about navigating employment, housing, education, and other bureaucracy would be very helpful.
Greater awareness of psychological counselors who are LGBT-friendly would also be useful. I have heard stories of people who visited counselors for help to understand themselves only to have the shrink try to “fix” their gayness. Similarly, transgender people would benefit greatly from better promotion of doctors who facilitate hormone replacement therapy. I found mine by word-of-mouth, but he turned out good.
Q: What are the barriers to LGBT people being out in West TN? A: There is still a gap between a person being known to be gay and public acceptance of that person being allowed to express gay attraction. In my hometown of 5000 people, while there are several gay and lesbian folks who are accepted to be gay and who can easily make acquaintances, they may be considered “icky” if they actually act on being gay. So, I suppose there are different levels of acceptance a gay person who is out may experience from the same person. The public is becoming more understanding of LGBT issues and except for some fossilized minds, so I think it will be only a matter of massaging the idea of acceptance into those that are still supple. Transgender people have a further way to go with spreading such awareness.
If someone were particularly young, they might experience different barriers than people who have had more life experience would know how to navigate. Adolescent and younger people will experience peer pressure to hide their alternative sexual orientation or gender identity, and the public schools and churches that they are required to attend may reinforce the message. It is easy for a kid to feel trapped in this sort of situation and become very unhappy. It may help such young people to develop their LGBT vocabulary to better understand themselves and express themselves to others effectively.
The main reason most of my friends have given me for remaining closeted is that they are concerned about their family’s ability to deal with it. Even if the family would be understanding, they still don’t want to invite their community to name the family with the “shame” of being related to an LGBT person to their family. This fear seems to be passing away with time.
Q: What community resources are available in your area for the LGBT community--affirming congregations, gay bars, community groups, support groups? A: All of the above
A: Shelby
A: LGBT community member
A: Most anything. The LGBT community needs all of the resources they can get. They need all of the support they can get.
A: Yes
A: No
A: Gay bars
A: Madison
A: Ally of the LGBT community
A: Outreach groups, services that aren’t partial to helping out LGBT kids, teens or adults.
A: No
A: No
A: There are a lot of people who react negatively. Most keep their orientation under wraps.
A: None to my knowledge.
A: Henderson
A: LGBT community member
A: I have had experience with TEP, the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, and the University of Tennessee at Martin Allies student organization.
A: TTPC recently distributed advice for what action to take if I, as a transgender person, were to experience difficulty at a polling booth while voting, and I appreciated that very much. Similar information about navigating employment, housing, education, and other bureaucracy would be very helpful.
Greater awareness of psychological counselors who are LGBT-friendly would also be useful. I have heard stories of people who visited counselors for help to understand themselves only to have the shrink try to “fix” their gayness. Similarly, transgender people would benefit greatly from better promotion of doctors who facilitate hormone replacement therapy. I found mine by word-of-mouth, but he turned out good.
A: No
A: No
A: There is still a gap between a person being known to be gay and public acceptance of that person being allowed to express gay attraction. In my hometown of 5000 people, while there are several gay and lesbian folks who are accepted to be gay and who can easily make acquaintances, they may be considered “icky” if they actually act on being gay. So, I suppose there are different levels of acceptance a gay person who is out may experience from the same person. The public is becoming more understanding of LGBT issues and except for some fossilized minds, so I think it will be only a matter of massaging the idea of acceptance into those that are still supple. Transgender people have a further way to go with spreading such awareness.
If someone were particularly young, they might experience different barriers than people who have had more life experience would know how to navigate. Adolescent and younger people will experience peer pressure to hide their alternative sexual orientation or gender identity, and the public schools and churches that they are required to attend may reinforce the message. It is easy for a kid to feel trapped in this sort of situation and become very unhappy. It may help such young people to develop their LGBT vocabulary to better understand themselves and express themselves to others effectively.
The main reason most of my friends have given me for remaining closeted is that they are concerned about their family’s ability to deal with it. Even if the family would be understanding, they still don’t want to invite their community to name the family with the “shame” of being related to an LGBT person to their family. This fear seems to be passing away with time.
A: TEP , MLGCC,
A: Employment guide
A: Yes
A: Yes
A: Employment , bias
A: All of the above
A: Shelby
A: LGBT community member